JP2001273215A - System and method for designating network place and telephone number, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To designate a place on a computer network with a method familiar and easy for a user. SOLUTION: When an arbitrary symbol 75 is selected and copied to a clip board(CB) 79 on a word processor 71 of a client computer(COM) 3, for example, a linker 23 fetches a symbol 81 in the CB 79 and sends it to a URL server 5. The URL server 5 has the sets of various symbols 105A, etc., and URL 107A, etc., corresponding thereto, retrieves the URL corresponding to the received symbol 103 from a DB and returns that retrieved URL 109 to the linker 23 of the COM. The linker 23 starts a WWW browser (WEB) 21 and dispatches the URL 95 received from the server 5 to the WEB, and the WEB accesses and displays a page existent in the URL 99.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system and method for specifying a network location, a system and method for specifying a telephone number, and a recording medium for using a communication network by using a computer. Location or logical location, such as Internet Uniform Resource Locators (URL), E-mail (E-mail) address, telephone number on telephone network, etc. Related to technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various communication networks that can be accessed by computers, such as the Internet and various intranets, use the World Wide Web (hereinafter "WW").
W "), e-mail, and file transfer protocol (hereinafter, referred to as" FTP "). To use these services, the user must specify the location on the network to which the information is to be provided or to which the information is to be transferred.

For example, a WWW browser type application (here, the term “application” is used to mean “application program”) is used to access the contents of a specific website on the Internet (here, "Access" means connecting to a network location, such as a website, and allowing the connected computer to see a home page, index page, etc. returned and opened by default). Must specify a URL indicating the location of the website to a browser-type application (hereinafter, referred to as “browser”). When making a call from a computer, the user must specify a telephone number to be dialed for an application for dialing a telephone number (hereinafter referred to as a “dial-up application”) (here, the telephone number is “dial-up”). '' Means making a phone call in a very general sense, the purpose of which may be voice communication, modem transmission, facsimile transmission, etc., and outgoing can be done with a rotary type dial pulse or with a touch tone. May be done).

[0004]

The most common way to specify a URL is to type from a keyboard. However, since a URL is a string of more than a dozen to more than twenty characters, and many of which are difficult for humans to remember, most users avoid typing this. The same applies to telephone numbers.

[0005] As a method of facilitating URL specification, WW
A function of a URL list such as a so-called “bookmark” and “favorite” of the W browser is known. However, as the number of entries in the list increases, it becomes difficult to quickly select a desired one from among them, and even if it is not clear which entry in the list corresponds to which website, come. In addition, this feature is not available for unlisted URLs, and must be entered first by typing or using a link from another website to access the URL. No.

[0006] Further, there is a case where, while performing some work on a certain application, it is desired to obtain information related to the work content from a network. For example, a word processor type application (hereinafter, referred to as
If you are creating a document on "intellectual property rights" with a "word processor", open the JPO's website to check the contents of the JPO's services, or create a document on "automobile" For example, a website of a certain car maker is opened to check the specifications of a certain car model. In this case, the user first interrupts the work with the application currently used, and then
Launch W browser (here, "Launch" means
Means to start the execution of the application and, in a multi-program loading type or multi-task type environment, if the application has already been executed and is currently running in the background, the application running in the background is It is necessary to perform an operation of designating a URL of a desired website. This is quite troublesome for the user. The same applies when making a call.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to allow a user to specify a location on a communication network in a manner that is easy and familiar to a user.

It is another object of the present invention to specify a location on a communication network from a given application and receive a communication service related to the location by a simple method.

[0009]

A network location designating system according to the present invention is a system for designating a location on a network for a network application for using the network on the computer. The user arbitrarily specifies on the selected application from a memory area that can be used to transfer data from the application arbitrarily selected by the user to the outside of the selected application. A symbol receiving unit for receiving the symbol, and converting the symbol received by the symbol receiving unit to location information indicating a location previously associated with the symbol, and using the location information to the network application Symbol Comprising a conversion unit that specifies the response Tagged location, and a voice recognition processing unit that outputs the code data as the symbol to the memory area.

That is, the system according to the first aspect of the present invention enables a network application on a computer, for example, a WWW browser or an e-mail processing application (hereinafter, “E-mailer”) to use a location on the network. , A system for specifying the location, a symbol receiving unit for receiving a symbol arbitrarily specified by the user, and converting the received symbol into location information indicating a location on the network associated with the symbol in advance. And a conversion unit, and specifies a location for the network application using the location information.

Here, the symbol is an object that can be displayed on a man-machine interface of a computer, and is, for example, text data, vector graphic data, bit image data, sound data, file, folder, directory, path, and the like. There can be.
The symbol desirably reminds the user of some meaning or idea. Typical of such symbols are words, phrases, sentences expressed in human terms, and human-designed figure name marks. Trademarks, service marks, verifications, names, titles, advertising phrases, etc. are suitable for symbols.

The symbol receiving section receives symbols from a memory area of the computer, which can be used to transfer data from an application arbitrarily selected by the user to the outside of the application. When a user places a symbol in such a memory area, the symbol can be captured by the symbol receiver. For example, in a preferred embodiment, the memory area includes a clipboard type memory area (hereinafter, “clipboard”), and when a user selects an arbitrary symbol on an arbitrary application and copies it to the clipboard. , The system receives the symbol from this clipboard. In a preferred embodiment, a picture (such as an icon or a window) indicating the present system is displayed on a desktop screen (hereinafter, “desktop”) of a man-machine interface screen, and a user is provided in the memory area. A memory area in which the data on the selected application is retained when the data is dragged and dropped onto the picture (using a mouse-type interface), and the user can add a symbol to the picture on the picture. When dragged and dropped onto the system, the system receives the symbol.

In the present system, when a user specifies a symbol on an arbitrary application, a network application uses a location corresponding to the specified symbol. Therefore, as long as the user knows the symbol, he can access the network location corresponding to the symbol. A company's trade name, trademark, or personal name is a typical example that can be used as a symbol. By simply specifying an appropriate symbol, a user can access a company or individual's website or send an e-mail to the company or individual. Or you can.

