GB2365150A

GB2365150A - Automatic completion of data in a data entry field using prepended text

Info

Publication number: GB2365150A
Application number: GB9928778A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jeremy Hughes
Original assignee: International Business Machines Corp
Current assignee: International Business Machines Corp
Priority date: 1999-12-07
Filing date: 1999-12-07
Publication date: 2002-02-13
Also published as: GB9928778D0

Abstract

Improvements to type-ahead automatic completion of data strings entered in a data entry field are provided. The automatic completion includes prepended auto-completed zones, as well as appended zones in appropriate cases. If a matching candidate data string in memory includes a partial string which matches the user entered partial string and includes a prepended portion, then the type-ahead auto-completion includes displaying the prepended zone. There may be a number of auto-completed zones, all preferably displayed in a distinctive style which differs from the user-typed partial string. The typed string is not required to match the beginning of a stored candidate string, since a typed partial string is compared with a plurality of partial strings within each stored candidate string until a match is identified. The invention may be implemented in many different computer programs.

Description

<Desc/Clms Page number 1> AUTOMATIC COMPLETION OF DATA IN A DATA ENTRY FIELD FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in automatic completion of data strings in data entry fields.

BACKGROUND Automatic completion of data strings is used in many computer application programs to help the user to enter a data string in an entry field. Such automatic completion entails comparing data which is typed into the entry field by the user with a history list or database of complete data strings and, if a match is found between the typed data and the first part of a stored string, the complete data string is automatically displayed in the entry field. This can save the user time and also relieve the user of the burden of remembering complete strings checking an auto-completed string is easier for the user and often faster than entering the complete string.

"Type-ahead" is a known form of automatic completion which is performed dynamically as data is entered by the user. Type-ahead is heavily used, for example, to assist entry of complete web site addresses (in the form of uniform resource locators or 11URLs11) within a web Browser's entry field.

In a typical type-ahead implementation, a visual indication is provided of which data elements (or characters) in the auto-completed string were entered by the user and which were generated by the comparison operation performed by the Web Browser or other computer program. As data is typed in, two zones to the data string are displayed. The zone that the user has typed, located at the beginning of the data string, is shown in normal video (for example, black text on white background). we will refer to this as the typed zone. The second zone, appended to the typed zone, includes the generated part of the auto- completed string and is shown in reverse video (for example, white on black). we will refer to this second zone as the appended zone.

In this typical type-ahead implementation, each time a user types a new data element, one of three things can happen: o If the data element is the same as the first data element in the appended zone, the first data element of the appended zone changes from reverse video to normal video.

o If the data element is not the same as the first data element in the appended zone and the typed zone is the same as the beginning of another stored data string (e.g. the address of another previously-visited web site), the newly typed data element appears in normal video after the existing typed zone and becomes part of the typed zone. The appended zone is 'recalculated' so that together the typed zone and the appended zone make up the complete stored data string (e.g. the address of the second previously- visited web site). o If the data element is not the same as the first data element in the appended zone and the typed zone is not the same as the beginning of any stored data string, the appended zone of the string is erased leaving only the typed zone. The user then has to type the complete string. Once the user is happy with the web address or other data string represented by the combination of the normal video typed zone and the appended reverse video generated zone, he or she presses the RETURN key or another defined function key and an acceptance operation is triggered In the context of data entry in a spreadsheet or other application, pressing return may change the reverse video appended zone to normal video and move a data entry cursor to a subsequent entry field, or move to a new screen of the application. In a web Browser, pressing return will cause an HTTP or other request to be sent to the addressed web server to download the identified web page. Over time, the type-ahead method provides significant time improvements in navigating the web compared with the alternative of typing complete addresses every time. The same method has been used for number of years in many other applications and is potentially useful whenever a data string is required which has a possibility to be one of previously defined set of strings. A type-ahead feature is disclosed in US patent 4,330,845. Data is input to an interactive terminal via a keyboard and displayed on a screen. The input data is compared with data strings stored in the system memory to determine if it matches the beginning of a stored string (i.e. determining whether each newly entered word matches a key comprising a set of characters at the left end of the complete stored string). If the input data matches the beginning of a stored data string, the complete data string is displayed (in normal video) without moving the input cursor. If the displayed string is the data string that the operator desired to enter, the operator can advance the cursor to the end of the string by pressing a particular function key. If the displayed string is not as desired, the operator merely continues keying input data.

US 5,724,457 discloses an electronic device permitting incomplete input of a character string. The device includes a first buffer storing a hand-written partial character string, a character string predicting portion generating predicted character strings, a second buffer storing the predicted character strings, and a display. Predicted matching character strings are selected from a fixed set of stored characters. The operator selects a desired string from a number of potentially matching predicted character strings, and then the selected string is displayed with the hand-written partial character string. The system employs character recognition technology and learns from its prediction successes, but it relies on user selection from displayed alternatives by pressing a keyboard key rather than providing auto-completion in a data entry area.

