JPH06203077A - Electronic dictionary - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an electronic dictionary for limiting the length of a corresponding character string at the time of retrieval using a wild card and suppressing the number of entries to be retrieved. CONSTITUTION:This dictionary is provided with a ROM 4 for storing the entries and corresponding information, alphanumeric keys 2a for inputting codes corresponding to the respective characters of the entries, a wild card key 8 for inputting a special code (wild card) coincident with any character strings of the entries, a translation key 10 for inputting a retrieval command corresponding to the code and the special code, a CPU 6 for retrieving the corresponding entries and the corresponding information from the ROM 4 based on the retrieval command, a display part 3 for displaying the retrieved entries and the corresponding information and a setting key 9 for inputting an extension length limiting command for limiting the length of the character string to be retrieved by using the special code. The CPU 6 limits the length of the character string to be retrieved corresponding to the special code and controls the retrieval based on set extension length limits 5a and 5b.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic dictionary, and more particularly to an electronic dictionary that can be searched by using wildcards.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As electronic dictionaries, various products have been developed, such as those built into a computer or word processor (word processor), and small portable dedicated machines. Then, not only the basic one for obtaining the corresponding information but also the one provided with various additional functions is provided. One of these additional functions is the use of wildcards, which allows you to use special characters, so-called wildcards, in place of any character or string if you do not know exactly the spelling of the term you are searching for. , An electronic dictionary has been proposed that can issue a search command by including it in a specified headword.

This wild card uses two types of special characters, a special character that can substitute for any character and a special character that can substitute for any character string of arbitrary length. Since there are cases where the number of characters in the part that cannot be spelled is unclear, special characters that can substitute for any character string are generally used as wild cards.

[0004]

When a wildcard is used in the above-mentioned conventional electronic dictionary, the wildcard is associated with a character string of an arbitrary length, so that the number of found word candidates to be searched is enormous. There is a problem that it takes a lot of time and it takes time to find the target word out of these candidates.

The present invention has been made in view of the current situation of using wildcards in an electronic dictionary as described above,
The purpose is to provide an electronic dictionary that limits the length of the corresponding character string when searching using a wildcard, reduces the number of found words to be searched, and can quickly find the desired found word. It is in.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the electronic dictionary of the present invention comprises a dictionary storage means for storing a comparison dictionary composed of a found word and corresponding information of the found word; Character code input means for inputting a code corresponding to each character of the word found in the dictionary, special code input means for inputting a special code that matches any character string of the word found in the contrast dictionary, said code and said A search instruction input means for inputting a search command for the found word corresponding to a special code, a search means for searching for the corresponding found word and corresponding information from the contrast dictionary based on the search command, and the searching means. In an electronic dictionary having a display means for displaying the retrieved headword and corresponding information, a development length control for limiting the character string length searched by the special code input from the special code input means. Expansion length setting means for inputting a command, and a search for controlling the searching means so as to limit the character string length searched for in correspondence with the special code based on the expansion length limit value set by the expansion length setting means. It has a control means.

[0007]

With this configuration, the expansion is performed during the search operation using the special code from which the search command means issues a search command based on the code from the character code input means and the special code from the special code input means. From the length setting means, an expansion length limit command for limiting the length of the character string retrieved corresponding to the special code is input. Then, the search control means controls the search means so as to limit the length of the character string searched for corresponding to the special code based on the set expansion length limit value, and the search means controls the code and The headword and the corresponding information corresponding to the special code are searched, and the searched headword and the corresponding information are displayed by the display means.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[First Embodiment] First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic dictionary according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 6 denotes a CPU (central processing unit) for controlling the entire electronic dictionary. The CPU 6 includes a control program memory 4a and a control program memory 4a. A ROM 4 having a dictionary memory 4b for storing an English-Japanese dictionary corresponding to English words and a keyboard 2 including an alphabet / numerical key 2a, a translation key 10, a setting key 9 and a wild card key 8 are connected to each other. is there. Further, the CPU 6 stores various data including the expansion length lower limit value 5a and the expansion length upper limit value 5b.
M5 and the display drive unit 7 are connected to each other, and the display unit 3 is connected to the display drive unit 7.

