JP2001134568A - Electronic dictionary - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic dictionary which efficiently displays dictionary data on a screen and makes it easy to find target dictionary data. SOLUTION: The electronic dictionary which has dictionary data 30 having information corresponding to index words, retrieves index words corresponding to an inputted character string, and displays information corresponding to an index word specified among the retrieved candidates, has a preview display means 23 which displays a candidate list of the index words corresponding to the inputted character and information corresponding to the index word selected from the candidate list with a cursor at the same time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to English-Japanese
It relates to electronic dictionaries represented by Japanese, English, Japanese, English and English.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electronic dictionary for displaying dictionary data such as a translation of a word, for example, when a word is input, a list of headwords corresponding to the word is displayed on a screen, and a desired word is selected from the list. By selecting a headword, the screen is switched and a translation of the selected headword is displayed.

When displaying related information such as synonyms, phrases, example sentences, etc. related to a headword, a predetermined operation is performed while a list of headwords and their translations are displayed on the screen. Similarly, the screen is switched and predetermined related information is displayed. However, when there are a plurality of headwords related to the input word or when there are a plurality of phrases using the input word, while switching the display screen between the selection of the headword and the display of the translation each time, There is a problem that it is necessary to search for a target word or phrase, which is inefficient.

[0004] For this reason, it has been proposed to display a plurality of headwords corresponding to an input word and a part of the head of the translation of each headword side by side.

[0005]

However, when displaying the list and the head of the translation of the list, the head of the translation mainly describes the type of part of speech, etc., and the outline of the translation can be understood only by displaying the head of the translation. There is a problem that it is difficult to find target information. Also, when performing a spell check, it is difficult to confirm whether the spelling is the target spelling only by the beginning of the sentence.

[0006] In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic dictionary that displays dictionary data efficiently on a screen and makes it easy to find target dictionary data.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided dictionary data having information corresponding to a headword, and a search for a headword corresponding to an input character is performed. In an electronic dictionary displaying information corresponding to a specified headword from among the candidates searched for, a candidate word display of a headword corresponding to the input character is displayed, and a cursor selected in the candidate list is displayed. An electronic dictionary having preview display means for simultaneously displaying information corresponding to the headword.

[0008] In a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the candidate list is a list of headwords including the input character, and the information corresponds to the headword. In the electronic dictionary. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the candidate list is a candidate list of headwords having a spelling similar to the spelling of the input word, and the information corresponds to the headword. An electronic dictionary characterized by the following.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, a plurality of types of the dictionary data are provided, and a headword corresponding to a word inputted from the plurality of types of the dictionary data is searched. The electronic dictionary is characterized by being performed. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided dictionary data having sub-information related to the headword together with information corresponding to the headword, wherein the sub-information is present when displaying the information corresponding to the headword. In the electronic dictionary displaying the sub-information corresponding to the sign when the sign is selected, the sub-information is displayed together with the information corresponding to the headword in the electronic dictionary that displays the sub-information corresponding to the selected sign. An electronic dictionary includes preview display means for simultaneously displaying only a sign and displaying sub-information corresponding to a sign selected from the signs.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the electronic dictionary according to the fifth aspect, wherein the sub-information is selected from a phrase, an example sentence, and a commentary related to the headword. . In the present invention, in the preview mode, information corresponding to one of the entry word lists can be viewed simultaneously without switching the screen.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail based on embodiments. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic dictionary according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external view of the electronic dictionary.

As shown in the figure, the electronic dictionary 10 includes a control unit 20 for controlling each unit, dictionary data 30 stored in a memory such as a ROM, and an input device 40 for inputting characters and operating the electronic dictionary. , Display device 50 for displaying various information
And The control unit 20 generally controls the electronic dictionary 10 by causing a CPU to execute a control program or the like stored in a memory such as a ROM. The control unit 20 mainly includes a search unit 21, a display unit 22, and a preview display unit. 23.