US 5,890,174 discloses a method for assisting a user in constructing a formula for insertion in a cell of a spreadsheet. The user can select functions from a dialog box, and then suggested parameters are displayed in a second dialog box. The user can accept the suggested parameters or enter others, and the formula is displayed in the second dialog box as it is being constructed. The user can then place the formula in a desired spreadsheet cell. Although the invention of 5,890,174 assists formula construction, it does not provide auto- completion within the spreadsheet cell.

US 5,845,300 discloses a system for assisting with entry of data into a database or spreadsheet program by providing to an operator suggested type-ahead completions of partially entered data. A dynamic list of possible completions is generated based on data items associated with (i.e. in a similar category to) an edited data area. The list is dynamic rather than tied to a predefined set of completions, reflecting changes to the data within the database or spreadsheet. As the operator enters characters of a data item, the list of associated complete data items is searched for an entry with a beginning which matches the entered data item. If a match is found, the matching data item is displayed to the operator as a suggested completion. The operator then either accepts the suggested completion or continues entering data.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION A first aspect of the present invention provides improvements to type-ahead methods for assisting dynamic completion of data entry fields. Other aspects of the invention provide software, computer program products and data processing apparatus for implementing such a method.

Particular preferred embodiments of the invention include a web Browser, application programs such as e-mail, spreadsheet and database programs, and an interactive data processing apparatus, which implement improvements to type-ahead automatic completion of data strings in a data entry field.

According to the first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for dynamic, automatic completion of data strings entered in a data entry field comprising: in response to user entry of a partial data string in the data entry field, comparing the entered partial data string with partial data strings within a complete data string, and repeating for each of a set of stored complete data strings (candidates) associated with the data entry field, until a match is identified; and in response to identifying a matching partial data string, displaying the matching candidate in the data entry field; wherein, if the matching candidate includes a partial data string prepended to said matching partial data string, said step of displaying the candidate comprises displaying a first automatically completed data string portion prepended to the user entered partial data string.

The terms "complete data string" and "candidate" will be used interchangeably hereafter.

Thus, the invention provides "type-ahead" automatic completion of a prepended portion of a data string for a partial data string entered in a data entry field. Dynamic, automatic completion in this context means that the automatic completion operation is initiated automatically while the user is entering data, as with known type-ahead methods, without requiring the user to explicitly request auto-completion by pressing a function key. For simplicity, the term "type-ahead" will be used hereafter to refer to dynamic, automatic generation of either an appended or a prepended portion of an auto-completed data string.

In the preferred embodiment, if the complete data string identified as a match includes a portion prepended to the matching partial data string and a portion appended to the matching partial data string, then the step of displaying the matching candidate comprises displaying a first automatically completed portion prepended to the user entered partial data string and displaying a second automatically completed portion appended to the user entered partial data string. Thus, the invention enables a non-contiguous plurality of automatically completed

portions of the complete data string to be displayed together with the user-entered partial data string.

In a preferred embodiment, any data element (or character) within a complete string can be the first element of a partial data string which is to be compared with the user entered partial data string. This means that within certain stored complete strings, a significant number of partial data strings may be identified (including overlapping, contiguous and separated partial data strings). A method according to this preferred embodiment compares an entered partial data string with a11 of these identifiable partial strings within a stored candidate string.

In an alternative embodiment, typed partial strings are compared with only specific segments or fields within a candidate string (such as only the data items between each forward slash 11/ in a stored URL).

A method according to the preferred embodiment of the invention thus provides considerably more flexibility than typical type-ahead implementations which only identify a match if the typed partial data string corresponds to the beginning of a stored candidate (or the beginning of a significant data portion of a candidate, such as the beginning of the address part of a URL).

Known type-ahead implementations only display a single auto- completed region appended to the typed region, and they require the user to remember and accurately type the precise beginning of a string or the required match will not be identified.

The present invention is particularly advantageous for complex data strings such as URLs where the user may only be able to remember a few components within the complete string, and avoids the user having to proactively request access to the list of complete strings (history list or bookmarks list or other database). Thus, the invention provides significant ease of use advantages and user efficiency improvements.

For example, a user of a web Browser implementing the invention may have recently accessed a web page identified by a URL such as: http://www.ibm.com/software/integration/MQSeries/htm when wishing to revisit this web page, the user may only recall that the URL included "integration" or only recall that it included IIMQSeriesl,. Using the present invention, the user could enter either one or both of these partial character strings within the Web Browser's entry field and the complete URL within the Browser's history list would be identified as a match and displayed in the entry field. Let us assume the user typed

"integration" and that this is matched with the aforementioned URL. A prepended portion llhttp://www.ibm.com/software/l, would be shown in reverse video; the typed portion,integration" would be shown in normal video; and an appended portion "/MQSeries/htm" would be shown in reverse video.