The designation of a symbol need not be performed on a network application, but can be performed on any application. For example, if you select the name of a company on a word processor and put it on the clipboard,
A WWW browser is automatically launched to access the company's website.

Preferably, the memory area includes a clipboard, and the code data is copied to the clipboard by a voice instruction.

Preferably, the network location specifying system has a picture representing the network location specifying system on a man-machine interface screen of the computer, and the memory area stores data on the selected application. A memory area in which the data is held when the user drags and drops the picture on the picture, and the code data is dragged and dropped to the memory area by a voice instruction.

Preferably, the computer has a buffer, receives a character input by a user, temporarily stores the character in the buffer, converts the stored character if necessary, and if not necessary, In a case where the memory area includes the IME to be transferred to the designated application without performing the conversion, the memory area includes the buffer of the IME, and the symbol is determined in the IME by a voice instruction.

In a preferred embodiment, the computer includes:
An input method editor with a buffer is provided. The buffer temporarily receives characters or character strings input by the user from a keyboard-type input device, and temporarily stores the characters or character strings. Characters or character strings are passed to a specific application without conversion if necessary, and if not necessary, the buffer of the input method editor is also included in the memory area described above. ing.

Preferably, the conversion unit includes a search request unit for generating a search request for the symbol received by the symbol reception unit, and a database storing a set of a large number of symbols and corresponding location information. A search unit that searches for the location information corresponding to the symbol from the database in response to a search request from the search request unit, and receives the location information searched by the search unit; A location information receiving unit that specifies a location corresponding to the symbol.

A network location specifying method according to the present invention is a method for specifying a location on a network for a network application for using the network on a computer. Receiving a symbol arbitrarily designated by the user on the selected application from a memory area available for transferring data from the arbitrarily selected application to the outside of the selected application. And converting the symbol received in the symbol receiving step into location information indicating a location previously associated with the symbol, and using the location information to associate the symbol with the symbol for the network application. Comprising a conversion step to specify the location, and a voice recognition processing step of outputting the code data as the symbol to generate code data receiving voice into the memory area.

A network location designating apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus mounted on the computer for designating a location on the network for a network application for using the network on the computer. From the memory area available for transferring data from the application arbitrarily selected by the user to the outside of the selected application, the user can arbitrarily select the application on the selected application. A symbol receiving unit that receives a designated symbol, a speech recognition processing unit that outputs code data as the symbol to the memory area, and a search request for the symbol received by the symbol receiving unit, on the computer and the communication unit. Ne A search request unit that sends a search result returned from the database in response to the search request, and a location indicating the location on the network corresponding to the symbol in the search result. If information is included, a location information receiving unit is provided for designating a location corresponding to the symbol in the network application using the location information.

[0022] A network location designating method according to the present invention is a method performed by the computer for designating a location on the network for a network application for using the network on the computer, the method being executed by the computer. The user arbitrarily specifies on the selected application from a memory area that can be used to transfer data from the application arbitrarily selected by the user to the outside of the selected application. A symbol receiving step of receiving the symbol, a code recognition processing step of receiving the voice to generate code data, and outputting the code data as the symbol to the memory area, and a step of receiving the symbol in the symbol receiving step. A search requesting step of sending a search request for a bol to a database existing on either the computer or the communication network; and receiving a search result returned from the database in response to the search request. If location information indicating a location on the network corresponding to the symbol is included, a location information receiving step of specifying a location corresponding to the symbol to the network application using the location information is provided.

A recording medium according to the present invention includes a method for designating a location on a network for a network application for using the network.
In a computer-readable recording medium storing a program to be executed by a computer, the program stores data from an application arbitrarily selected by a user to an outside of the selected application in a memory area of the computer. A symbol receiving step of receiving a symbol arbitrarily designated by the user on the selected application from a memory area available for transfer; and receiving the voice to generate code data to generate the code as the symbol. A voice recognition processing step of outputting data to the memory area; and a search for sending a search request for the symbol received in the symbol receiving step to a database existing on either the computer or the communication network. Lai and step receives search results returned from the database to the search request,
If the search result includes location information indicating a location on the network corresponding to the symbol, a location information receiving step of specifying a location corresponding to the symbol to the network application using the location information And to execute.

A network location designating system according to the present invention is a system for designating a location on the communication network for a network application accessing the communication network on a computer, wherein a user operates on a display screen of the computer. A character string capturing unit for capturing a selected character string, a location character string extracting unit for extracting a character string indicating a location on the communication network from the captured character strings, and the extracted character string for the network application And specify
Accordingly, a location specifying unit that causes the network application to execute communication related to the location indicated by the extracted character string, and a voice recognition processing unit that outputs code data as the character string to the character string capturing unit. Is provided.

According to this system, when a user selects an arbitrary character string including a character string (for example, a telephone number, a URL, an e-mail address) indicating a location on a network on a computer screen, an automatic operation is performed. The location is designated in the network application, and communication relating to the location can be performed.

In a preferred embodiment, on a computer:
There are applications that can handle characters, such as word processors and spreadsheet applications, which are different from network applications. The user can select an arbitrary character string on the user interface screen and pass it to the character capturing unit while working on an arbitrary application. For example, on a document being edited by a word processor, a phrase including a telephone number can be selected and passed to a character capturing unit. Then, the telephone application starts up and automatically calls the telephone number included in the phrase. Similarly, a facsimile application can be activated to automatically perform facsimile communication.

Preferably, the network location specifying system has a picture representing the network location specifying system on a man-machine interface screen of the computer, and the character string capturing unit is configured to display the picture on the man-machine interface screen. A character string dragged and dropped by the user on the picture is captured, and the code data is dragged and dropped on the picture by a voice instruction.

[0028] A network location designating method according to the present invention is a method for designating a location on a communication network on a computer for a network application accessing the communication network. Outputting a voice recognition processing step, capturing a character string selected by a user on a display screen of the computer, and extracting a character string indicating a location on the communication network from the captured character string. Designating the extracted character string to the network application, thereby causing the network application to execute communication related to the location indicated by the extracted character string.

A recording medium according to the present invention is a method for designating a location on a communication network on a computer for a network application accessing the communication network, and outputs code data as a character string. Voice recognition processing step, capturing the character string selected by the user on the display screen of the computer, from the captured character string, extracting a character string indicating a location on the communication network, Specifying the extracted character string to the network application, thereby causing the network application to execute communication relating to the location indicated by the extracted character string. The program to be executed Is a record of an arm.

