JP2000148366A - Character/symbol input device and character/symbol inputting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make performable a selective input of a special character/symbol by a simple operation when a character/symbol is selected and inputted by using a software keyboard shown on a display screen. SOLUTION: A similar character/symbol group is allocated to one to plural pieces of preliminarily defined specific positions in a table of plural pieces of characters/symbols constituting a software keyboard 20. When any key position among the specific positions is selected and instructed, a list 23 of the preliminarily allocated similar character/symbol groups is shown in accordance with the position. A selection instruction is performed in the list 23 of the similar character/symbol groups by a selection instructing means 4 and one character/symbol in a similar character/symbol group is selected and inputted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character / symbol input device and a character / symbol input method suitable as a graphic user interface of a portable information device such as a so-called electronic organizer. In this specification, "character / symbol" means a character or a symbol.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a small portable information device of this type, there is no space for providing a keyboard having a large number of button keys in the device body. When you want to enter
A software keyboard including a list of characters / symbols to be input is displayed, and characters / symbols are input using the software keyboard.

[0003] This software keyboard has characters and
Each character / symbol position in the list of symbols corresponds to the key of the character / symbol, and the character to be entered from the list constituting the software keyboard using a touch pen, trackball, etc. By selecting the display position of the symbol (this is the key position of the character / symbol on the software keyboard), the selected character / symbol can be input as a confirmed character.

By the way, in computerized Japanese character expressions, there are many special characters and symbols in addition to Kana-Kanji characters. For example: • Symbols that are difficult to read (such as “、”, “〃”, “仝”) • Mathematical symbols (such as “±”, “×”, “=”, “≦”) • Graphic symbols (“ *, *, Etc.)-Circled characters (",", ", etc.)-Idiomatic special characters (" (stock) "," (Yes) ", etc.)-Parentheses (""," ｛ ","""and so on.

As a method of selectively inputting these special characters / symbols, conventionally, all of the special characters / symbols are software /
How to include it in the keyboard list, for example, how to read special characters / symbols such as "Kana" as "Kurikaeshi" and select them with Kana-Kanji conversion, Special characters / symbols How to enter the JIS code etc.,
Are used.

[0006]

However, (1) In addition to the Japanese syllabary, the keys of the above special characters and symbols are
In the case of the method of preparing for the list display, there is a problem that the area occupied by the screen of the software keyboard becomes large and the display must be large.

(2) In a method in which a special reading is determined for a special character or symbol and the kana-kanji conversion is selected, it is necessary for the operator to memorize or search for the reading. The burden increases.

(3) Furthermore, special characters / symbols are specified in JIS.
In the method of inputting with a code or the like, it is necessary to search for a character code of a desired character from an enormous character code table, and then input the code, which greatly burdens the operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to enable the special characters and symbols as described above to be selectively inputted by a simple operation.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a character / symbol input device according to the present invention comprises: display means for displaying a software keyboard comprising a list display of a plurality of characters / symbols; Selection instruction means for selecting and instructing a key position corresponding to one character / symbol from a wear keyboard, and inputting a character / symbol corresponding to the selected and instructed key position as a fixed character / symbol; A predetermined one of the list displays of the software keyboard is selected by the selection instruction means.
~ When any one key position of a plurality of specific positions is selected and specified, a plurality of characters included in a similar character / symbol group assigned in advance corresponding to the key position
Means for displaying a list of symbols and accepting an instruction to select one desired character / symbol by the selection instruction means from the list of a plurality of characters / symbols included in the displayed similar character / symbol group And the following.

In the present invention, the special characters and symbols are
It is divided into one or more similar characters / symbol groups, and is assigned to a specific key position in a list of a plurality of characters / symbols constituting a software keyboard for each similar character / symbol group. . Then, at the specific key position of the software keyboard, for example, one character / symbol of a similar character / symbol group is displayed.

When the operator selects and instructs the specific key position, the similar character / character assigned to that key position is displayed.
List of multiple characters / symbols included in the symbol group
For example, it is displayed superimposed on a software keyboard. Then, when the operator selects and instructs a desired character / symbol from the list of similar characters / symbols, the selected character / symbol is determined and input.