Particular ease of use issues arise when providing the user with a prepended automatically completed region within a data entry field, since a solution which unexpectedly moves the typed partial string and the data entry cursor on the display screen each time a new matching complete data string is identified could be disorientating to the user. Particular preferred implementations of the invention address this issue by ensuring that, as the prepended automatically completed region is generated and recalculated in response to new characters being entered, the prepended region is displayed without repeated unexpected movement of the data entry cursor and typed partial data string. A number of preferred implementations of the invention which achieve this aim will be described hereafter, but in preferred embodiments the position of the user-entered partial data string is maintained during data entry, either precisely or within a predefined distance of the original position.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a user is able to type a plurality of separate partial data strings into the data entry field and the search and comparison steps are then performed to identify stored complete data strings which match a11 of the typed partial strings. The resulting displayed complete data string can have any number of user-entered and generated zones.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a computer program implementing functions for performing a type-ahead method of automatic completion of a data string in a data entry field, the computer program including: a first component implementing functions for comparing user entered partial data strings with partial data strings within a complete data string, and repeating the comparing step for each of a set of stored complete data strings (candidates) associated with the data entry field, until a match is identified; and a second component implementing functions for displaying an identified matching candidate in the data entry field on a display device, wherein the second component is adapted to output signals causing a display device to display a first automatically completed data string portion prepended to the user entered partial data string if the matching candidate includes a partial data string prepended to said matching partial data string.

A third aspect of the invention provides a computer program including: computer program code implementing functions for storing a set of complete data strings (candidates), associated with a data entry field of the computer program, within memory of a data processing apparatus on which the program runs; computer program code implementing functions for accessing the memory in response to a user entering a partial data string in a data entry field of the computer program, and for comparing the user entered partial data string with partial data strings within a stored candidate, and repeating the comparison for each of the set of candidates, until a match is identified; and computer program code implementing functions for signalling a display device to display a matching candidate in the data entry field, wherein the program code for signalling the display device is adapted to display a first automatically completed data string portion prepended to the user entered partial data string if the matching candidate includes a partial data string prepended to said matching partial data string.

A fourth aspect of the invention provides an interactive data processing apparatus comprising: a processing unit; a memory; a display device controller; a user input device; and a computer program installed on the data processing system and including at least one data entry field, wherein the computer program includes: program code implementing functions for storing a set of complete data strings, associated with a data entry field of the computer program, within the memory; program code implementing functions for accessing the memory in response to a user entering a partial data string in a data entry field of the computer program, and for comparing the user entered partial data string with partial data strings within each of the stored complete data strings to identify a match; and

program code implementing functions for signalling a display device to display a matching complete data string in the data entry field, wherein the program code for signalling the display device is adapted to display a first automatically completed portion of the complete data string prepended to the user entered partial data string if the complete data string includes both a partial data string which matches the entered partial data string and a portion prepended to the matched partial data string.

The invention may be implemented in a computer program product comprising a recording medium having program code recorded thereon, the program code being readable and executable (either directly or after compilation or other transformation) by a data processing apparatus to control the operation of the data processing apparatus to perform the steps of a method as described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of an interactive data processing apparatus in which the present invention is implementable; Figure 2 shows the steps of a method implementing the present invention, according to a first embodiment; Figure 3 schematically represents an example user interface, as displayed on a display device, including an entry field; Figure 4a shows an example user entry field while a partial data string is being typed therein; Figure 4b shows the entry field of Figure 4a displaying a complete data string which matches the user entered partial data string; Figure 5a shows a second example partial data string being entered in a user entry field; Figures 5b and 5c show two stages of the displaying of a complete data string matching the user entered partial data string of Figure 5a, according to a first implementation of the present invention;

Figure 5d shows the displaying of a complete data string matching the user entered partial data string of Figure 5a, according to a second preferred implementation of the present invention; Figure 6a shows a plurality of partial data strings being entered in a user entry field; and Figures 6b and 6c show two stages of the displaying of a complete data string matching the user entered partial data string of Figure 6a, according to the preferred implementation of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 shows an interactive data processing apparatus including a processing unit 10, memory 20, an input device controller 30, a display device controller 40, operating system software 50, communication buses 60, and a connected display device 70 and a keyboard 80. The apparatus may include numerous additional components including additional input devices such as a mouse 90, etc. The memory may include integral random access memory and/or integral or peripheral secondary storage. The apparatus may be, for example, a network-connected or stand-alone conventional personal computer or workstation with wired connections to a display device and a conventional keyboard, a laptop or palmtop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a mobile telephone with an integral display and keyboard (which may be a touch-sensitive input area implementing a keyboard), a processing apparatus within a car or integrated within any other apparatus, or any other data processing apparatus which is capable of receiving typed data and displaying the typed data in an entry field.

Typically, a plurality of application programs 100 are installed on the data processing apparatus and may be running simultaneously. Certain of the computer programs 50,100 installed on the apparatus include a number of entry fields for data entry by the user. Referring to Figure 3, a Web Browser program 200 is an example of a computer program which includes a data entry field 210 for entering Web site addresses. Each computer program 50,100,200 uses the processing unit 10 to perform data processing operations in response to user inputs. Each computer program accesses data in the memory 20 when required for processing, and saves in memory the user-entered data and data resulting from the processing operations.

One or more of the computer programs which include data entry fields implement an improved type-ahead method for assisting user entry of data, as will be described below with reference to Figure 2. This

involves automatically completing partial data strings entered in a data entry field by a user, by comparing the entered partial strings with complete data strings stored in the memory which are associated with the data entry field.

