IES68331B2 - A method for controlling a computer for searching and a computer controlled by the method - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for searching a computer database for titles of records by minimising the number of key strokes to be made for entering the characters of the title comprises initially searching with a search string of characters which comprises the letters of a first part of the title to be searched, in other words, to search for the title "MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE MEDIUM ", a search string comprising the first characters "MURPHYS S" is entered. The search is carried out based on the search string, and the first title in alphabetical order containing the characters of the search string is displayed, namely, "MURPHYS SUPPORTS FOOT LARGE" with the cursor on the letter "S" of "SUPPORTS". The cursor is transferred to the letter "F" of "FOOT" by operating the tab key and the letter "F" is changed to a "K" by entering the letter "K". A further search is carried out using the search string "MURPHYS SUPPORTS K" which displays "MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE LARGE". In similar fashion further searches are carried out to reveal the title "MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE MEDIUM".

Description

A method for controlling a computer for searching and a computer controlled by the method !!· 56833 1 J The present invention relates to a method for controlling a computer for searching titles of records in a computer database, and the invention also relates to apparatus for carrying out the method, typically, a computer controlled by a computer programme which operates according to the method.

Searching for records in a computer database is normally carried out by searching titles of the records. In general, the search is carried out in alpha and/or numeric order, depending on whether the titles are alpha or numeric titles or a mixture of both alpha, and numeric. In general, however, such titles are alpha titles, namely, they comprise a plurality of words, typically English words which describes the record or a characteristic of the record, and in such cases, the search in general is carried out in alphabetical order. Where titles of records are relatively long, and in general, in order to accurately describe a record, a title may comprise three or more words, entering such titles to be searched can be a time consuming task, and can significantly delay commencement of a search. This is a serious disadvantage in cases where it is desired to retrieve a S683314 record rapidly. Indeed, in many cases, the full title of the record may be unknown to the person searching for it, and this, needless to say, leads to further difficulties and delays.

There is therefore a need for a method for searching titles of records which overcomes this problem, and there is also a need for an apparatus for carrying the method.

The present invention is directed towards providing 10 such a method and apparatus.

According to the invention there is provided a method for controlling a computer for searching titles of records in a computer database, the search being carried out in alpha and/or numeric order using a search routine, the method comprising the steps of: (a) permitting a user to enter a character or characters of a first part or all of a title to be searched commencing with the first character of the title to form a search string, (b) reading the entered search string, (c) searching for titles commencing with characters identical to and in the same order as the search string, (d) selecting the first title in alpha and/or numeric order, the first characters of which are identical to and in the same order as the search string, (e) displaying the selected title on a visual display screen, (f) displaying a cursor at the displayed title, (g) permitting a user to move the cursor along the displayed title to form a next search string, the next search string comprising the characters of the displayed title from the first character of the displayed title up to and including a character determined by the cursor position, (h) permitting the said next search string to be entered, and (i) repeating steps (b) to (h) until the user fails to form a next search string from the previously searched search string.

In one aspect of the invention each next search string comprises the characters in the displayed title from the first character in the displayed title up to and including the character at the cursor position.

Preferably, the cursor is displayed in the displayed title as the title is being displayed at a position which corresponds to the first character of the word in the displayed title which corresponds to the word in which the search string terminated.

In one aspect of the invention a user may advance the cursor along the displayed title from the first character of one word to the first character of the next word by a single command to the computer for forming the next search string.

Preferably, a user may enter one or more new characters to the search string after the position of the cursor in the displayed title for forming the next search string.

In one aspect of the invention the method further comprises the step of selecting a record of a title selected by a user.

Preferably, the selected record is displayed on the visual display screen.

In another aspect of the invention the last title displayed is stored, and in the event of the next search string containing no characters, the last displayed title is re-displayed.

In a further aspect of the invention the next title in alpha and/or numeric order is displayed on moving the cursor on the visual display screen downwardly.

In another aspect of the invention the previous title in alpha and/or numeric order is displayed on the visual display screen by moving the cursor upwardly on the screen.

Additionally the invention provides apparatus for carrying out the method according to the invention, the apparatus comprising a means for permitting a user to enter a character or characters of a first part or all of a title to be searched commencing with the first character of the title to form a search string, a means for reading the entered search string, a means for searching for titles commencing with the search string and having characters identical to and in the same order as the characters in the search string, a means for selecting the first title in alpha and/or numeric order, the first part of which comprises characters identical to the characters in the search string and in the same order as in the search string, a means for displaying the selected title on a visual display screen, a means for displaying a cursor at the displayed title, a means for permitting a user to move the cursor along the displayed title to form a next search string, the next search string comprising the characters in the displayed title from the first character of the displayed title up to and including a character determined by the cursor position, a means for permitting the next search string to be entered, and a means for reading the next search string and searching for the next search string until no further next search strings are formed.

In one aspect of the invention each next search string comprises the characters in the displayed title from the first character of the displayed title up to and including the character at the cursor position.

Preferably, the means for displaying the cursor in the displayed title displays the cursor at the first character of the word in the displayed title which corresponds to the word in which the search string terminated.