In the present embodiment, the dictionary data 30 is composed of English-Japanese, Japanese-English, English-English and thesaurus. For example, each of the English-Japanese, Japanese-English, and English-English dictionary data 30 includes a headword and its translation, and the translation includes, as sub-information, a phrase and an example sentence using the headword, a description of the headword, and the like. Have been. The input device 40 includes a character key 41 for inputting characters, and a selection key 42 for selecting a type of dictionary, selecting a headword, a phrase, and displaying a translation or an example sentence, and performing selection and confirmation. Further, a power switch 49 for turning on / off the power is provided. The selection keys 42 include, for example, a dictionary selection key 43 for selecting a dictionary, a cursor key 44 for moving a cursor, and a translation key 4 for displaying and fixing a translation.
5 and the like.

The display device 50 is a liquid crystal display device, and can display various information. The search means 21 searches for a headword corresponding to the character input by the character key 41 or the like. Specifically, “English-Japanese” of the dictionary selection key 43,
In the translation mode in which one of “Japanese English”, “English English”, and “synonyms” is pressed, a headword including the input character string is searched from the selected dictionary data 30, and the “spelling” of the dictionary selection key 43 is selected. In the spell check mode in which the user presses "", dictionary data in which a headword similar to the input character string is selected (this may be selected in advance, or may be, for example, both English and Japanese and English) Search from.

The display means 22 outputs to the display device 50 information necessary for guiding various operations, information indicating a result of the search by the search means 21, and the like. The preview display means 23 operates in a preview mode, and displays necessary information as a preview. Here, the preview display is, for example, displaying a translation corresponding to one of the headwords in a predetermined area in a state where a list of the searched headwords is displayed,
A list of headwords and a translation of the headword displayed as a preview are displayed on the display device 50 simultaneously on one screen. In the preview mode, for example, whether or not to perform a preview in each translation mode may be set in advance, or the preview mode may always be set as the default mode.

In such an electronic dictionary 10, for example, when a character is input by the character key 41 in the translation mode, the input character is temporarily stored as a character string in the RAM serving as storage means. Then, the search unit 21 of the control unit 20
Searches for a candidate entry word by comparing the character string stored in the RAM with the entry word in the stored dictionary data 30, and the searched entry word is temporarily stored in the RAM as a candidate list. .

Here, when the preview mode is not set, that is, in the normal mode, the display means 22
Displays the candidate list stored in the RAM on the display device 50 as one screen. After that, by selecting a target headword from the candidate list, the search means 21 searches for the translation of the headword, stores it in the RAM, and displays it on the display device 50 as one screen by the display means 22.

When the preview mode is set (in the present embodiment, the preview mode is always set in the translation mode and the spell check mode), the preview display means 23 stores the candidate stored in the RAM. The list is displayed in a predetermined area of the screen, for example, the lower half of the screen, and the translation of the headword at the cursor position of the candidate list is called from the dictionary data 30 and displayed in a predetermined area of the display device 50, for example, the upper half of the screen. . Although the position of the cursor is set to the headword at the head of the candidate list, when the cursor is moved with the cursor key 44, the preview display means 23 automatically previews the translation of the headword at the cursor position. Further, when the translation key 45 is pressed in this preview display state, the translation being previewed is selected and displayed on the entire screen, and when the return key 47 is pressed, the display returns to the preview display. When there is only one candidate entry word, a translation screen is displayed without displaying a preview.

Here, the design and display method of the screen to be preview-displayed are not particularly limited, but the screen may be divided into upper and lower or left and right and displayed. For example, the position for preview display may be set by the number of lines on the screen, the candidate list may be displayed on the entire screen, and the translation may be previewed below the set line. In the preview mode, the candidate list may be displayed only in the lower half of the screen, and the translation may be preview-displayed only in the upper half. Alternatively, the preview display unit 23 may set the preview display range to the right half on the screen, display the candidate list on the full screen, and display the candidate list on the right half screen as a preview. .

Here, the display operation of the electronic dictionary according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a use state of the electronic dictionary of the present invention, and FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams showing an example of a screen displayed in each step of FIG. . First, in step S1, the power switch 4
9, the power of the electronic dictionary 10 is turned on, and in step S2, a target dictionary is selected by the dictionary selection key 43 (in this case, English or Japanese is selected). The input screen is displayed. While looking at the character input screen, a character is input by the character keys 41 in step S3. This input character is temporarily stored in the RAM as a character string. The screen at this time is shown in FIG. FIG. 4A shows an example in which an English-Japanese dictionary is selected and "g", "e", and "t" are input.