Unlike conventional type-ahead methods, the computer program according to the preferred embodiment of the invention implements a comparison 150 between a user entered partial data string and all parts of each of a set of complete data strings stored in the memory until match is identified. The program thus implements a more comprehensive search through its database of complete data strings for a matching partial data string.

If a match is identified 160 between a user-entered partial data string and an intermediate portion of a complete data string and the intermediate portion does not include the data elements at the beginning or end of the complete string, the invention displays 180 a plurality of automatically completed type-ahead zones. Automatically completed typeahead zones can include both zones which are appended to and zones which are prepended to the typed zone.

This provides the user with much more help with data entry than the well known two-zone type-ahead solutions; where the user is typically required to type in the beginning of the complete data string (or the beginning of the address part of a URL) to enable identification of a match, and the displayed type-ahead result comprises a single user- entered zone and a single automatically-completed zone. The present invention therefore provides the considerable advantages of improved ease of use, including user productivity gains.

Implementations of the invention will now be described in more detail using, by way of example, type-ahead automatic completion of web site addresses in a web Browser's data entry field.

A web Browser typically enables a user to store 'bookmarked' URLs in a file in the memory 20 of the data processing apparatus on which the Browser runs, to identify web sites flagged by the user as being of particular interest. A typical web Browser also stores in memory a history list file comprising the URLs of a11 web sites previously visited during the last n days, where n is a number that may be set by the user.

The URLs in the bookmarks file and history list file comprise a set of complete data strings held in memory which are associated with and enterable within the web Browser's data entry field.

When the user types a first set of characters of a web site address into the web Browser's data entry field, the web browser searches 150 the history list held in memory for a URL (a complete data string) which includes a partial data string matching 160 the typed set of characters. The search preferably starts with the most recently visited Web site address and proceeds 170 through the history list backwards in time. In particular implementations, a minimum number of characters may be required to be typed before the type-ahead feature is initiated, to limit the number of spurious matches. In other implementations, even a single character of a web site address may be sufficient to start the first search (but see next paragraph). The number of required characters may be a selectable user preference or fixed by the computer program developer. The Web Browser's search for matching stored URLs is preferably not initiated, or alternatively the results of a match are not displayed, in response to merely typing the protocol identifying characters "http" (which indicates the HyperText Transfer Protocol), since the results of such a search are unlikely to be useful. As is known from prior art web Browser implementations of type-ahead, the user is not required to type "http://". However, such prior art solutions apply predefined rules for automatic completion of the protocol identifying prefix (for example, a rule such as assume "http://" unless an alternative prefix is typed, or unless typed partial string includes specific items such as "ftp") and require the user to type the beginning of the actual Web address (often "www...11). The present invention does not require typing of the beginning of the address, and is not limited to a set of predefined auto-completion rules (although rules for auto-completion are not incompatible with the invention). If no match is found within the history list, the web Browser next searches the list of bookmarks for a match. If no match is found in the bookmarks list, there is no resulting type-ahead automatic completion. Alternative web Browser implementations of the invention may, for example, search only a history list. The comparison 150 between a typed partial data string and the complete data strings comprising URLs stored in the history list file and in the bookmarks file proceeds a follows. The first typed character forms, or the typed minimum number of required characters form, a first search key which is compared 150 with each set of data elements (corresponding to the number of data elements in the key) of a URL in the history list. This is repeated 170 for each URL in the history list and each URL in the bookmarks list until a match is identified 160, or until the two lists have been exhausted without identifying a match.

when a first match is identified 160, the complete URL is retrieved from memory and displayed 180 in the data entry field. This can be implemented in a number of ways - either displaying the very first identified match, or only displaying a match after a predefined minimum number of typed characters have been matched with a stored complete string. This typically involves passing the retrieved URL to an entry field object which manages display of the entry field. The retrieved URL then overwrites the typed data in the entry field, although it appears to be merely adding auto-completed zones to the typed data since the matched partial string within the complete URL is identical to the typed partial string and is displayed in the same style.

In some implementations of the invention, a complete data string is only displayed after determining that there is a single unique match within the database of complete data strings, or only after the number of identified matches is below a threshold, but displaying of the first identified match is more typical.

As is known for certain prior art implementations of type-ahead, a first matching candidate may be displayed in the entry field using type- ahead in combination with a display of alternative matching candidates. These may appear in a drop down menu which is associated with but additional to the entry field displaying the type-ahead automatic completion result.

The currently typed set of characters constitute a typed zone of the displayed URL and are shown in a first style (for example, in normal video with black characters on a white background). The remaining characters of the matching complete URL constitute one or more generated or 'calculated' zones and are shown in a second style (for example, reverse video white on black, or using a text colour different from the colour of the typed zone). It is an attribute of the data entry field to use a specific style for display of zones of the complete URL which do not correspond to the typed partial string.

A first example of this is shown in Figures 4a and 4b, where a user has typed in a partial data string 220, llhttp://w3.ib", which corresponds to the first part of a stored complete URL: http://w3.ibm.com/ The entered partial data string llhttp://w3.ib', is used as a search key (possibly with "http://', as a wild card) and a first matching complete URL @,http://w3.ibm.com/l, is found when the search key is compared with the stored URLs. This URL is copied from storage and displayed in the Browser's entry field. The entered partial string is

displayed in normal style (black text on white) and the 'calculated' data elements 230 comprising the remaining data elements of the complete URL are shown in reverse video or in a different colour, as shown in Figure 4b.