The control program memory 4a stores various control programs including a wild card processing program, and the dictionary memory 4b stores a table of pointers to Japanese data corresponding to the words found in the English-Japanese dictionary and Japan. The word data body is stored. The alphanumeric key 2a has a function of inputting alphabets and numbers, and the wildcard key 8 has a function of inputting a wildcard <w> which is a special code that matches an arbitrary character string. There is. Furthermore, the setting key 9 has a function of inputting an instruction to set a development length limit value that limits the length of the character string to be searched in correspondence with the wild card <w>. The translation key 10 has a function of inputting a search command for searching the dictionary memory 4b for Japanese corresponding to an English word that matches an input character string (input code string) formed of an alphabet or a wildcard <w>. .

When the instruction key for setting the expansion length limit value is input by the setting key 9, the CPU 6 outputs the expansion length from the numerical code string input by the alphabet / number keys 2a based on the program of the control program memory 4a. The lower limit value 5a and the expansion length upper limit value 5b are determined and stored in the work area of the RAM 5. When the search command is input by the translation key 10, the CPU 6 causes the search program in the control program memory 4a to display an English word that matches the character string input by the alphabet / number key 2a.
The table of the found word and the pointer in the dictionary memory 4b is searched. In this case, enter the wildcard <W> in the input string.
Including "," the CPU 6 performs a search process such that the length of the character string corresponding to the wild card <W> is not less than the expansion length lower limit value 5a and not more than the expansion length upper limit value 5b.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the operation panel 11. The operation panel 11 is provided with a display section 3 and a keyboard 2, and below the display section 3 alphabet / number keys 2a are provided. A translation key 10, a setting key 9 and a wild card key 8 are provided on the side of the display unit 3.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the data storage state of the dictionary storage means in this embodiment, and the dictionary memory 4b is
It is composed of a Japanese data main body 12 and a headword / pointer table 13, and the Japanese data main body 12 is composed of a Japanese data length storage unit 14 and a Japanese data storage unit 15. In addition, the table 13 includes the word count storage unit 16,
The headword data length storage unit 17, the headword storage unit 18, and the pointer storage unit 19 are included. Here, the Japanese data length storage unit 14 stores the data length of the Japanese data storage unit 15 arranged on the memory subsequent to this. Further, the Japanese data storage unit 15 stores Japanese corresponding to the English words in the found word storage unit 18, and the found word number storage unit 16 stores the found words and the total number of English words in the pointer table 13. is doing. Further, the headword data length storage unit 17 stores the data length of the headword storage unit 18 arranged on the memory following this. The headword storage unit 18 stores the English words that are the headwords in the English-Japanese dictionary, and the pointer storage unit 19 stores the Japanese data corresponding to the English words in the headword storage unit 18. The address of the start position of the storage unit 15 is stored.

For example, the English word "ident" which is the found word
Explaining the storage state of “ify” and its corresponding information “Japanese,“ Confirm, appraise; identify ””, the Japanese data storage unit 15 stores the Japanese character string and the Japanese data length storage unit 1.
4, the number of bytes "30" of the Japanese character string is stored, the found word storage unit 18 is the English word character string, and the found word data length storage unit 17 is the number of bytes of the English word character string. "8", the start address "1234" of the Japanese data storage unit 15 in which the Japanese character string is stored in the pointer storage unit 19
Are stored respectively.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the entire electronic dictionary according to this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a step 407 in FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation of the collating process of FIG. 5, and the operation will be described here with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. However, in the explanation, the RAM 5 including the stack is included.
The work area initialization step and the post-processing step are omitted.

In step 401 of FIG. 4, an input buffer for storing a character string input from the keyboard 2 is initialized, the flow proceeds to step 402, and a key input process from the keyboard 2 is performed. It is determined whether or not the input operation of the key 10 has been performed. If an input operation is performed in this step 403, in step 406 the entry word stored in the dictionary memory 4b and the entry word stored at the beginning of the pointer table 13 are loaded into the input buffer and the entry word in the English-Japanese dictionary. Copies to the headword buffer used for comparison.