The telephone number designation system according to the present invention comprises:
In a system for designating a telephone number for a telephone application for making a telephone call on a computer, a voice recognition processing step of outputting code data as a character string, and a user selecting on a display screen of the computer A character string capturing unit that captures the character string, a database including a plurality of words, and a plurality of telephone numbers associated with the words, and comparing the captured character string with the words in the database. And when a match is obtained, a matching unit that determines a phone number associated with the matched word, and specifies the determined phone number to the phone application, thereby causing the phone application to And a number designating unit for making a call to the determined telephone number.

According to this system, when the user selects an arbitrary character string on the screen of the computer, it is possible to automatically make a call to a telephone number previously associated with the character string.

In a preferred embodiment, the symbol or character string is assigned not only a network location, but also a specific action to be performed by the computer (eg, opening a particular file, launching a particular application, etc.). it can. When the user selects the symbol or character string, an execution instruction for the action is generated in the computer, and the computer executes the action.

In a preferred embodiment, the computer has a symbol link web in which various symbols or character strings are linked to each other, and a user can follow a link in the symbol link web to obtain a certain symbol link web. Jump from one symbol to another linked to it,
From there, an operation of jumping to another symbol can be performed, and by this operation, a desired symbol can be found. Then, when the user selects the symbol of interest, the user can access a network location assigned to the symbol or execute an action assigned to the symbol.

The present invention is typically carried out by a computer, and a computer program therefor can be installed or loaded on the computer through various media such as a disk-type storage, a semiconductor memory, and a communication signal. Further, at least a part of the present invention can be implemented by dedicated hardware. Also,
The system of the present invention can be implemented by one computer machine, or can be implemented by a plurality of computer machines in a distributed manner.

A telephone number designating method according to the present invention is a method for designating a telephone number for a telephone application for making a telephone call on a computer, wherein the voice recognition processing step outputs code data as a character string. Capturing the character string selected by a user on a display screen of the computer; and using the database including a plurality of words and a plurality of telephone numbers associated with the words, using the captured character string. Collating a column with the words in the database and, if a match is obtained, determining a telephone number associated with the matched word; and specifying the determined telephone number to the telephone application, Thereby causing the telephone application to make a call to the determined telephone number. It is obtain things.

A recording medium according to the present invention is a method for designating a telephone number to a telephone application for making a telephone call on a computer, and includes a voice recognition processing step of outputting code data as a character string. When,
Capturing the character string selected by a user on a display screen of the computer;
Using a database containing a plurality of telephone numbers associated with those words, comparing the captured character string with the words in the database, if a match is obtained, it is associated with the matched words. Determining a telephone number that is present, and specifying the determined telephone number to the telephone application, thereby causing the telephone application to call the determined telephone number. In a computer.

Examples of the medium include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, DVD, ROM cartridge,
It includes a RAM memory cartridge with a battery backup, a flash memory cartridge, a nonvolatile RAM cartridge, and the like.

The communication medium also includes a communication medium such as a wired communication medium such as a telephone line and a wireless communication medium such as a microwave line. The Internet is also included in the communication medium mentioned here.

A medium is a medium on which information (mainly digital data and programs) is recorded by some physical means, and which allows a processing device such as a computer or a dedicated processor to perform a predetermined function. You can do it.
In short, any method may be used as long as the program is downloaded to the computer by some means and a predetermined function is executed.

[0040]

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of an embodiment of a network location specifying system according to the present invention.

This embodiment is used for designating a URL for a WWW browser of a computer using the Internet. However, after reading the description of this embodiment below, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of the present invention
It should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to Internet URLs, but can be applied to various types of location designations in various types of computer networks.

The system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of client computers 1 connectable to the Internet.
A, 3B,... And the client computer 3A,
3B,... And at least one URL server 5 capable of two-way communication. Each of the client computers 1A, 3B,... Has a WWW browser 21A, 21B,
... and resident program 23A, 2 called "linker"
3B,... Are installed. The URL server 5 typically exists on the Internet, and bidirectionally communicates with the client computers 1A, 3B,... Using, for example, a hypertext transfer protocol (hereinafter, referred to as “HTTP”). The URL server 5 has a database 15 in which a number of symbols 11A, 11B,...
L13A, 13B,... Are linked to each other and accumulated (the “link” here is a meaning different from “link” or “jump” formed by a statement of the hypertext markup language). Please be careful not to get confused.)

Here, "symbol" is data of a symbol (symbol) that can be recognized and stored by a human with the five senses, and that can be designated by a human through a man-machine interface of the computer to a computer. Point. The most typical types of symbols are text data such as characters and symbols that are most standardized in various applications such as desktop publishing type (hereinafter referred to as “DTP”) and spreadsheets, for example, words,
Data such as phrases, sections, sentences, and sentences. The symbol is not limited to text data, but may be vector graphic data handled by a draw graphics application or bit image data handled by a paint graphics application. The symbol may be three-dimensional graphic data representing a three-dimensional representation as handled by a three-dimensional graphics application. Furthermore, not only a symbol that can be recognized visually, but also a symbol that can be recognized auditory, for example, data such as melody and rhythm can be symbols. It is desirable that the symbol represents some meaning or idea. Those that do not remind humans of any meaning or idea, such as random numbers, are not suitable as symbols. On the other hand, words, phrases, sections, sentences,
A sentence, a trademark, a service mark, a publicity phrase, a trade name, a name, a name, and the like are optimal as symbols. Place names, street addresses, telephone numbers, etc. are also suitable as symbols.

Each of the client computers 3A, 3B,
Are the client computers 3A, 3
Any symbol can be specified for the linkers 23A, 23B,. Each of the linkers 23A, 23 in the client computers 3A, 3B,.
B transmit a search request to the URL server 5 using the specified symbols 7A, 7B,... As search keys (that is, objects such as words to be searched for). The URL server 5 includes client computers 1A, 3B,.
Are used as search keys with the symbols 7A, 7B,.
5, each URL corresponding to each symbol 7A, 7B,...
9A, 9B,... And URL server 5
.. Link the searched URLs 9A, 9B,... To the linkers 23A, 23
Return to B, ... Each client computer 1A,
When each of the linkers 23A, 23B,... In each of the URLs 3B,.
Start the WW browsers 21A, 21B,.
Give A, 9B, ... Therefore, each WWW browser 21
A, 21B,... Open the pages of the respective URLs 9A, 9B,.