The result of this first example of use of the invention appears the same as conventional two-zone type ahead, although the comparison between typed partial data strings and stored strings is a more complete comparison which takes each data element of a stored complete data string as the beginning of a partial data string which is compared with the entered partial data string.

Figures 5a-5c show a second example of the present invention in use, which demonstrates its greater flexibility than known type-ahead implementations. Assume that a stored history list includes the URL: http://www.ibm.com/software/integration/MQseries/htm Assume that the user starts to type the word "integration", as shown in Figure 5a. As the user types in characters, the typed partial data string 240 is used as a search key and compared with a11 partial strings within complete data strings in the history list until a match is found.

The portion of an identified matching web address which lies before the first character of the partial string which matches the typed partial string is prepended to this first typed character in reverse video and constitutes the prepended zone 250. The portion of the identified web address which lies after the typed characters is appended to the typed characters in reverse video and constitutes the appended zone 260.

When the user types a further character, one of three things can happen: o If the character is the same as the first character in the appended zone, the first character of the appended zone changes from reverse video to normal video.

o If the character is not the same as the first character in the appended zone and the typed zone is the same as a substring of the address of a previously visited web site stored in the history list, the character typed appears in normal video and the appended zone and prepended zone are 'recalculated' to be that of another previously visited web site.

o If the character is not the same as the first character in the appended zone and the typed zone is not the same as a substring of the address of any previously visited web site, the prepended and appended zones of the web address disappear to leave only the typed zone. At one point in time, the user has typed "integratio" as shown in Figure 5a. The computer program then automatically completes this using type-ahead, for example displaying the complete data string as shown in Figure 5b. Note that, in this particular embodiment, the complete data string resulting from performance of type-ahead auto-completion is not initially fully visible. The reason for this is to avoid significantly shifting the position of the user typed partial data string and the data entry cursor while the user is still typing, since such an unexpected movement could be disorientating for the user. Significantly shifting the typed partial data string will be especially distracting if the type-ahead calculation is repeated for every new character typed, since this could result in the typed partial string and the data entry cursor repeatedly jumping left or right within the entry field such that the user has difficulty following their position. (Clearly, moving the cursor one place to the right each time a new character is typed is not an unexpected movement, and shifting a typed portion one character width to the left to accommodate an extra typed character when the input cursor has reached the right hand extremity of an entry field is not unexpected.) Nevertheless, it will also be seen in the example of Figure 5b that the user typed portion of the displayed complete data string has been shifted to the right by two characters to enable a small portion of the prepended auto-completed zone 250 to be displayed. This small shift has a minimal potential for disorientating or distracting a user (far less than if the typed portion were automatically shifted sufficiently to display the whole of the complete string within the entry field) while providing the advantage of indicating to the user that a prepended auto-completion region exists. The small shift to the right is preferably implemented as a once-only shift for each data entry operation. The indication that a prepended region exists prompts the user to press a predefined function key when they wish to display the whole of the complete data string. Any method may be used for indicating to the user that a complete string is not yet fully visible. For example, a specific character or icon may be predefined to serve as the indicator whenever a prepended region exists which is not initially displayed. For example, the initially displayed representation of the complete data string could be:

"--integration/MQSeries/htm^, with the prepended indicator "--^ and the appended portion "n/MQSeries/htm^ shown in reverse video adjacent the typed portion "integration shown in normal video.

Alternatively, the complete data string could be displayed in full on the Web Browser's status message line 270 in cases where the complete data string is not initially displayed in full.

Then, when the user wishes the complete matched data string to be fully displayed, the user presses a specific function key (for example, tab left or home, or by repeatedly pressing the left arrow if the user prefers) and the complete data string 280 is shifted to the right sufficiently to display it in full in the data entry field as shown in Figure 5c. Since this substantial shift to the right is performed only when explicitly requested by the user, there is no significant disorientation during normal forward typing.

Figure 5d shows the results of an alternative and preferred implementation of the invention, which also addresses the issue of potential user distraction if the typed portion and the input cursor move while the user is typing in data. In this example, the position of the typed portion and the cursor is unchanged when the type-ahead results are displayed. Instead of shifting the data, a pop up entry field 290 is generated to overlay the original data entry field and the adjacent screen area, effectively resizing the displayed data entry field sufficiently to display the whole of the complete data string (assuming this is possible within the constraints of the size of the data string and the size of the display screen area). The pop up entry field displays the user entered data and any generated appended and prepended automatically completed regions, and since it overlays the entry field and adjacent screen area it appears to the user as if the original entry field has been simply stretched to the left and potentially also to the right.

The pop up entry field is generated by means of an object instantiated and displayed in response to an event comprising identification of a matching complete string having a portion prepended to the matching portion (i.e. identifying that the first typed character is not the first character of the complete string). The pop up entry field object is preferably also instantiated upon identification of a matching complete string which is too large to fit within the right hand end of the data entry field.