Next, in step 407, the character string in the input buffer is compared with the character string in the found word buffer, and in step 408, the matching process reaches the end of the found word and the table 13 of the pointer. Whether or not it is determined, and until the end is reached, the found word in the found word buffer is updated in step 409, the process returns to step 407, and the matching process is repeated. As a result of this collation process, the step 408 is executed.
When the end of the search is reached, the list of search results created in the work area of the RAM 5 is displayed on the display unit 3 in step 410.

On the other hand, if the input operation of the translation key 10 is not performed in the step 403, the process proceeds to step 404, it is determined whether the input operation is the setting key 9, and if the input operation is performed, the step 411 is executed. The input processing of the expansion length lower limit value 5a and the expansion length upper limit value 5b is performed by operating the alphabet / number keys 2a. Then, the process proceeds to step 412, and the expansion length lower limit value 5a and the expansion length upper limit value 5b are stored in the work area of the RAM 5. If the setting key 9 is not operated in step 404, one character is added to the input buffer in step 405 and the process returns to step 402.

As described above, in this embodiment, the key input process from the keyboard 2 in step 402, the type of the input key in steps 403 and 404 is determined, and one character is added to the input buffer in step 405. In the input loop of processing, the character string is stored in the input buffer. Then, in steps 406 to 409, the search program in the control program memory 4a searches for the found word that matches the character string (input character string) in the input buffer and the corresponding information.

Next, step 4 in the flow chart of FIG.
The verification operation of 07 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step 501 of FIG. 5, it is determined whether or not the wild card <W> is included in the input buffer. If it is included, the process proceeds to step 502 to find the character string in the input buffer. Simply compare the string in the word buffer. If it is determined in step 503 that the character arrangement matches the length in this comparison, the process proceeds to step 524, and the Japanese data corresponding to the character string in the found word buffer is added to the search result list. . Also, step 50
If it is determined in 3 that they do not match, this collation processing operation is immediately terminated.

On the other hand, when the wild card <W> is not included in step 501, step 504
Then, it is determined whether or not the beginning of the character string in the input buffer is a wild card <W>. If it is a wild card <W>, the process proceeds to step 506. This step 5
At 06, the partial character string from the beginning of the character string in the input buffer to immediately before the first wildcard <W> is compared with the partial character string at the beginning of the character string in the find word buffer. In the next step 507, the comparison result, that is, whether or not they match, is determined. If they do not match, the present collation processing operation is immediately terminated, and if they match, the process proceeds to step 508.

In this step 508, the collation start positions of the collation of the partial character strings from the input buffer and the head word buffer for the subsequent processes are set in the register A and the register B, respectively. That is, in the register A, the character position immediately after the wildcard <W> following the partial character string compared in step 506 (the partial character string in the input buffer that must be collated from now on) Is set in the register B, and the character position immediately after the partial character string matched in the comparison in step 506 (the character string in the found word buffer, which may be collated from now on) is set in the register B. Set the beginning position of the character string).

On the other hand, if the wild card <W> in step 504, the process proceeds to step 505, and the collation start position is set in the same manner as in step 508,
Register A is set to the character position next to the wildcard <W> at the beginning of the input buffer, “2”, and register B is set to the beginning position of the character string in the found word buffer, “1”. To be done.

The above step 508 or step 505
After setting the collation start position in step 50, step 50
At 9, it is determined whether or not there is a wildcard <W> in the character string in the input buffer after the character position indicated by the register A. If it exists, the process proceeds to step 510. In this step 510, a value obtained by adding the value of the register B which is the collation start position of the found word buffer and the expansion length lower limit 5a is set in the register C. Next, in step 511, the partial character string from the position indicated by register A in the input buffer to immediately before the wildcard <W> is used as the search character string, and this search character string is found in register C in the find word buffer.
The substring after the position indicated by is searched for.