Therefore, only one character / symbol of each similar character / symbol group needs to be displayed in the list display constituting the software keyboard, so that the area occupied by the display screen of the software keyboard is occupied. Does not become so large.

Further, it is possible to select and input special characters and symbols only by selecting and instructing with a pointing device such as a touch pen, and the burden on the operator is very small.

[0015]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a character / symbol input device according to the present invention applied to a portable information device.

FIG. 3 shows the appearance of the portable information device of this embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration thereof.

The portable information device 1 has a display 2 composed of an LCD. This display 2
A tablet 3 including a touch panel is provided on the display screen. When the touch pen 4 touches the display screen of the display 2, the tablet 3 reads the coordinate position on the touched display screen and reads the coordinate data. Output.

As shown in FIG. 4, a microcomputer is built in the portable information device 1. That is, the CPU 11 and the RO
M12 and the work RAM 13 are connected,
The display 2 is connected to the system bus 10 via a display interface 14, and the tablet 3 is connected to the system bus 10 via an interface 15.

When the power key 6 is turned on and a predetermined position is touched with, for example, the touch pen 4, a software keyboard (hereinafter, abbreviated as a software keyboard for simplicity) as shown in FIG. Do) 2
0 is displayed. Programs and data for this are stored in the ROM 12.

As will be described later, the touch pen 4
When a key position is selected from the soft keyboard 20, the selected position is passed through the tablet 3 to the work RAM.
The character / symbol at the selected key position is transmitted to the CPU 11 through the key 13, and the character can be input.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the case of this embodiment, the soft keyboard 20 is a list composed of the Japanese syllabary of the Japanese syllabary and the ten special characters / symbols in the rightmost two columns of FIG. It is configured. That is, the soft keyboard 20 includes a key 21 for selecting and instructing each of the Japanese syllabary hiragana and ten special character / symbol selecting keys 22.
And

Each key 21 for selecting the Japanese syllabary hiragana is
Only the displayed hiragana is stored in the ROM 12 in a corresponding manner, and by selecting and instructing each key 21 with the touch pen 4, the corresponding hiragana can be selected and input.

On the other hand, each of the ten special character / symbol selection keys 22 has a special character / symbol group grouped for each similar attribute stored in the ROM 12 in association with each other. When the user designates 22 with the touch pen 4, a list of a corresponding group of special characters / symbols is displayed as described below, and a desired special character / symbol can be selected and input from the list. Have been.

FIG. 2 shows ten special characters / characters assigned to the ten special character / symbol selection keys 22 respectively.
It shows an example of a symbol group. The first group is
This is a group of symbols whose reading is difficult to specify. The second group is a group of mathematical symbols. The third group is a group of graphic symbols. The fourth group is a group of encircled numbers. The fifth group is a group of customary special characters. The sixth group is one group of the pair of parentheses. The seventh group is the other group of the pair of parentheses. The eighth group is a group of unit symbols. The ninth group is a group of graphic symbols such as postal codes and telephone marks. The tenth group is a group of arrows having different directions.

FIG. 1 shows the default state (initial state) of the soft keyboard 20. The special character / symbol selection key 22 has a display box for each special character / symbol at the beginning of each group in FIG. Is displayed. As described below,
The special characters / symbols displayed in the special character / symbol selection key 22 column of the soft keyboard 20 are configured to be changed to the special characters / symbols selected immediately before in the group.

[First Embodiment of Character / Symbol Input Method] A first embodiment of a character / symbol input method in a portable information device having the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, which is a continuation of FIG. 5, are flow charts for explaining the operation of the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen change near the soft keyboard 20 on the display 2 when the character / symbol input is performed.

The operator operates the power button 6 and thereafter
When the mode is changed to the mode for inputting characters, the processing routine of FIGS. 5 and 6 starts. When this processing routine starts, first, in step S101, initialization is performed, and variables input key, pressed key, and menu done on the RAM 13 are set to default values.

The meanings of these variables are as follows: variable input key; fixed input character / symbol variable pressed key; pressed key variable menu done; special character / symbol list display. The default values are respectively variable input key = blank variable pressed key = undefined variable menu done = false (not displayed).