By the above operation, the user of each of the client computers 3A, 3B,... Can obtain the same result as that of specifying the URL by specifying the symbol. For example, specifying the word "patent office" as a symbol will open the website of the patent office. Therefore, the user only needs to know the symbol of the page to be opened, and does not need to know the URL. Symbols such as texts and figures that can be easily remembered by humans can be set. For example, for a company website, a symbol that is easy for the user to use, such as a trade name, a trademark, a catch phrase such as “in front of a station,” or a picture of a mascot character can be set. Therefore, it is much easier for the user to specify a symbol than to specify a URL. Even in the case of registering in a list such as "favorite" or "bookmark", by registering using a symbol, it is easy to find a desired entry from the list.

A plurality of symbols can be set for one URL. For example, for a company's website, three types of company name, figure mark, and catchphrase are set as symbols. The same symbol can be assigned to a plurality of URLs. For example, for URLs of a plurality of companies belonging to a certain company group, the name of the company group is set as a symbol.

When searching for a symbol, if the symbol is image data or sound data, it is possible to determine the match or mismatch using a pattern recognition technique relating to the image or sound.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the client 3. As the client 3, an ordinary personal computer, workstation, or the like can be used. C
A display unit (CRT) 3-2, a keyboard 3-5, and a mouse 3-6 as a pointing device are connected to the PU 3-1. Further, the voice recognition unit 3-3 is also connected. The voice recognition unit 3-3 picks up the voice of the user from the microphone 3-4, performs a known process, and converts the voice into a predetermined symbol. For example, when the user pronounces "Tokchocho", the code data of "Patent Office" is output. When the user pronounces "sankaku", the code data of "triangle" or "△" is output. The voice recognition unit 3
-3 may be built in the CPU 3-1 or may be realized by a program.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the operation of the voice processing unit 3-3 to the CPU
1 shows a procedure for transferring code data to the C.I. The input mode is manually or automatically converted from a keyboard input to a voice recognition mode through the microphone 3-4 (S3-1). For example, the user performs a predetermined operation using a keyboard,
The mode is converted by clicking a predetermined icon on the screen with a mouse or by saying "voice processing mode" toward the microphone. Alternatively, when specific software is activated, the voice recognition mode may be set first.

When the voice recognition mode is set, the voice recognition process starts (S3-2). The process is started when the user performs a predetermined operation or speaks into the microphone. Alternatively, the user may utter a specific sound, for example, “start”.

When the user speaks to input a symbol (S3-3), voice recognition processing is performed, and the display unit 3-
2 displays the recognized code (S3-4). If the displayed code is the desired one, the user selects it, otherwise instructs to display the next candidate (S3-6). For example, if "Patent Office" is displayed as a result of saying "Tokyocho", the user must say "Select" or "Stop", or perform a predetermined operation using the keyboard or mouse. Select by. If you say "triangle" to get the code "△" and you see "triangle",
The user utters “next” or performs a predetermined operation using a keyboard or a mouse to display the next candidate. Note that a plurality of candidates may be displayed as recognition results, and the user may select a desired one from these.

When the code is selected (S3-7), the CP
The code data is transmitted to U (S3-8). The code data is transmitted automatically or manually. For example, it is transmitted when the user generates “start processing” and “GO”. The transmitted code data is treated as a symbol, and the following processing is performed.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the man-machine interface screen 31 of the client computer 3 when the user specifies a symbol. Although the example shown in FIG. 4 is based on the Microsoft Windows environment, those skilled in the art should be able to easily understand what the other operating environment is.

On the desktop 39 of the screen 31 shown in FIG. 4, the WWW browser 21 and the word processor are displayed.
Windows 33, 35 and 37 of some applications already started by the user are open. The edit box 43 of the linker 23 is also open. The icon 41 of the linker 23 is also placed on the desktop 39. The task bar 45 on the edge of the screen 31 includes the linker 23
Control button 47 is placed.

The user can enable or disable the function of the linker 23 by clicking or double-clicking the linker control button 47 in the task bar 45. Only when the linker 23 is valid, the symbol is changed to the linker 2 by the operation described below.
3 can be given.

Here, it is assumed that the user wants to open the JPO website while creating a document using an arbitrary application such as a word processor. Then, the user selects the word “Patent Office” 51, which is a symbol of the Patent Office, if present in the document being created, or types in the word “Patent Office” 51 from the keyboard. (The word "patent office" 51 is highlighted). Alternatively, a speech signal is given through the microphone 3-4 to perform speech recognition processing, and a recognized word is selected. Subsequently, the user may select any one of several optional operations, such as (1) to (3) below, in order to pass the selected word “patent office” 51 as a symbol to the linker 23. Do one.

(1) Copy the word "patent office" 51 to the clipboard. That is, for example, "Control +
C "or a copy button 53 in the toolbar of the word processor window 35.
Click. Alternatively, "copy" is uttered toward the microphone 3-4, and when "copy" is recognized, "execute" is generated, thereby copying the word "patent office" 51 to the clipboard.

(2) As shown by the arrow 55, the word "patent office" 51 is dragged and dropped onto the icon 41 of the linker 23. Or, say “drag and drop to the linker” to execute the same processing.

(3) As shown by the arrow 57, the word "patent office" 51 is copied to the edit box 43 of the linker 23 by dragging and dropping, and the return key is pressed to enter the word "patent office" 51. determine. Note that, after dragging and dropping the word “patent” on the word processor into the edit box 43, the word “patent” on the edit box 43 can be determined as “patent office”. Or, say “drag and drop to the linker edit box” to execute the same processing.