If it is determined in step 512 that the portion matching the search character string is found in the found word buffer by the processing in step 511, the process proceeds to step 513, and if not found, the main collation is immediately performed. The processing operation ends. In step 513, the head position of the portion where the search character string matches in the found word buffer is set in the register C, and then the process proceeds to step 514, where the difference between the value of the register C and the value of the register B is the expansion length upper limit value. 5b
It is determined whether or not it is below, and if it is less than or equal to the expansion length upper limit value 5b, it is determined that matching of the partial character strings has succeeded, and the process proceeds to the next step 515.

In this step 515, each collation start position used for collating the partial character string relating to the current search character string and the head position of the coincident portion, that is, register A, register B and register C Save to a dedicated stack. Then, the process proceeds to step 516, in which a new collation start position is set in the register A and the register B in order to process the next search character string in the input buffer, and the process returns to step 509. This register A and register B
The new collation start position is set to register A by adding the length of the search character string in step 511 and "1", and register B by adding the length of the search character string in step 511 to the value of register C. It is done by setting a value.

In this way, in the present embodiment, the collation process of the partial character string in which the front and rear of the input buffer are sandwiched by the wildcard <W> is performed toward the end of the buffer by the loop of steps 509 to 516. And proceed in sequence. However, if it is determined in step 514 of this loop that the difference between the value of register C and the value of register B exceeds the expansion length upper limit value 5b, it is determined that the collation of the partial character string has failed. A determination is made and the process proceeds to step 521.

At step 521, registers A, B,
It is determined whether or not there is data that can be returned to the stack dedicated to the value of C. If there is no data remaining, this collation processing operation is terminated. To return to the processing related to the search character string, step 52
In step 2, the registers A, B, and C are restored, and in step 523, the value of the register C is incremented by “1” so that the processing in step 511 does not give the same result as the previous time, and then the process returns to step 511 and Step 509 to Step 5
Return to the 16 loop.

In this way, when the collation of the partial character string is advanced toward the end by the loop from step 509 to step 516, the wildcard <W> is finally obtained after the collation start position of the input buffer. Is not present in step 509, and in this case, step 5
Proceed to 17. In this step 517, the character strings from the end of the character string in the input buffer to the position indicated by the value of register A are compared from the end of the found word buffer toward the beginning, and the comparison result is determined in step 518. If they do match, the process proceeds to step 519. If they do not match, this collation processing operation ends. At this time, if there is no character in the position indicated by the value of register A, that is, if the wildcard <W> is the last character of the character string in the input buffer, the null character string existing immediately after the last character (Length 0
Character string) and the process proceeds to step 519.

Then, in this step 519, the start position of the coincident portion is set in the register C, and in step 520, the difference between the value of the register C and the value of the register B is the expansion length lower limit value 5a or more and the expansion length upper limit. It is determined whether or not the value is within the range of 5b or less, and if it is within the range, the process proceeds to step 524, the Japanese character string corresponding to the character string in the found word buffer is added to the search result list, and the book The collation processing operation ends. If the determination in step 520 is outside the range, the process proceeds to step 521 to register A, B, C.
The stack C is returned from the stack, the value of the register C is incremented by "1" in step 523, the process returns to step 511, and the process loops from step 509 to step 514.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanatory views of the operation on the keyboard and the display on the display unit in this embodiment, and when the setting key 9 is operated as in FIG. 6A in the input loop, FIG. As in G, a setting screen for prompting the input of the development length lower limit value 5a and the development length upper limit value 5b is displayed on the display unit 3. Therefore, when the alphabet / number keys 2a are operated to input "0010" as shown in FIG. 9B, a display screen as shown in FIG. 11H is displayed on the display section. Next, when the setting key 9 is operated as shown in FIG. 4C, in step 411 of FIG.
The development length lower limit value 5a is "0", and the development length upper limit value 5b is "1".
0 "is input, these values are stored in the RAM 5 in the next step 412, and the English word input screen is displayed as shown in FIG. 6I in the display processing of step 410 of FIG.

Immediately after this, in the input loop, as shown in FIG. 6D, "a", "b",
When "a" is input and the wildcard key 8 is operated, an English word input screen as shown in FIG. 6J is displayed, and when the translation key 10 is operated as shown in FIG. 6E, step 4 in FIG.
The process proceeds to 06, the search process is performed in steps 406 to 409, and the search result list is displayed in step 410. At this time, if the search result list does not fit on one screen, the search result list is divided into two or more screens as shown in FIGS. 6K and 6L, and a broken line is displayed at the end of the search result list. At this time, the screens are switched when the translation key 10 is input as shown in FIG. 6F.