As described below, in this example, when selecting a desired special character / symbol from the list of special characters / symbols in each similar group unit, the touch pen 4 must be kept away from the tablet 3. Operation (drag operation)
Therefore, the list of similar groups displayed when the key 22 is selected and instructed with the touch pen 4 is referred to as a drag menu.

When the initialization in step S101 is completed,
Proceeding to step S102, the software keyboard 20 including a list of characters and symbols is displayed on a part of the screen of the display 2 (see FIG. 7A), and the process proceeds to the next step S103. In this step S103, the state of the above three variables is checked,
The key input state of is detected.

In the next step S104, the variable menu don
It is determined whether or not e is "true", that is, whether or not the drag menu is open. When the drag menu is not open and the variable menu done is "false", the process proceeds to step S121 in FIG. 6, and it is determined whether any key 21 or key 22 of the soft keyboard is pressed. I do. When it is determined that the key has not been pressed, the process returns to step S103.

If it is determined in step S121 that the key 21 or the key 22 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S121.
The process proceeds to step 122, where the variable pressed key is changed from the undefined state to the “pressed key”, and the process proceeds to the next step S123.
In step S123, it is determined whether the pressed key is the key 21 for selecting the Japanese syllabary or the key 22 for selecting a special character / symbol.

As a result of the determination in step S123, when it is determined that the pressed key is the Japanese syllabary selection key 21, the process proceeds to step S124, in which the touch pen 4
When the touch pen 4 is released from the key 21, the process proceeds to step S125, and the variable input key = presse
As the dkey, the character of the pressed key 21 is set as a confirmed input character. Then, the process proceeds to step S126, where the variable presse
After returning the d key to the undefined state, the process returns to step S103.

If it is determined in step S123 that the pressed key is the special character / symbol selection key 22, the flow advances to step S128 to execute the pressed key 22 as shown in FIG. Is selected, and the drag menu 23 is displayed on the soft keyboard 20 in a superimposed manner. Then, the process proceeds to step S129, where the variable menu done = true is set, and the fact that the drag menu 23 is superimposed is stored.
Then, the process returns to step S103.

In the drag menu 23,
The character / symbol position currently selected by the touch pen 4 is displayed in reverse video, for example, as shown in FIG. 7B.

As described above, the drag menu 23
Is superimposed on the soft keyboard 20, the variable menu done = true is determined in step S104. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S105 to determine whether the touch pen 4 is released from the tablet 3.

If it is determined in step S105 that the touch pen 4 has not been released from the tablet 3, the flow advances to step S111 to determine whether the touch pen 4 has moved in the drag menu 23 without leaving the tablet 3, that is, whether or not key drag has been performed. Is determined. If it is determined in step S111 that the key is not dragged, the process returns to step S103. If it is determined that a key drag has been performed, the process proceeds to step S112.

In step S112, the designated position of the pen 4 is moved from the key area of the character / symbol which has been highlighted so far by the drag movement of the touch pen 4, to the next character / symbol.
When the key 4 is shifted to the key area of the symbol, the reverse display of the key area of the character / symbol that the pen 4 has come out of is stopped, and the key area of the character / symbol to which the pen 4 enters is highlighted (FIG. 7).
(See the drag menu 23 of (C)). Then, in the next step S113, the value of the variable pressed key is set as the key into which the pen 4 has entered by dragging. Then, the process returns to step S103.

If it is determined in step S105 that the pen 4 on the drag menu 23 has been released from the tablet 3, the process proceeds to step S106, where the variable
input key = variable pressed key. That is, the confirmed input character is a character selected in the drag menu 23.

Next, the process proceeds to step S107, in which the order of the characters / symbols is changed so that the leading character / symbol of the drag menu 23 becomes the selected character / symbol, and the drag menu 23 is displayed again. Then, step S1
In step 08, the displayed drag menu 23 is deleted. At this time, the display of the character / symbol of the key 22 selected and indicated by the pen 4 when the drag menu 23 of the soft keyboard 20 is displayed has been changed to the display of the selected character / symbol (FIG. 7 (D)). )reference).

Thereafter, the flow advances to step S109, where the variable me
By setting nu done = false, the variable menu done is returned to the state where the drag menu 23 is not displayed. Then, the process further proceeds to step S110 to return the variable pressed key to the undefined state, and then returns to step S103.