Next, in step S4, it is determined whether or not the translation key 45 has been pressed. If the translation key 45 has been pressed, the search means 21 searches the dictionary data 30 for a headword including the input character string.
The data is temporarily stored in a predetermined area of the AM. Then, in step S5, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the preview display means 23 displays a list of candidate entry words on the screen in the lower half of the screen, and displays the translation of the first entry word on the candidate list on the screen. Preview display in half. Next, in this preview mode, it is determined in step S6 whether or not the cursor has been moved to another headword using the cursor key 44. If the cursor has been moved, a translation of the headword selected in step S7 is preview-displayed. You. By sequentially performing the preview display, a target headword can be easily found.

Next, when the translation key 45 is pressed in step S8, the display means 22 displays the translation of the target headword on the entire screen as shown in FIG. 4C in step S9. If another search is selected in step S10, the process returns to step S2. If another search is not selected, the power is turned off in step S11 and the process ends.

As described above, in the electronic dictionary of the present embodiment, the translation of the selected entry word can be viewed in the preview display while looking at the entry word candidate list, so that it is not necessary to switch the screen each time. Can be found efficiently. (Second Embodiment) The second embodiment is an example in which a spell check is performed using the electronic dictionary 10. In the present embodiment, a preview display unit always functions in the case of a spell check. Note that spell checking refers to searching for a spelling entry word similar to the spelling of an input character string and its dictionary data by a search unit, and a dictionary used for spell checking can be selected in advance. However, in the present embodiment, English-Japanese and English-English are selected.
FIG. 5 is a screen displayed by the display unit of the electronic dictionary according to the second embodiment, which will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the power of the electronic dictionary 10 is turned on by the power switch 49 in step S 1, and the spell check is selected by pressing “spell” of the dictionary selection key 43 in step S 2.
A character input screen (not shown) is displayed. Next, after inputting "apple" with the character keys 41 in step S3, by pressing the translation key 45 in step S4, the search unit 21 searches for a headword having a spelling similar to the spelling of the input character string. , Preview display means 2
As a result, the candidate list and the translation of the headword at the cursor position are displayed on the display device 50 as shown in FIG. That is, "apple", "appl", "AP
A head word, such as the translation of “apple”, is displayed in preview along with a candidate list of head words such as “R”. The candidate list includes English-Japanese and English-English headwords, but when dubbing, only one of them may be displayed preferentially, or both may be arranged to indicate which dictionary word it is. May be displayed. In this preview mode, it is determined in step S6 whether the cursor has been moved to another entry using the cursor key 44,
When moving, the translation of the headword selected in step S7 is preview-displayed as in the first embodiment. Therefore, by sequentially performing the preview display, a target headword can be easily found. Then, in step S8, the translation key 45 is pressed with the cursor positioned at the target headword, here "apple", and the translation of the target headword is performed at step S9 as shown in FIG. 5 (b). Displayed on the full screen.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when a target word is input, even if the spelling is incorrect, the preview display unit 23 sets the candidate list of the headword and the headword of the list with the cursor. Because the translation can be viewed at the same time, the target word can be efficiently searched for. (Embodiment 3) In the present embodiment, after the translation of the target headword in Embodiments 1 and 2 described above is displayed on the entire screen, a phrase and an example sentence including the headword, or a commentary using the headword Shows an example of preview display of.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of the third embodiment, and enters between steps S9 and S10 in the flow chart of FIG. 7 to 9 show screens displayed in each step. In the present embodiment, FIG.
As shown in (a), this is the step after displaying the translation corresponding to the target headword on the full screen. When the translation is displayed on the full screen and the mark key 46 is pressed, the cursor is
It is displayed at the icon on the upper right of the screen. here,
The type of part of speech possessed by the headword is displayed, and at the same time, if a phrase is retained as sub-information, an icon “Naru” is displayed. When each part-of-speech icon is selected, the screen moves to the position of the part-of-speech, and when "Naru" is selected, a list of phrases and a translation of one phrase are previewed.