In the example of FIG. 6, as shown in K and L of FIG.
The wildcard "W" is expanded to two letters "abac"
"ab" expanded to 8 characters from "k" or "abase"
7 lists are obtained as search results up to "andment".

On the other hand, when the keyboard 2 is operated as shown in FIG. 7M, N and O, the display as shown in R, S and T in FIG. 7 is performed, and the expansion length lower limit value 5a is set to "0" and the expansion length upper limit is set. Value 5
b is stored in the RAM 5 as "3". Immediately after this, as shown in FIGS. 7P and Q, when the alphabet / number keys 2a, the wildcard key 8 and the translation key 10 are operated,
The displays shown in U and V of FIG.

The search result shown in FIG. 7V is obtained by searching the same English-Japanese dictionary as in the case of FIG.
Since a is set to "0" and the expansion length upper limit value 5b is set to "3", there are only three search result lists.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the headword to be searched is specified including the wildcard <W>,
By presetting the lower limit value and the upper limit value of the length of the character string to be searched corresponding to the wild card <w>, the list of found headwords will not be unnecessarily increased and the final search will be performed. It can be done quickly.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The present embodiment has a structure in which the expansion length can be set more easily than the first embodiment described above. That is, in the first embodiment, steps 404 and 4 in FIG. 4 executed by the CPU 6 are executed based on the control program stored in the ROM 4.
Although the expansion length is set by 11, 412, in the present embodiment, the expansion length is input by inputting the number corresponding to the expansion length from the alphabet / number key 2a immediately after the wild card <W> in the input loop. The lower limit value 5a and the expansion length upper limit value 5b can be set. Other configurations in this embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the description, the step of initializing the work area of the RAM including the stack and the step of post-processing are omitted. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic dictionary according to this embodiment.

First, in step 801, an input buffer for storing a character string input from the keyboard 2 is initialized,
Similar to the first embodiment, the operation state of each key of the keyboard 2 is determined by the key input process in step 802 and the input loop of steps 803, 804 and 805, and the character string is stored in the input buffer. When it is determined in step 803 of this input loop that the input operation of the translation key 10 has been performed, it matches the character string (input character string) in the input buffer in steps 806 to 809 as in the first embodiment described above. The headword and corresponding information are searched from the English-Japanese dictionary, and a list of search results is displayed in step 810. If it is determined in step 804 that the setting key 9 has been operated, the expansion length lower limit value 5a is determined in step 811.
And the expansion length upper limit value 5b is input, and the input value is stored in the work area of the RAM 5.

In this embodiment, in step 805,
When it is determined that the number is input from the alphabet / number key 2a, the process proceeds to step 813, and it is determined whether or not the previously operated key is the wild card key 8. If it is the wild card key 8, the process proceeds to step 814 and the expansion length lower limit value 5a is set to "0" and the expansion length upper limit value 5b is stored in the RAM 5 as a value corresponding to the input number. Step 802
Return to. If it is determined in step 813 that the previously operated key is not the wildcard key 8, the process proceeds to step 815, one character input in the input buffer is added, and the process returns to step 802. . Even when it is determined in step 805 that the input is not a numeral, the process proceeds to step 815, one character input in the input buffer is added, and the process returns to step 802.

9 and 10 are explanatory views showing the operation of the keyboard and the display state on the display unit in the electronic dictionary according to the present embodiment. In the input loop, the alphabet "" is displayed by the alphabet / number keys 2a as shown in FIG. 9A. a ”,
When "b" and "a" are input and the wildcard key 8 is operated, an English word input screen is displayed as shown in E of the same figure, and numbers are input by the alphabet / number keys 2a as shown in B of the same figure. When "8" is input, it is displayed as shown in FIG. At this time, in step 805 of FIG. 8, since it is determined that the numeric key has been input, the process proceeds to step 813, and it is determined whether or not the previous one is a wild card <w>. If it is determined in this step 813 that the previous one is a wild card <w>, the process proceeds to the next step 814 and the expansion length lower limit value 5a is set to “0”, the expansion length upper limit value 5b is set to “8”, and R is set.
Store in AM5.