The character / symbol input operation as described above will be further described with reference to FIG. 7 for a specific example.

In order to select and input, for example, “A” among the Japanese syllabary hiragana, the operator operates the soft keyboard 2 with the touch pen 4 on the screen of the display 2.
After designating the position of the key "a" of 0, the touch pen 4 is released from the screen. Then, “A” is input as a confirmed input character.

When the special character “(Yes)” is selected and input, the operator selects a group of similar characters / symbols of the special character “(Yes)” on the soft keyboard 20 on the screen of the display 2. Is touched with the touch pen 4 at the position of the key 22 of the special character "(stock)" to which is assigned, and a selection instruction is given.

Then, a drag menu 23 as shown in FIG. 7B is superimposed on the soft keyboard 20 and displayed. When the drag menu 23 is opened, the position of the pen 4 is the position of the key of the special character "(stock)" at the head, and the special character "(stock)" is highlighted.

In this state, the operator drags the pen 4 so that the key area of the special character “(Yes)” is highlighted as shown in FIG. 7C. After that, the pen 4 is released from the screen. Then, the special character “(Yes)” is input as a fixed input character. Also, when the pen 4 is released, the special character “(Yes)” selected and input becomes the top of the displayed drag menu 23, and thereafter, the drag menu 23 is deleted.
As shown in (D), the state returns to the state in which the soft keyboard 20 is displayed. At this time, the selected special character “(Yes)” is displayed on the soft keyboard 20.

As described above, for the special characters / symbols, one of the group of similar characters / symbols grouped is displayed on the soft keyboard 20 as a key.
When the key is selected and displayed, a drag menu appears, and a desired special character or symbol can be selected and input from the drag menu.

Therefore, it is not necessary to prepare all special characters and symbols as keys on the soft keyboard 20, and the area occupied by the soft keyboard 20 does not become enormous.

By selecting similar characters / symbols, a drag menu, which is a list containing special characters / symbols to be input, appears, and a desired character / symbol can be selected and input from the menu. It is not necessary to memorize the reading, and it is not necessary to search for the JIS code and input the code.

Further, once a similar character / symbol is selected from the group, the selected character / symbol is displayed as a special character / symbol selection key of the soft keyboard 20. -When selecting a symbol, it is possible to quickly select and input without performing a drag operation.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, when the special character / symbol selection key 22 is selected and instructed by the touch pen 4, the drag menu 23 is displayed immediately. Select key 22
The drag menu 23 may be displayed only when touching for a predetermined time or more.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the operation procedure in that case. In the case of this embodiment, the key touch time is set to a predetermined threshold time, for example, 2 between step S123 and step S128 in FIG.
A step is provided for determining whether the time is equal to or longer than seconds. If the key touch time is equal to or longer than the predetermined threshold time in that step, step S128
If the key touch time is equal to or shorter than the predetermined threshold time, the process proceeds to step S124.

Therefore, even if the special character / symbol selection key 22 of the soft keyboard 20 of FIG. 8A is used, as shown in FIG. When the character is immediately released, the displayed special characters / symbols are directly selected and input as fixed input characters / symbols.

Then, the operator operates the soft keyboard 20.
To select and input a special character / symbol that is not displayed in (1), the operator touches the key position of the group of similar characters / symbols with the touch pen 4 over the threshold time or more. Then, a drag menu 23 is displayed as shown in FIG. 8B, and FIG.
As shown in (D), by performing a drag operation in the drag menu 23 and selecting and operating a desired special character / symbol, the selection input of the desired character / symbol is performed in the same manner as described above. it can.

As described above, in the case of this embodiment, the characters and characters displayed on the soft keyboard 20 are displayed.
When a character / symbol is selected and input using only symbols, a drag menu is not displayed, so that an operator's selection operation is simplified.

The method of displaying the drag menu 23 only when the operator desires without displaying the drag menu 23 only by touching the pen 4 is not limited to the time of key touch. For example, one key 22
It may be determined whether or not to display the drag menu 23 based on whether or not the pen touch position has been slid by a certain distance or more in the area.