In the case of “get” in FIG. 7A, the part of speech has an intransitive verb and a noun, and has a phrase. Therefore, when "compose" is selected in step S21, a list of phrases is displayed in the lower half by the preview display means 23 and the first phrase is displayed in the upper half in step S22, as shown in FIG. 7B. A preview of the phrase is displayed.
In this preview mode, it is determined in step S23 whether or not the cursor has been moved to another phrase by the cursor key 44. If the cursor has been moved, the translation of the phrase selected in step S24 is preview-displayed. By sequentially performing the preview display, a target phrase can be easily found. Then, in step S25, when the target phrase is selected by pressing the translation key 45, in step S26, as shown in FIG. 7C, the display unit 22 displays the translation of the selected phrase in a display device. 5
0 is displayed on the entire screen.

On the other hand, if the cursor is moved to the translated sentence by the cursor key 44 without selecting a phrase in step S21, the cursor becomes a marker of the sub information in the translated sentence, ie,
It jumps to any one of "sentence" indicating an example sentence which is sub information, "synonym" indicating an explanation of a synonym, or "word form" indicating an explanation of a word form, and sequentially moves between markers. By the movement of the cursor, it is determined whether or not the marker of the sub information is selected in step S31, and in step S32, the content of the sub information selected by the movement of the cursor is preview-displayed on the lower half screen. If the cursor movement is determined in step S33, the sub-information content at the cursor position is preview-displayed in step S34. Further, on this preview display screen, if it is determined in step S35 that the translation key 45 has been pressed, only the contents of the sub information are displayed on the entire screen in step S36.

FIG. 8A is a screen displaying a preview of an example sentence as sub-information in “get”.
(B) is a screen displaying only the information of the example sentence. Also,
FIG. 9A is a screen showing a preview of synonyms as sub-information, and FIG. 9B is a screen showing only synonym information on the entire screen. Thus, in the present embodiment,
Since sub-information such as example sentences, phrases, and synonyms can be preview-displayed while a headword and a translation are displayed as dictionary data on the screen, target sub-information can be efficiently searched for.

(Others) Note that the preview display is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, when an example sentence search or phrase search is performed, a translation of the selected example sentence or phrase along with a list of example sentences or phrases is previewed. It can also be used for displaying.

[0031]

As described above, in the electronic dictionary of the present invention, one dictionary data can be displayed on the screen, and information corresponding to the displayed dictionary data can be preview-displayed on the screen. Dictionary data can be searched efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an external view of an electronic dictionary according to each embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a use state of the electronic dictionary according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a screen displayed by a display unit in each step of FIG. 3 in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a drawing displayed by a display unit in each step of FIG. 3 in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a use state of the electronic dictionary according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by a display unit in each step of FIG.

8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by a display unit in each step of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by a display unit in each step of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electronic dictionary 20 Control part 21 Search means 22 Display means 23 Preview means 30 Dictionary data 40 Input device 41 Character key 42 Selection key 50 Display device

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A system comprising dictionary data having information corresponding to a headword, searching for a headword corresponding to an input character, and retrieving information corresponding to a specified headword from the searched candidates. The electronic dictionary to be displayed has preview display means for simultaneously displaying a candidate list of headwords corresponding to the input characters and displaying information corresponding to the headword selected by the cursor in the candidate list. An electronic dictionary, characterized in that: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the candidate list includes:
An electronic dictionary, which is a list of headwords including input characters, wherein the information is a translation corresponding to the headword. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the candidate list is:
An electronic dictionary, which is a candidate list of entry words having a spelling similar to the spelling of an input word, wherein the information is a translation corresponding to the entry word. 4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of types of dictionary data are provided, and a headword corresponding to a word input from the plurality of types of dictionary data is searched. dictionary. 5. It comprises dictionary data having information corresponding to the headword and sub-information related to the headword,
When displaying information corresponding to the headword, an electronic dictionary that displays only a sign indicating that the sub-information is present, omits its contents, and displays the sub-information corresponding to the selected sign when it is selected In the preview display means for simultaneously displaying only information indicating the presence of the sub-information together with the information corresponding to the headword, and display of the sub-information corresponding to the sign selected among the signs An electronic dictionary, comprising: 6. The electronic dictionary according to claim 5, wherein the sub-information is selected from phrases, example sentences, and explanations related to the headword.