In one aspect of the invention the means for permitting a user to move the cursor moves the cursor from the first character of one word to the first character of the next word in the title on a single command from the user.

Preferably, a means is provided for permitting one or more new characters to be entered in the search string after the position of the cursor to form the next search string.

In one aspect of the invention a means is provided for enabling a user to select a record corresponding to a displayed title.

Preferably, a means is provided for displaying the selected record.

In one aspect of the invention a storing means is provided for storing the last displayed title, and in the event of the next search string containing no characters, the display means re-displays the last displayed title.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof which is given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a block representation of apparatus according to the invention, Figs. 2(a) to (c) illustrate a flowchart of a computer programme for controlling the apparatus of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 illustrates a segment of titles stored in a database which may be searched using the computer programme of Fig. 2, and Figs. 4(a) to (g) illustrate how titles revealed by a plurality of searches are displayed on a screen of the apparatus of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings there is illustrated apparatus according to the invention, in this case, a computer indicated generally by the reference numeral 1 which is operated under the control of a computer programme also according to the invention for searching titles of records in a computer database 3, and for retrieving the record or records of a selected title or titles. The computer 1 may typically be a personal computer comprising a microprocessor 4, a read only memory 5 for storing computer programmes for controlling the computer 1 and a random access memory 6 for temporarily storing data. A keyboard 7 is provided « for inputting characters and commands into the computer * for carrying out the search in the database 3. A visual display screen 9 displays titles of records revealed by the search and selected records as will be described below. In this embodiment of the invention the database 3 is a stock control database 3, and comprises a plurality of records which include details of all items of stock carried in a warehouse. Each record is identified by a title, typically, a four word title, and the titles are arranged in alphabetical order. Referring in particular to Fig. 3 a segment of the database is illustrated showing ten titles in alphabetical order. While the segment of the database includes only ten titles of ten different records, it will be appreciated that the database contains many more titles. The titles illustrated in Fig. 3 are given solely as an example of a segment. The record which includes full details of each item is also included in the database, but is not illustrated.

The computer programme for searching for a title and retrieving the record from the database 3 is stored in the read only memory 5 and comprises a search routine which is described in detail below with reference to Fig. 2. However, before describing the sub-routine, the method for searching the database which is carried out by the sub-routine will first be described.

Initially, an invitation is displayed on the visual display screen 9 inviting a user to enter a search string which should comprise the first character or characters of a first part of the title of the record which is to be searched. In order to minimise the number of characters to be entered through the keyboard by the user, the user would normally enter the characters of the first word, and the first character of the second word of the title, which in general would be known to the user. In this case, the user is searching for “Murphys supports for knees in size medium. The title of the relevant record is MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE MEDIUM. Thus, initially, the user forms the search string by entering the word MURPHYS followed by a space, and then followed by the first letter S of the word SUPPORTS. The search routine searches the database 3 and selects the first title in alphabetical order commencing with characters of the search string, namely, the characters MURPHYS S. The title selected, which in this case is MURPHYS SUPPORTS FOOT LARGE is displayed on the screen 9, see Fig. 4(a). The search routine when displaying the selected title places the cursor 10 on the first letter of the word in which the search string terminated. In this case, the search string terminated with the first letter S of the word SUPPORTS, and thus, the cursor is placed on the first letter S.

The routine permits a user by operating the tab key on the keyboard 7 to move the cursor from the first letter of one word to the first letter of the next word, in other words, from the S of the word SUPPORTS to the F of the word FOOT, see Fig. 4(b). The user can now form a new search string for carrying out a further search, and since the user is looking for Murphys supports for knees of medium size, the user changes the letter F to the letter K by entering the letter K through the keyboard. This thus forms the next search string for carrying out the next search. This next search string includes all the characters from the first character in the title, namely, the letter M for MURPHYS to the character up to and including the character on which the cursor 10 is placed, namely, the letter K, see Fig. 4(c). The user then instructs the computer to carry out a further search of the database 3 using the new search string. This search reveals the first title in alphabetical order, the first part of. which contains all the characters of the search string, which in this case, is MURPHYS SUPPORT KNEE LARGE. This title is displayed on the screen 9 in place of the previous title, see Fig. 4(d) and the cursor 10 is placed on the letter K which is the first letter of the word KNEE since the search string terminated in the word KNEE with the letter K.

The user now operates the tab key for moving the cursor 10 from the first letter of the word KNEE to the first letter of the next word LARGE, namely, to the letter L“ of the word LARGE, see Fig. 4(e). The user enters the letter M for the word MEDIUM in place of the letter L thereby forming the next search string, see Fig. 4(f). This next search string includes all the characters from the first character, namely, the letter M of MURPHYS to and including the character at the cursor 10, namely, the letter M for MEDIUM which has been entered in place of the letter L. The user instructs the computer to carry out the next search with this new search string which reveals the title MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE MEDIUM which is the title being searched for. This title Is displayed on the screen 9 in place of the last title, see Fig. 4(g). The user on being satisfied that this is the title of the record, the details of which are required then commands the computer to retrieve and display the full record of this title on the screen 9.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the speed with which a search can be executed using the method according to the invention is relatively short and significantly less than the time for carrying out searches using known methods. Firstly, considerable time is saved by minimising the number of key strokes which a user has to make to execute the search.