When any of the above operations is performed, the linker 23 receives the word “Patent Office” 51 as a symbol,
This is sent to the URL server 5 as described above, and the URL of the JPO website "http://www.jpo-miti.go.jp"
/ ”, And issues a start command of the WWW browser 21 containing the URL. Thereby, WW
URL of JPO website to W Browser 21
"Http://www.jpo-miti.go.jp/" is designated. As a result, window 3 of WWW browser 21
3, the URL “http://www.jpo-miti.go.jp/”
61 and the Patent Office website 63 are displayed.

As a method of designating a symbol in the linker 23, there are other methods such as a linker edit box 43.
There is also a method of directly inputting a symbol into a window or a method of inputting a symbol instead of inputting a URL in a so-called “open location” on the window 33 of the WWW browser. Also in this case, the speech recognition processing can be used as in the above-described case.

FIG. 5 shows the internal configuration and functions of the client computer 3 and the URL server 5 for realizing the above-described operation.

In the client computer 3, the linker 23 monitors a clipboard 79 which is one of the memory areas managed by the OS 73. When a certain symbol 75 is copied from the memory area of a certain application, for example, the word processor 71 to the clipboard 79 (arrow 77), the linker 23 takes in the symbol 81 in the clipboard 79 (arrow 83). Subsequently, the linker 23 refers to its own cache file 87, and searches the same for the same symbol as the symbol 85 just fetched. Cache file 87
, URLs 91A, 91B, and the latest predetermined number of symbols 89A, 89B,.
B,... Are stored. If the same symbol (for example, 89B) as the symbol 85 just acquired is found in the cache file 87, the linker 23
Reads the URL 91B corresponding to the symbol 89B from the cache file 87 (arrow 93), and passes the read URL 95 to the WWW browser 21 (arrow 97).

If the same symbol as the symbol 85 just taken in is not present in the cache file 87, the linker 2
3 sends a search request using the symbol 85 as a search key to the URL server 5 (arrow 101). The URL server 5 searches the database 15 for the same symbol as the received symbol 103, and searches for that symbol (for example, 105
If B) is found, the corresponding URL 107B is read from the database 15 (arrow 108), and the read URL 109 is returned to the linker 23 (arrow 11).
1). The linker 111 receives the UR received from the server 5
L95 is passed to the WWW browser 21 (arrow 97). The linker 23 links the symbol 85 sent to the server 5 with the URL 95 received from the server 5 and registers the link in the cache file 87 (arrows 113 and 115).

When the symbol 75 is passed from a certain application such as the word processor 71 to the linker by drag and drop, the following operation is performed.
Symbol 75 on the memory area of the word processor 71
Is dragged, the symbol 75 changes to the dotted line 11.
7, it is under the control of the OS 73. When the dragged symbol 75 is dropped on, for example, the icon of the linker 23, the linker 8
5 copies the symbol 75 into its own memory area and takes it in (arrow 119). The processing after the symbol is fetched is the same as the case where the symbol is fetched from the clipboard 79.

Further, the linker 23 is connected to the keyboard 121.
It also monitors that a symbol is input to the WWW browser 21 in place of the URL as a so-called "open location" by the type input from. That is, the linker 23 is
S73 converts the symbol input from keyboard 121 into W
The path (arrow 123) passed to the WW browser 123 is monitored, and a symbol is fetched therefrom (arrow 127). still,
Whether the typed text is a symbol or URL
For example, if the text matches a predetermined format of the URL, the URL is determined to be a symbol, and if the text does not match, the symbol is determined to be a symbol. The operation after taking in the symbol is the same as the operation described above.

FIG. 6 shows a processing flow of the linker 23.
The linker 23 periodically checks whether or not a symbol has entered the clipboard (S1). Further, as described above, it is also checked whether a symbol has been input as a so-called “opening place” in the WWW browser 21 (S
2). If any check result is YES, the linker 23 fetches the symbol, and first searches for the same symbol as the symbol from its own cache file 87 (S4). Also, when a symbol is transferred by drag and drop from another application (S3), the linker 23 proceeds to step S4.

At step S4, the cache file 87
When the corresponding symbol is found from the URL, the linker 23 reads all URLs corresponding to the symbol from the cache file 87 (S5). And the read UR
If there is only one L, the linker 23 issues a start command of the WWW browser 21 and passes the URL to the WWW browser 21 (S9). If there are a plurality of URLs read from the cache file 87, a list of the plurality of URLs is displayed on the man-machine interface screen in order to allow the user to select one of the URLs (S7). The user is one URL from the list
Is selected (S8), the linker 23 proceeds to step S9
Then, the URL is passed to the WWW browser 21. If the user rejects (cancels) the selection from the list, the linker 23 proceeds to step S10 described below.
Proceed to.

If the corresponding symbol is not found in the cache file 87 in the above step S4, the linker 23 sends the symbol to the URL server 5 and requests a search (S10). (S11). When the response of the search result is received from the server 5, if the search result is only one URL, the linker 23 issues a start command of the WWW browser 21 and passes the URL to the WWW browser 21 (S15). On the other hand, when a plurality of URLs are included in the search result, the linker 23
In order to allow the user to select an RL, a list of the plurality of URLs is displayed on the man-machine interface screen (S1).
4). If the user selects one URL from the list, the linker 23 proceeds to step S15 and
L is passed to the WWW browser 21. If the user refuses (cancels) the selection from the list, Linker 2
3 returns to the first step S1 without doing anything further.
In addition, even when the URL is not included in the response from the server 5, the linker 23 returns to the first step S1 without performing any further operation (for example, "the location corresponding to the symbol was not found". Error message may be displayed).

In step S15, the URL is sent to the WWW browser.
, The linker 23 further sends the symbol and U
Write the RL set to the cache file 87 (S
16) Then, the process returns to the first step S1.

FIG. 7 shows a processing flow of the URL server 5. When the URL server 5 receives the symbol search request from the linker 23 (S21), the database 15
Is searched for the symbol (S22). If the symbol is found, all the URLs corresponding to the symbol are read out from the database 15 and returned to the linker S23 as a search result (S23). If the symbol is not found in the database 15, a reply indicating that there is no hit is returned (S2).
3).