The dimensions of the pop up entry field are determined by the size of the complete string (the extent to which the initially displayed entry field appears to be "stretched" to the left being determined by measuring the size of the prepended partial data string). The screen position of the pop up entry field is determined by the screen position of the last typed character since this should ideally be identical in the pop up entry field as in the original entry field to avoid disorientating the user. The position of the last typed character is determined and this screen position is assigned to the corresponding data element of the matching partial data string when displaying the matching candidate. To give the user an impression that the pop up entry field is merely a stretching of the original field, one implementation of the invention fixes the right hand end of the pop up entry field at the position of the right hand end of the original entry field except for identified matching candidates with a large appended zone necessitating further expansion to the right. As characters are entered from now on, the typed data is passed to both the original data entry field and the dynamically displayed pop up entry field such that both are kept updated. Similarly, newly identified retrieved URL data strings are passed to both data entry fields. As an alternative to what is shown in Figure 5d, a data entry field resizing solution which uses a pop up window can be implemented such that the resized entry field is constrained to remain within the boundaries of the Browser's window. This size. constraint would also apply to an alternative implementation which dynamically redefines which portions of the Web Browser's window are to be allocated to the entry field with reference to the position of the latest typed character and the size of the matching complete string. When this constraint applies, the resizing may be combined with use of the previously described visual indicator (such as "--") when the resizing is still insufficient to display the complete string in full. There is no concern from an ease of use perspective about the resized entry field overlaying other portions of the Web Browser's user interface, since this is only done while the user is actively typing into the data entry field. If the user interacts with any screen area outside the data entry field (e.g. clicking a mouse button while the mouse pointer is outside the data entry field), the user interface display reverts to the original entry field size as shown in either Figure 5b or 5c (i.e. either without or with shifting the data, as required for specific implementations).

Users typing a partial data string are not significantly distracted by repeated type-ahead generation of appended and prepended auto- completion zones adjacent a typed string, if the typed zone is displayed in a different style to the auto-completed regions and if the typed partial data string is not shifted significantly during normal typing. Thus, a number of alternative preferred implementations of the present invention have been described which ensure that improvements to known type-ahead methods are achieved, by increasing the comprehensiveness or flexibility of the partial data string comparison step and by adding prepended automatically completed partial data strings to a user typed partial data string, without sacrificing usability. A further example of the present invention in use is shown in Figures 6a-6c. Firstly, the user types in characters of a first partial data string. A number of suggested completions may be generated as characters are added to the first partial string. If the suggested complete strings are not what is required by the user, the user continues typing. If a first partial data string "integration" does not lead to display of the desired URL, the user may type in a further partial data string "MQSer" that the user knows is contained in the required string. The search and comparison steps are then performed to identify stored complete data strings which match a11 of@the typed partial strings. The resulting displayed complete data string can have any number of user- entered and generated zones. This is made possible in the preferred embodiment of the invention by defining a function key which can be pressed to indicate that a second partial data string is about to be typed, and to indicate that this second partial string is separate from and hence may be non-contiguous with the first partial string. No new keys are necessarily required on a keyboard to achieve this, since specific functions can be defined in particular use contexts for an existing key such as the tab key (i.e. if the 'Tab' key is pressed during data entry in a data entry field then the cursor is shifted to the right and subsequently typed characters are deemed to be part of a separate partial string - i.e. the tab space is not interpreted as a required part of the typed partial string). As the user types characters of the second partial data string, the database lookup operation for implementing type-ahead is repeated until a match is found. If a match is found, the complete data string is displayed as shown in Figure 6b with the two (or more) typed partial strings shown in normal video and the remaining parts of the complete string shown in reverse video. Note that the screen position of the last typed partial data string is preferably identical to the position before

type ahead automatic completion, to avoid user disorientation, as described above.

When the user interacts with any part of the interface outside the data entry field or presses a specific predefined function key (e.g. home), the data entry field reverts to its original size as shown in Figure 6c.

Note that it is not possible in examples where multiple partial strings are entered to maintain the original screen position of a11 of the entered partial strings. Nevertheless, user disorientation is minimized by maintaining the position of the partial data string which is currently being typed. In the example of Figures 6a and 6b, the later typed partial string IIMQSer" is fixed in position during typing but type ahead auto-completion can shift previously typed separate partial data strings.

It can be seen that any number of component partial strings may be typed by the user if trying to narrow down the potential matches to identify a specific stored complete string, but the typically desired "immediate" generation of a type-ahead result may not be possible if a complex set of search keys is typed in. This is acceptable because the user will only type in additional search*keys if an initial type-ahead auto-completion result is not what the user wanted.

In the above example where the user entered a pair of partial data strings, the order of the partial strings as typed was the same as in the complete string. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the order of user entry of partial strings is deemed to be an intentional requirement and hence is a constraint on the database search. This is because a type-ahead automatic completion in which typed partial strings switch order during typing is likely to be distracting.