That is, in the case of this mode, the key 2 is inserted between step S123 and step S128 in FIG.
Step S128 is provided for determining whether the touch position of the pen 4 has slid and moved within a predetermined distance or more within the area of No. 2. If it is determined in this step that the touch position has slid, the process proceeds to step S128 and thereafter. When it is determined that the user has not moved, the process proceeds to step 124.

Also in this embodiment, the special character / symbol key 2 of the soft keyboard 20 shown in FIG.
9B, when the operator touches the key with the touch pen 4 and immediately releases the key, as shown in FIG. Is selected and input.

The operator operates the soft keyboard 20.
In the case of selecting and inputting a special character / symbol that is not displayed in the area, the operator touches the pen 22 in the area of the key 22 of the character / symbol similar to the desired character / symbol as shown in FIG. Slide the position. Then, a drag menu 23 is displayed as shown in FIG. 9 (D), and a desired special character / symbol is selected and operated by dragging in the drag menu 23 in the same manner as described above.・ You can select and input symbols.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining still another embodiment. This embodiment, as described above,
Special characters / symbols are assigned to a plurality of special character / symbol selection keys 22 by grouping, and the case is considered in which two different groups of characters / symbols are paired with each other.

For example, in the grouping shown in FIG. 2, the start piece of the parenthesis of the sixth group and the end piece of the parenthesis of the seventh group are used in pairs with each other. When the opening bracket is used, the ending bracket of the seventh group is then used.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the brackets at the beginning of the sixth group are selectively input from the drag menu 23, and the brackets displayed on the soft keyboard 20 are displayed before and after the selection input. When the parentheses are changed, the parentheses at the end of the seventh group are also changed to those that are paired with the brackets selected and input.

That is, in FIG. 10A, for example, when the key 22 at the upper right corner of the soft keyboard 20 on which the opening parenthesis "(" is displayed is selected and instructed by the touch pen 4 (instruction for a certain time or more) Or a slide instruction), as shown in FIG.
A drag menu 23 is displayed. When the operator drags the bracket "" from the drag menu 23 and releases the touch pen 4 from the tablet 3, the bracket "" is selected and input.

In the soft keyboard 20, the character / symbol display of the key in the upper right corner is changed from "(" to "" as shown in FIG.
The brackets of the key immediately below it are also changed from ")" to "".

Therefore, in the case of this embodiment,
The paired special characters / symbols are displayed on the soft keyboard 20 in conjunction with each other, so that the usability is improved.

In the description of the drawings of the embodiments described above, the drag menu 23 is displayed horizontally, but the drag menu 23 may be displayed vertically as shown in FIG. Further, instead of displaying the drag menu 23 in one line, the drag menu 23 may be displayed in a plurality of lines horizontally and vertically as shown in FIG. 12 or vertically and horizontally as shown in FIG.

In the description of the above-described embodiment,
The key positions for the special character / symbol selection are assigned to the two rightmost columns of the soft keyboard 20, but are not limited to this position. In particular, when a key position for selecting a special character / symbol is assigned to the leftmost two columns of the soft keyboard 20 and the drag menu is displayed starting from the key position, the drag / drop menu of the drag menu 23 is used.
The superimposed display on the keyboard 20 is larger, and the display screen space is effectively used.

Further, in the above description, the key selection instructing means has been described as an example of a touch pen, but it is needless to say that other pointing devices such as a mouse and a trackball can be used.

As a means for selecting special character / symbol similar groups from the list, a drag operation with a touch pen is used, but it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this. For example, by operating the special character / symbol key, a pull-down menu or another window is opened, a list of similar characters / symbols is displayed there, and a desired special character / symbol is selected from the list. You can also.

The present invention is not limited to a portable information device, but may be applied to any device that displays a software keyboard on a display and inputs characters and symbols. it can.

[0072]

As described above, according to the present invention, the list display of the software keyboard includes one character / symbol of each similar character / symbol group.
Since only the symbols need to be displayed, the area occupied by the software keyboard on the display screen is not so large.