When a plurality of URLs correspond to one symbol, the URL server 5 may perform the following instead of returning the plurality of URLs to the linker 23. That is, one URL list page having links to the plurality of URLs is prepared in advance, and the URL of the URL list page is stored in the database 15 in association with the symbol. Therefore, in response to the symbol search request, the URL server 5 returns the URL of the URL list page as a search result. As a result, the URL list page is displayed on the WWW browser, and the user can easily jump from the page to a desired URL.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The L server 5 sends only the URL 109 to the linker 23. As a modified example, the URL server 5 stores the symbol 103
May be sent to the linker 23, so that the linker 23 may store only the set of the symbol 103 and the URL 109 received from the URL server 5 in the cache file 87.

The linker 123 shown in FIG. 8 includes a symbol determination unit 125 and a URL conversion unit 12 as execution modules.
And 7. The symbol determination unit 125 is a symbol link web 1 in which the user freely links various symbols 131A, 131B,.
29. The symbol determination unit 125 performs a process for allowing a user to select a desired symbol while freely following the link of the symbol link web 129. Further, the URL conversion unit 127 receives the symbol selected by the user from the symbol determination unit 125,
The processing after step S4 in FIG. 6 is performed.

FIG. 9 shows a case where the user uses the symbol link web 1
An example of a screen displayed by the symbol determination unit 125 when selecting symbols while following 29 links is shown.

When the user passes, for example, “symbol A” to the linker 123 from a certain application by clipboard copy or drag / drop, the linker 1
The 23 symbol determination unit 125 displays “Symbol A” 141A on the screen 151 as shown on the left end of FIG. Next, when the user double-clicks “symbol A” 141A on this screen 151 (command of “confirm”),
The symbol determination unit 125 passes the “symbol A” 141A to the URL conversion unit 127, so that the “symbol A” 141
A is converted to the corresponding URL 143A and passed to the WWW browser.

Further, the “symbol A” 14 on the screen 151
When the user single-clicks 1A (an instruction of “following a link”), the symbol determination unit 125 accesses the symbol link web 129 and “symbol A” 141
All the symbols linked to A are read from the symbol link web 129 and displayed on the screen 153. Accordingly, a list of “symbol B” 141B, “symbol E” 141E, and “symbol F” 141F is displayed on the screen 153. For example, when the “symbol F” 141F is double-clicked in the list, the “symbol F” 141F is converted into a corresponding URL 143F and passed to the WWW browser. Also, “Symbol F” 14
When 1F is single-clicked, the next displayed screen 155 includes “Symbol E” 141E and “Symbol B” 141E linked to the “Symbol F” 141F.
B and a list of “symbol D” 141D are displayed.

As described above, the user can use the symbol link web 129 freely constructed by the user to find and select a desired symbol while following the link between the symbols. This function may have various uses.
One of the uses is to help human memory. For example, when you visit a website of a mail order company,
There is a catalog of my favorite bag there, but I do not want to buy it now. At this time, it is assumed that the bag may be purchased in the future, and the name of the mail order company is linked to the word "bag" and registered in the symbol link web 129. That way, if you later really want the bag and don't remember the name of the mail order, you can pass the word "bag" to the linker and get a list of the symbols linked to the bag. Is displayed, the name of the mail order company is found out of the list, and by double-clicking on the name, the website of the mail order company can be opened again. Another use is for customizing symbols by a user. That is, the symbols that can be passed to the URL server will not be those defined by individual users, but will be those defined on the URL server side. In that case, if the user does not like the symbol defined on the URL server side, he or she will want to use the symbol defined by himself instead. In this case, if the symbol defined by the user and the symbol defined by the URL server are linked and registered in the symbol link web 129, the symbol defined by the user can be used.

FIG. 10 shows a processing flow of the symbol determination section 125. First, the symbol determination unit 125 obtains the first symbol in steps S1, S2, and S3 shown in FIG. 6 (S31), and displays it (S32). Next, when the displayed symbol is single-clicked (S
33), the symbol determination unit 125 searches the symbol link web 129 for another symbol linked to the symbol (S34), and displays the searched symbol (a list of the symbols if there are a plurality of symbols) (S32). When the displayed symbol is double-clicked (S33),
The symbol determination unit 125 passes the symbol to the URL conversion unit 127 (S35).

Embodiment 3 of the Invention FIG. 11 shows yet another embodiment of the linker. The linker 301 has a telephone word table 303 and a word-action table 305 on the client computer. In the telephone word table 303, a plurality of keywords generally used to indicate a telephone number are registered. In the word-action table 305, various words (in the illustrated example, "sofmap", "cd", "letter", "Mary", etc.) and action names are linked to each other (in the figure, this link is used). Is indicated by an equal sign). Here, the action name designates an action to be executed by the client computer. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 11, a URL such as "http: // ...."
Specifies an action to open the page of the URL, and a program file name such as “CDplayer.EXE” specifies an action to start the program, such as “LetterHead.DOC”. The data file name specifies an action of opening the data file, and a telephone number such as “tel03123456” specifies that a call is made to the telephone number.

On the client computer, in addition to the linker 301, various files 311, 313, 3
15, 317 and 319 exist. In the example of FIG. 11, the file 311 is a telephone application for making a telephone call, the file 313 is a WWW browser, the file file 317 is a word processor, and the file 319 is a document (data) that the word processor 317 can open.
Although they are files, these are merely examples, and any type of file may exist.

The linker 301 has two user-selectable operation modes, a network mode and a local mode. In either mode, the linker 30
1 captures symbols (typically strings) in a manner similar to that described in some embodiments above. If the network mode is selected, the linker 301
Sends the captured symbol to the URL server (reference numeral 5 in FIG. 1), receives the corresponding URL from the URL server, and executes the URL, as in the case of the above-described embodiment.
Is specified and the WWW browser 313 is started. The WWW browser 313 opens the page of the URL. On the other hand, in the local mode, the linker 301 matches the captured symbols with the words in the word-action table 305. If a match is obtained, the action name corresponding to the word is read, and a program for executing the action specified by the action name is started to execute the action.

The linker 301 can be set to the telephone mode independently of the mode selection between the network mode and the local mode. In the telephone mode, if the captured symbol is a character string, the linker 301 uses the telephone word table 303 to check whether or not the character string includes a telephone number. If the character string contains a telephone number, the linker 301
Automatically extracts the telephone number from the character string, specifies the telephone number, and activates the telephone application 311. The telephone application 311 calls the telephone number.