Nevertheless, specific implementations of the invention may adopt the alternative solution in which each partial data string is used as an entirely independent search string and the order of the typed partial strings can be changed by the type-ahead mechanism. These two alternatives could be provided to the user as options which are selectable by pressing particular functions keys.

It is known in a web Browser to provide defined function keys to enable the user to delete the generated type-ahead portion of an automatically completed.string, and to move to each end of the complete string (For example, using the 'Delete', 'Home' and 'End' keys respectively). 'End' typically causes the generated appended zone to be changed from reverse video to normal video, implying acceptance of the

generated zone. The present invention can be implemented to use the same or similar function keys in an equivalent way. However, according to one embodiment of the present invention, function keys can also be defined to enable the user to independently accept and delete specific zones of a plurality of generated zones (for example, 'Delete' may delete a11 generated zones, 'Shift-Delete' may delete an adjacent appended zone, and 'Ctrl-Delete' may delete the closest prepended zone, with 'Tab' and 'Back-Tab' being used to shift the cursor position within a complete string). Clearly, the freedom to accept and delete particular components of an automatically completed string may be achieved in many different ways.

The present invention is not limited to use within a Web Browser. Any form of computer program including a data entry field may employ this method to automatically complete partially constructed strings for which a complete string can be generated via a lookup operation. Examples include addressee name completion in an e-mail program and data completion within spreadsheet cells of a spreadsheet application or within any application program which has data entry fields for which candidate data strings can be stored in association with the application. Such candidate strings are preferably data.strings previously entered by the user, but may include a predefined list of data strings. As with conventional type-ahead implementations, if a string is typed which does not match any stored complete string, then no automatic completion takes place.

The present invention achieves an advantage over existing type ahead mechanisms since it often requires less key strokes to retrieve a string (e.g. web-site address) from a database of strings. This is because the user can enter specific parts of a data string at any position therein which are sufficient to distinguish between stored strings and identify a required complete data string. in some cases, this will involve keying significantly less data elements than in known type- ahead solutions where the user must start type the first data element of a stored string.

The above description of a preferred embodiment of the invention compared typed partial data strings with a11 identifiable partial strings within the stored complete strings until a match is identified. For improved performance, the invention is also implementable to compare a user entered partial string with only a specific set of components of a complete data string. The invention according to such an embodiment still provides a more comprehensive and flexible search and comparison than solutions which require the beginning of a complete string to be typed, and the dynamic display of a prepended auto-completion region remains a significant advantage. Using the example of a URL and a Web Browser's

data entry field, one implementation of the invention recognises each forward slash 11/1, as a delimiter and compares user typed partial data strings with each of the partial data strings following such a delimiter.

In a particular example using our previous example URL: http://www.ibm.com/software/integration/MQSeries/htm a user-typed partial string may be compared with each of the partial strings "wwwAbm.com", "software",,integration", IIMQSeries" and "htmll, but other potential partial strings such as 1,com/softll are ignored.

In another embodiment of the invention which is not typical for type ahead solutions, although the search and comparison steps are repeated in response to each additional typed character, the results of the auto-completion are only displayed after a period of user inactivity (for example, one second) following typing of a character. This would provide type ahead auto-completion but not while the user is actively typing and may be preferred by some users to minimize distractions.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A method of type-ahead automatic completion of data strings entered in a data entry field comprising: in response to user entry of a partial data string in the data entry field, comparing the entered partial data string with partial data strings within a complete data string, and repeating for each of a set of stored complete data strings (candidates) associated with the data entry field, until a match is identified; and in response to identifying a matching partial data string, displaying the matching candidate in the data entry field; wherein, if the matching candidate includes a partial data string prepended to said matching partial data string, said step of displaying the candidate comprises displaying a first automatically completed data string portion prepended to the user entered partial data string.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the comparing step is repeated for a plurality of partial data strings within a stored candidate, and for a plurality of candidates, to identify a plurality of matches.
3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein, if the matching candidate includes a partial data string prepended to the matching partial data string and includes a partial data string appended to the matching partial data string, the step of displaying the matching candidate comprises displaying a first automatically completed data string portion prepended to the user entered partial data string and displaying a second automatically completed data string portion appended to the user entered partial data string.
4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a first data entry field is initially displayed for data entry, and wherein the step of displaying the matching candidate comprises: in response to identification of a matching candidate which includes a partial data string prepended to said matching partial data string, displaying a dynamically generated entry field overlaying said first data entry field; and displaying the matching candidate within the dynamically generated entry field to overlay the user entered partial data string in the first data entry field such that the data elements of the matching partial data

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string of the matching candidate are located at the same respective screen positions as the corresponding data elements of the user entered data string.
5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the step of displaying a dynamically generated entry field comprises instantiating a pop up entry field object which implements displaying of a pop up entry field, and wherein data representing the identified matching candidate is passed to the pop up entry field object for display.
6. A method according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the step of displaying a dynamically generated entry field includes the steps of: determining the current screen position of the last user entered data element in the first data entry field; and assigning the corresponding data element of the matching partial data string of the matching candidate to said determined screen position.
7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, in response to identification of a matching candidate which includes a partial data string prepended to said matching partial data string, determining the size of data entry field required to display the matching candidate such that the data elements of the matching partial data string. of the matching candidate are each located at the same respective screen position as the corresponding data element of the user entered data string; resizing said data entry field to said determined size; and wherein said step of displaying the matching candidate comprises displaying the candidate such that the data elements of the matching partial data string of the matching candidate are each located at the same respective screen position as the corresponding data element of the user entered data string.
8. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, in response to identification of a matching candidate which includes a partial data string prepended to said matching partial data string, said step of displaying the matching candidate within the data entry field includes displaying a visual indicator of the existence of a currently non-visible prepended partial data string if the displayed matching candidate includes such a currently non-visible prepended partial data string.