Further, it becomes possible to select and input special characters and symbols only by selecting and instructing with a pointing device such as a touch pen, and the burden on the operator is very small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a software keyboard in an embodiment of a character / symbol input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a similar character / symbol group of special characters / symbols.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the portable information device to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of a portable information device to which an embodiment of the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 5 is a part of a flowchart for explaining a procedure of a character / symbol input method according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a continuation of the flowchart in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a procedure of a character / symbol input method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining another example of the procedure of the character / symbol input method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining another example of the procedure of the character / symbol input method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining another example of the procedure of the character / symbol input method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a display mode of a list of similar characters / symbol groups according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a display mode of a list of similar characters / symbol groups according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display mode of a list of similar characters / symbol groups according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Portable information equipment, 2 ... Display, 3 ... Tablet, 4 ... Touch pen, 6 ... Power button, 11 ... CPU,
12 ROM, 13 RAM, 14 display interface, 15 interface, 20 soft keyboard, 21 keys for selecting 50 sounds, 22 key for selecting special characters and symbols, 23 drag menu

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 15/02 310

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A display means for displaying a software keyboard comprising a list display of a plurality of characters / symbols, and a key position corresponding to one character / symbol is selected and instructed from said software keyboard. Selection instruction means for inputting a character / symbol corresponding to the selected key position as a fixed character / symbol, and a predetermined one of the list display of the software keyboard by the selection instruction means. A list of a plurality of characters / symbols included in a group of similar characters / symbols pre-assigned corresponding to the key position when any one key position of one or more specific positions is selected and indicated. Displaying a list and accepting an instruction to select one desired character / symbol from the displayed list of similar characters / symbols by the selection instruction means; When the character-symbol input device comprising a. 2. The character / symbol input device according to claim 1, wherein the list of a plurality of characters / symbols included in the similar character / symbol group is one of the one or more specific positions. A character / symbol input device which is displayed when one of the key positions is instructed by the selection instructing means for a predetermined time or more. 3. The character / symbol input device according to claim 1, wherein the list of a plurality of characters / symbols included in the similar character / symbol group is one of the one or more specific positions. A character / symbol input device, which is displayed when a position indicated by the selection instruction means slides within one key position range. 4. The character / symbol input device according to claim 1, wherein the character / symbol at the specific position on the software keyboard is set.
A character / symbol input device which displays a character / symbol selected and designated immediately before by the selection designating means from a list of a plurality of characters / symbols included in the similar character / symbol group as the symbol. . 5. The character / symbol input device according to claim 4, wherein one of the paired characters / symbols is divided into two of the specific positions of the software keyboard. When the character / symbol is changed from the similar character / symbol group for one of the two positions of the specific position by the selection instruction means. And a character / symbol input device for displaying the selected character / symbol pair as the character / symbol at the two positions of the specific positions of the software keyboard. 6. A method for inputting a character / symbol using a software keyboard comprising a list of a plurality of characters / symbols displayed on a display screen, the method comprising the steps of: A similar character / symbol group is assigned to a plurality of specific positions, and when any one key position of the specific position is selected and designated, similar characters are assigned in advance corresponding to the position. Displaying a list of a plurality of characters / symbols included in the symbol group, and performing a selection instruction by the selection instruction means on the list of a plurality of characters / symbols included in the similar character / symbol group; A character / symbol input method comprising selecting and inputting one character / symbol from a group of similar characters / symbols. 7. The character / symbol input method according to claim 6, wherein the character / symbol of the one or more specific positions is provided for a predetermined time or more predetermined by the selection instruction means. A character / symbol input method, wherein when a position is designated, a list of a plurality of characters / symbols included in the similar character / symbol group is displayed. 8. The character / symbol input method according to claim 6, wherein the position indicated by the selection instruction means slides within one key position range of the one or more specific positions. And displaying a list of a plurality of characters / symbols included in the similar character / symbol group. 9. The character / symbol input method according to claim 6, wherein the character / symbol at the specific position on the software keyboard is set.
As a symbol, a character / symbol input method characterized by displaying a character / symbol selected and instructed immediately before by the selection instructing means from a list of a plurality of characters / symbols included in the similar character / symbol group. . 10. The character / symbol input method according to claim 9, wherein one of the paired characters / symbols is divided into two of the specific positions of the software keyboard. When the character / symbol is changed from the similar character / symbol group for one of the two positions of the specific position by the selection instruction means. The character / symbol input method is characterized in that the selected character / symbol pair is displayed as the character / symbol at the two positions among the specific positions of the software keyboard.