When the translation key 10 is input as shown in FIG. 9C, the process proceeds to step 806 in FIG. 8, and the search process is performed in steps 806 to 809.
In step 810, the search result list is displayed. At this time, if the search result list does not fit on one screen,
As shown in G and H, the display is divided into two or more screens, and a broken line is displayed at the end of the search result. The screens are switched at this time when the translation key 10 is input as shown in FIG. 9D.

In the example shown in FIG. 9, the wild card <W> is expanded into two characters as shown in G and H in FIG.
"ab" expanded to 8 characters from "k" or "abase"
7 lists are obtained as search results up to "andment".

On the other hand, when an input is made as shown in FIGS. 10I and 10J, a display is made as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the development length lower limit value 5a is "0", and the development length upper limit value 5b is "3". As R
Store in AM5. After that, when the search instruction signal is input by the input operation of the translation key 10 in FIG. 9K, the search result is displayed as in N in FIG. In the search shown in FIG. 10, the same English-Japanese dictionary as in FIG. 9 is searched. However, since the expansion length lower limit value 5a is set to “0” and the expansion length upper limit value 5b is set to “3”, the search result list shows 3 Only the individual displays are shown.

As described above, according to this embodiment, in addition to the effect obtained in the first embodiment described above, the operation of the alphanumeric key 2a for setting the expansion length of the wild card <W> is simplified. This simplifies the operation of the device and shortens the search time.

[Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic dictionary according to the present embodiment, FIG.
2 and 13 are explanatory diagrams showing a keyboard operation and a display state of the display unit in the electronic dictionary.

In this embodiment, the expansion length lower limit value 5a and the expansion length upper limit value 5b can be set by continuously operating the wild card key.

The other structure of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the description, the step of initializing the work area of the RAM including the stack and the step of post-processing will be omitted.

In step 1101 of FIG. 11, the input buffer for storing the character string input from the keyboard 2 is initialized, and the key input processing in step 1102, the input in steps 1103, 1104 and 1105 is performed as in the first embodiment. A loop determines the operation state of each key of the keyboard 2 and stores the character string in the input buffer. When it is determined in step 1103 of this input loop that the translation key 10 is operated, step 1 is performed as in the first embodiment described above.
In steps 106 to 1109, the headword matching the character string (input character string) in the input buffer and the corresponding information are searched from the English-Japanese dictionary, and the search result list is displayed in step 1110. If it is determined in step 1104 that the setting key 9 has been operated, the expansion length lower limit value 5a and the expansion length upper limit value 5b are input in step 1111 and the input values are stored in the RAM 5 as a work. Store in the area.

In the present embodiment, when it is determined in step 1105 that the wild card key 8 has been operated, the process proceeds to step 1113 and whether the previously operated key is the wild card key 8 or not. If it is determined that it is the wild card key 8, the process proceeds to step 1114. In this step 1114, 2
When the previously operated key is not the wild card key 8, the expansion length lower limit value 5a is set to "0" and the expansion length upper limit value 5b is set to "2" and stored in the RAM 5, and is operated two times before. If the key is wildcard key 8, RA
The expansion upper limit value 5b of M5 is increased by "1" and the process returns to step 1102.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 1113 that it is not the wild card key 8, the process proceeds to step 1115, the number entered in the input buffer is added, and the process returns to step 1102. Also, if it is determined in step 1105 that there is no input from the wild card key 8, the process proceeds to step 1115, one character entered in the input buffer is added, and the process returns to step 1102.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

When alphabets "a", "b", and "a" are input by the alphabet / number keys 2a as shown in FIG. 12A, an English word input screen is displayed as shown in FIG. When 8 is operated 8 times in succession, the result is displayed as shown in FIG. At this time, depending on the determination result of step 1105 and the determination result of step 1113 of FIG. 11, the process proceeds to step 1114, and the expansion length lower limit value 5a is stored in the RAM 5 as “0” and the expansion length upper limit value 5b is “8”. .