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9. A method according to claim 8 including the subsequent step, responsive to user selection of a predefined function key, of shifting the position of the displayed candidate within the data entry field to fully display the candidate.
10. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each data element within a candidate is a first data element of a partial data string within the candidate, and wherein the step of comparing the entered partial data string with partial data strings within a complete data string comprises comparing with a11 of the partial data strings within a candidate, for each of the set of candidates, until a match is identified.
11. A method of type-ahead automatic completion of data strings entered in a data entry field comprising: in response to user entry of a partial data string in the data entry field, comparing the entered partial data string with partial data strings within a complete data string, and repeating for each of a set of stored complete data strings associated with the data entry field, until a match is identified; and in response to identifying a matching partial data string, displaying the matching candidate in the data entry field; wherein the displaying step comprises displaying a non-contiguous plurality of automatically completed portions of the complete data string together with the user entered partial data string if the matching complete data string includes a portion prepended to the matching partial data string and a portion appended to the matching partial data string.
12. A computer program implementing functions for performing a typeahead method of automatic completion of a data string in a data entry field, the computer program including: a first component implementing functions for comparing user entered partial data strings with partial data strings within a complete data string, and repeating the comparing step for each of a set of stored complete data strings (candidates) associated with the data entry field, until a match is identified; and a second component implementing functions for displaying an identified matching candidate in the data entry field on a display device, wherein the second component is adapted to output signals causing a display device to display a first automatically completed data string portion prepended to the user entered partial data string if the matching

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candidate includes a partial data string prepended to said matching partial data string.
13. A computer program including: computer program code implementing functions for storing a set of complete data strings (candidates), associated with a data entry field of the computer program, within memory of a data processing apparatus on which the program runs; computer program code implementing functions for accessing the memory in response to a user entering a partial data string in a data entry field of the computer program, and for comparing the user entered partial data string with partial data strings within a stored candidate, and repeating the comparison for each of the set of candidates, until a match is identified; and computer program code implementing functions for signalling a display device to display a matching candidate in the data entry field, wherein the program code for signalling the display device is adapted to display a first automatically completed data string portion prepended to the user entered partial data string if the matching candidate includes a partial data string prepended to said matching partial data string.
14. A computer program product comprising a recording medium having recorded thereon computer readable program code implementing functions for controlling the operation of a data processing apparatus to perform the steps of a method according to claim 1.
15. An interactive data processing apparatus including a memory and a computer program installed on the data processing apparatus, the computer program including at least one data entry field, wherein the computer program includes: program code implementing functions for storing a set of complete data strings, associated with a data entry field of the computer program, within the memory; program code implementing functions for accessing the memory in response to a user entering a partial data string in a data entry field of the computer program, and for comparing the user entered partial data string with partial data strings within a stored candidate, and repeating the comparison for each of a set of candidates, until a match is identified; and

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program code implementing functions for ,signalling a display device to display a matching candidate in the data entry field, wherein the program code for signalling the display device is adapted to display a first automatically completed data string portion prepended to the user entered partial data string if the matching candidate includes a partial data string prepended to said matching partial data string.
16. A method of type-ahead automatic completion of data strings entered in a data entry field comprising: in response to user entry of a plurality of separate partial data strings in the data entry field, comparing each of the plurality of entered partial data strings with partial data strings within a complete data string, and repeating for each of a set of stored complete data strings (candidates) associated with the data entry field, until a match is identified between a11 of the plurality of separate data strings and respective partial data strings within an individual candidate; and in response to identifying a matching candidate, displaying the matching candidate in the data entry field, including displaying in a first style the partial data strings which match the entered partial data strings and displaying in a second style the remaining parts of the complete data string.
17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the user entry of partial data strings comprises a user entering at least first and last partial data strings, and wherein the step of displaying the matching candidate comprises displaying the matching candidate such that the screen position of the last entered partial data string and the screen position of the partial data string within the candidate which matches the last entered partial data string are the same.
18. A method of type-ahead automatic completion of data strings in a data entry field comprising: in response to user entry of a partial data string in the data entry field, comparing the entered partial data string with a set of partial data strings within a complete data string, and repeating for each of a set of stored complete data strings (candidates) associated with the data entry field, until a match is identified, wherein each data element of each candidate comprises a first data element of a partial data string within said set of partial data strings;

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in response to identifying a matching partial data string, displaying the matching candidate in the data entry field, including displaying in a first style the partial data string which matches the entered partial data string and displaying in a second style the remaining parts of the complete data string.