FIG. 12 shows Linker 3 in telephone mode.
01 shows the processing flow. When capturing the symbol of the character string (S51), the linker 301 checks the character string with each keyword in the telephone word table 303 (S5).
2). If the character string contains a word that matches any of the keywords (S53, Yes),
This means that the phone number is likely to be included in the character string. In this case, the linker 301 next extracts a telephone number from the character string (S54), and activates the telephone application 311 by designating the telephone number to make a call to the telephone number (S55). ). Steps S52 and S53 are omitted, and step S51
From step S54.

In parallel with the above-described processing for making a telephone call, the linker 301 also performs the processing from step S56. That is, when the local mode is set (S56, local), the linker 301 compares the captured character string with a word in the word action table 305 (S57). If the character string matches one of the words in the table 305 (S58, Yes), the linker 301 performs a process for executing the action specified by the action name linked on the table 305 to the matched word. Perform (S59). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 11, when the matched word is “sofmap”, the word “sofmap” has a URL “htt” as an action name.
Since p: // .... "is linked, the linker 301
Starts the WWW browser 313 by designating the URL “http: // ....”, thereby opening the page of the URL. If the matched word is "cd", the file name "CDplayer.EXE" of the program for playing the music CD is linked to the word "cd".
01 activates CDplayer.EXE 315, thereby enabling music CD playback. If the matched word is "letter", the word "letter" is linked to the document file name "LetterHead.DOC" which can be opened by the word processor 317, and the linker 301 then changes the word "letter" to the word "letter". LetterHead.DOC "
Is specified, and the word processor 317 is started, whereby the document file is opened. The matched word is "Ma
ry ", the word" Mary "would have the phone number" te
Since “031234567” is linked, the linker 301 activates the telephone application 311 by designating the telephone number “031234567”, thereby calling the telephone number.

If the network mode has been set (S56, network), the linker 301 sends the captured character string to the URL server, receives the corresponding URL from the URL server, specifies the URL, and specifies the URL to the WWW browser 313. Activate (S60).

FIG. 13 shows the procedure of the telephone number extracting process in step S54 in FIG. First, the linker 301
From the captured character string, only a numeral string expressed in a general telephone number expression format is extracted (S61). The general expression format of the telephone number is, for example, “1-234-56”.
Connect a set of numbers with a hyphen, such as "78."
(234) 5678 ”, a part of the sequence is enclosed in parentheses, or a simple continuous sequence such as“ 12345678 ”. In any expression form, "12345
Only numbers such as “678” are extracted. Next, the linker 301 counts the number of digits in the extracted sequence, and checks whether it is within a predetermined number range recognized as a telephone number (S62). For example, one or two digits will be too small and more than 20 digits will be too many. Only when the number of digits of the sequence falls within the predetermined number range, the linker 301
The sequence is grasped as a telephone number (S63), and the process proceeds to step S55 in FIG.

The procedure of the telephone number extraction process described above is merely an example, and various other telephone number extraction algorithms can be considered.

In some embodiments described above, when a linker handles a symbol of a character string, the character string is basically represented by a character code. However, even when the character string is represented by a bitmap or vector font image, the linker converts the font image into a character code by using a pattern recognition technique, so that the same treatment as in the above-described embodiment is performed. This can be done for that character string. For example, on the image processing application, the user selects an area of a desired character string from a document image captured from an image scanner or a photographic image captured from a digital camera using an area selection tool, and selects the selected area. Can be passed to the linker with an operation such as Control + C. Alternatively, by pointing a mouse cursor at an arbitrary icon or tool displayed on the display screen and performing a predetermined link operation, a bit image of a character string included in the bit image of the icon or tool is linked. It can also be configured to pass to. Upon receiving the image of the character string, the linker performs pattern recognition to determine a character code corresponding to each character of the character string. When the character string image is converted into the character code string in this manner, the linker opens the URL page corresponding to the character string or converts the telephone number included in the character string into a telephone number, as in the embodiment described above. A process for making a phone call or executing an action corresponding to the character string can be performed.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are merely examples for describing the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention to only these embodiments. Therefore, the present invention can be implemented in various forms other than the above-described embodiment. For example, the present invention is applicable not only to Internet URLs but also to various other network locations. The URL server may reside locally on the client computer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of a network location specifying system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a client computer.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a speech recognition process.

FIG. 4 is a man-machine interface screen 3 of the client computer 3 when a user specifies a symbol.
Explanatory drawing which shows an example of 1. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration and functions of a client computer 3 and a URL server 5.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a linker 23;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the URL server 5;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of a linker.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by the symbol determination section 125 when a user selects a symbol while following a link on the symbol link web 129.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a symbol determination unit 125.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating yet another embodiment of a linker.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the linker 301 in the telephone mode.

13 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a telephone number extraction process in step S54 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Network Location Designation System 3 Client Computer 5 URL Server 7, 11 Symbol 9, 13 URL 15 Database 21 WWW Browser 23 Linker