Also, as shown in FIG. 12C, the translation key 10
When is operated, the process proceeds to step 1106 of FIG. 11, the search process is performed in steps 1106 to 1109, and the search result list is displayed in step 1110. At this time, if the search result list does not fit on one screen, it is displayed in two or more screens as shown in FIGS. 12G and 12H, and a broken line is displayed at the end of the search results.
The screen switching at this time is performed when the translation key 10 is input as shown in FIG. 12D.

In the example shown in FIG. 12, the wildcard <W> is expanded into two characters as shown in G and H of FIG.
"ab" expanded to 8 characters from "k" or "abase"
7 lists are obtained as search results up to "andment".

On the other hand, when an input is made as shown in FIGS. 13I and 13J, a display is made as shown in L and M of FIG. 13A, the expansion length lower limit value 5a is "0" and the expansion length upper limit value 5b is "3". As R
Store in AM5. After that, when a search instruction is input by operating the translation key 10 in FIG. 9K, a display as shown in N in FIG. In the search shown in FIG. 13, the same English-Japanese dictionary as in FIG. 12 is searched, but the expansion length lower limit value 5a
Is set to "0" and the expansion length upper limit value 5b is set to "3".
Only three displays are shown in the search result list.

As described above, according to this embodiment, in addition to the effect obtained in the first embodiment, the expansion length of the wild card <w> can be easily set only by operating the wild card key 8. The operation of the device is further simplified, and the search time is shortened.

[0061]

As described above in detail, according to the electronic dictionary of the present invention, during the search operation using the special code input from the special code input means by the expansion length limit command from the expansion length setting means, Based on the set expansion length limit value, the search control unit controls the search unit to perform the search while the length of the character string to be searched corresponding to the special code is limited. The list of words does not grow unnecessarily and the final search can be done quickly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic dictionary according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration of a keyboard in the electronic dictionary.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a data storage state of a dictionary memory in the electronic dictionary.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the entire electronic dictionary.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of the matching operation of FIG.

6 is an explanatory diagram showing a keyboard operation and a display state of a display unit in the electronic dictionary of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a keyboard operation and a display state of a display unit in the electronic dictionary.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic dictionary according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the keyboard and the display state of the display unit in the electronic dictionary according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a keyboard operation and a display state of a display unit in the electronic dictionary.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation of the electronic dictionary.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a keyboard operation and a display state of a display unit in the electronic dictionary.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a keyboard operation and a display state of a display unit in the electronic dictionary.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Electronic Dictionary 2 Keyboard 2a Alphabet / Numeric Keys (Character Code Input Means) 3 Display Unit (Display Means) 4 ROM (Dictionary Storage Means) 4a Control Program Memory 4b Dictionary Memory 5 RAM 5a Expansion Length Lower Limit Value (Expansion Length Limit Value) 5b Expansion length upper limit value (expansion length restriction value) 6 CPU (search control means) 7 Display drive section 8 Wild card key (special code input means) 9 Setting key (expansion length setting means) 10 Translation key (search instruction input means)

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 15, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 6]

[Figure 7]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 9]

[Figure 10]

[Fig. 12]

[Figure 4]

[Fig. 13]

[Figure 5]

[Figure 8]

FIG. 11

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A dictionary storage means for storing a reference dictionary composed of a found word and corresponding information of the found word, and a character code input means for inputting a code corresponding to each character of the found word of the said contrast dictionary. And special code input means for inputting a special code that matches any character string of the word found in the contrast dictionary,
Search instruction input means for inputting a search command for the found word corresponding to the code and the special code; search means for searching for the corresponding found word and corresponding information from the contrast dictionary based on the search command; In an electronic dictionary having a display word for displaying the headword and corresponding information searched by the search means, a development length restriction command for restricting the character string length searched by the special code input from the special code input means. And a search control for controlling the search means so as to limit the character string length searched in correspondence with the special code based on the expansion length limit value set by the expansion length setting means. An electronic dictionary having means.