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A system for designating a location on a network for a network application for using a network on a computer, wherein the application is a memory area of the computer and is arbitrarily selected by a user. A symbol receiving unit for receiving a symbol arbitrarily designated by the user on the selected application from a memory area available for transferring data from the selected application to the outside of the selected application; and The received symbol is
A conversion unit configured to convert the symbol information into location information indicating a location previously associated with the symbol, and to use the location information to specify a location associated with the symbol for the network application; and code data as the symbol. And a voice recognition processing unit that outputs the data to the memory area. 2. The network location specifying system according to claim 1, wherein said memory area includes a clipboard, and said code data is copied to said clipboard by a voice instruction. 3. The network location specification system according to claim 1,
A picture representing the network location designating system on a man-machine interface screen of the computer, wherein the memory area is where data on the selected application is dragged and dropped by the user onto the picture 2. The network location specifying system according to claim 1, further comprising a memory area in which the data is stored, wherein the code data is dragged and dropped into the memory area by a voice instruction. 4. The computer has a buffer, receives a character input by a user, temporarily stores the character in the buffer, converts the stored character if necessary, and converts the character if unnecessary. Wherein the memory area includes the buffer of the IME, and the symbol is determined in the IME by a voice instruction. The network location specification system according to claim 1. 5. The conversion section has a search request section for generating a search request for a symbol received by the symbol receiving section, and a database storing a set of a large number of symbols and corresponding location information. A search unit that searches the database for location information corresponding to the symbol in response to a search request from the search request unit; and receives the location information searched by the search unit, and sends the location information to the network application. 2. The network location specifying system according to claim 1, further comprising a location information receiving unit that specifies a location corresponding to the symbol. 6. A method for specifying a location on a network for a network application using a network on a computer, the application being a memory area of the computer and being arbitrarily selected by a user. A symbol receiving step of receiving a symbol arbitrarily designated by the user on the selected application from a memory area that can be used to transfer data from the selected application to the outside of the selected application; Converting the received symbol into location information indicating a location previously associated with the symbol, and using the location information to specify a location associated with the symbol for the network application; Receive audio A voice recognition processing step of generating code data and outputting the code data as the symbol to the memory area. 7. An apparatus mounted on a computer for designating a location on the network for a network application for using the network on the computer, the apparatus comprising: A symbol receiving unit for receiving a symbol arbitrarily designated by the user on the selected application from a memory area available for transferring data from the arbitrarily selected application to the outside of the selected application; A voice recognition processing unit that outputs code data as the symbol to the memory area; and a search request for the symbol received by the symbol receiving unit is present on either the computer or the communication network. Database A search request unit to be sent to the source, a search result returned from the database in response to the search request, and if the search result includes location information indicating a location on the network corresponding to the symbol For example, a network location specifying device comprising: a location information receiving unit that specifies a location corresponding to the symbol to the network application using the location information. 8. A method performed by a computer for specifying a location on a network for a network application for using the network on the computer, the method comprising: Receiving a symbol arbitrarily designated by the user on the selected application from a memory area available for transferring data from the arbitrarily selected application to the outside of the selected application; A voice recognition processing step of receiving a voice to generate code data and outputting the code data as the symbol to the memory area; and a search request for the symbol received in the symbol receiving step is transmitted to the computer. A search request to be sent to a database existing on the data or on the communication network; receiving a search result returned from the database in response to the search request; and adding the search result to the network corresponding to the symbol. A location information receiving step of specifying a location corresponding to the symbol to the network application using the location information if location information indicating the location is included. 9. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a method for specifying a location on the network for a network application for using the network, wherein the program is From the memory area of the computer, which can be used to transfer data from an application arbitrarily selected by the user to the outside of the selected application, from the user on the selected application A symbol receiving step of receiving a symbol arbitrarily designated; a voice recognition processing step of receiving a voice to generate code data and outputting the code data as the symbol to the memory area; A search requesting step of sending the retrieved search request for the symbol to a database existing on either the computer or the communication network; and receiving a search result returned from the database in response to the search request. If the result includes location information indicating a location on the network corresponding to the symbol, a location information receiving step of specifying a location corresponding to the symbol to the network application using the location information. A recording medium to be executed. 10. A system for specifying, on a computer, a location on the communication network for a network application accessing the communication network, a character capturing a character string selected by a user on a display screen of the computer. A column capturing unit, a location character string extracting unit that extracts a character string indicating a location on the communication network from the captured character strings, and specifying the extracted character string to the network application, A network comprising: a location specifying unit that causes the network application to execute communication relating to the location indicated by the extracted character string; and a voice recognition processing unit that outputs code data as the character string to the character string capturing unit. Location specification system. 11. The network location specifying system has a picture representing the network location specifying system on a man-machine interface screen of the computer, and the character string capturing unit is configured to control a user on the man-machine interface screen. Capturing a character string dragged and dropped on the picture, and dragging and dropping the code data on the picture by a voice instruction.
0 network location designation system. 12. A method for designating a location on a communication network on a computer for a network application accessing the communication network, comprising: a speech recognition processing step of outputting code data as a character string; Capturing a character string selected by a user on the display screen of the computer; extracting a character string indicating a location on the communication network from the captured character string; and extracting the extracted character string to the network application. Specifying a character string, thereby causing the network application to execute communication relating to the location indicated by the extracted character string. 13. A method for designating a location on a communication network on a computer for a network application accessing the communication network, comprising: a speech recognition processing step of outputting code data as a character string; Capturing the character string selected by the user on the display screen of the computer; extracting a character string indicating a location on the communication network from the captured character string; and extracting the character string to the network application. Causing the computer to execute a network location specifying method, comprising the steps of: specifying the character string that has been specified, thereby causing the network application to execute communication relating to the location indicated by the extracted character string. Compiled compilation Over data readable media. 14. A system for designating a telephone number for a telephone application for making a telephone call on a computer, comprising: a voice recognition processing step of outputting code data as a character string; A character string capturing unit that captures the character string selected by the user, a database including a plurality of words, and a plurality of telephone numbers associated with the words, and the captured character string and the database in the database. A matching unit that matches words and, when a match is obtained, determines a telephone number associated with the matched words; and specifies the determined phone number to the telephone application, thereby specifying the telephone number. A telephone number designation system, comprising: a number designation unit for making an application to make a call to the determined telephone number. . 15. A method for specifying a telephone number for a telephone application for making a telephone call on a computer, comprising: a voice recognition processing step of outputting code data as a character string; Capturing the character string selected by the user at: using a database comprising a plurality of words and a plurality of telephone numbers associated with the words, using the captured character string and the words in the database. Determining a phone number associated with the matched word if a match is obtained; and assigning the determined phone number to the phone application, thereby allowing the phone application to Calling a telephone number to the determined telephone number. 16. A method for designating a telephone number on a computer for a telephone application for making a telephone call, comprising: a voice recognition processing step of outputting code data as a character string; and a display of the computer. Capturing the character string selected by the user on the screen; and using a database including a plurality of words and a plurality of telephone numbers associated with the words, using the captured character string and the Determining a telephone number associated with the matched word, if the match is obtained, by assigning the determined telephone number to the telephone application, whereby the telephone application And calling the determined telephone number. Recorded computer-readable recording medium a program to be executed by the computer.