Instead of having to type in twenty-five letters plus three spaces to enter the full title, the user merely in this particular search only has to enter ten letters, namely, MURPHYS S and then the letters K and M. Additionally, the searching according to the invention also avoids the need for scrolling the titles, thus, saving on scrolling time.

Turning now to Fig. 2 the computer programme for carrying out the search for a title and retrieval of the record of the title from the database 3 will now be described.

Block 20 starts the computer programme and the computer then moves to block 21 which positions the cursor at position equal to 1 on the screen, in other words, a first position on the left hand side of a line on the screen. As well as positioning the cursor at position number 1, block 21 also displays a message on the screen 9 inviting a user to enter characters to form a search string against which the search is to be carried out. The computer programme then moves to block 22 which waits for the first character to be entered, and accepts the character. The first character entered is displayed at position 1 on the screen 9. The computer programme then moves to block 23 which checks if the tab key has been operated for moving the cursor from the first letter of one word of a displayed title to the first letter of the next word. However, initially while characters are being entered, the tab key will not be used, and the computer programme then moves on to block 24. Block 24 checks if a key designated a look-up key on the keyboard has been activated for retrieving the record of a selected title. However, while the characters of the search string are being entered, the look-up key will not be operated and the computer' programme then moves to block 25.

Block 25 checks if the arrow down key of the keyboard has been activated which, if a title had been selected and displayed on the screen, would cause the computer programme to display the title of the next record in alphabetical order in the database. However, while the characters of the search string are being entered initially, the arrow down key will not be activated, and accordingly, the computer programme moves to block 26 which checks if the arrow up key has been operated. The effect of operating the arrow up key is similar to the effect of operating the arrow down key with the exception that when the arrow up key is operated the title of the previous title record in alphabetical order is displayed on the screen. Since the arrow up. key will not be operated while the characters of the search string are being entered, the computer programme moves from block 26 to block 27. Block 27 checks if the arrow left key has been operated, and if not which will be the case while the characters of a search string are being initially entered, the computer programme moves to block 28. Block 28 checks if the arrow right key has been operated. While the characters of an initial search string are being entered, the arrow right key will not be operated and the computer programme moves to block 2 9.

Block 29 checks if a printable character has been entered. If a printable character has been entered, which will be the case if the character entered is a letter, the computer programme moves to block 30 which adds the character to the characters already forming the search string, and the computer programme then moves to block 31. Block 31 moves the cursor one position to the right. The computer programme is then returned to block 22 which accepts the next character. While the characters are initially being entered to form the search string, as each character .is entered, the computer programme moves through blocks 23 to 31 and returns to block 22.

On all the characters of the search string having been entered, in other words, in the present case, when the characters MURPHYS S” have been entered, no further characters are entered, and when the computer programme moves to block 29 since no further character will have been entered, block 29 determines this and moves the computer programme to block 34. Block 34 checks if the enter key has been operated for entering the search string. If block 34 determines that the enter key has not been operated, the computer programme moves to block 35 which displays a message on the screen 9 indicating that an invalid key has been operated. The computer programme then returns to block 22 to accept the next character if another character is to be entered, and then moves through the blocks 23 to 29, and onto 34 if no new character has been entered. On block 34 having determined that the enter key has been operated, the computer programme moves to block 36.

Block 36 sets the search string equal to the part of the search string displayed on the screen from the character at position 1 of the screen up to and including the character in the position of the cursor. After the first search string MURPHYS S has been entered, block 36 sets the search string equal to MURPHYS S. The computer programme then moves to block 37 which checks if the search string set by block 36 is blank, in other words, has no characters. If block 37 determines that the search string is blank, the computer programme moves to block 38 which finds the last title, or in the case of entry of a search string for the first time, either re-displays the last title or re-displays the search string. Should block 37 determine that the search string is not blank, the computer programme moves to block 40.

Block 40 searches the database 3 for a title which exactly match the search string, in other words, a title which only contains the same number of characters as the number of characters in the character string, and also in which the characters are identical to those of the character string and are in identical order. Should block 40 find such a title, the title is selected and the computer programme moves to block 41. Block 41 determines whether or not block 40 has found a title, and if so, the computer programme moves to block 42 which displays the title and retrieves and displays on the screen 9 the full record associated with the title. The computer programme then moves to block 43 which stores the title which is displayed on the screen by block 42, and the programme then moves to block 44 which ends the programme.

Should block 41 determine that a title identical to the search string has not been found, the computer programme moves to block 47 which searches for a record that is greater than or equal to the search string. In other words, block 47 searches for a title which has a greater number of characters or an equal number of characters to those of the search string, if such a title is found, block 47 selects the title in alphabetical order. In the present case, since the character string initially entered is MURPHYS S, block 47 selects the first title in alphabetical order commencing with MURPHYS S which in this case is MURPHYS SUPPORTS FOOT LARGE .

The computer programme then moves to block 48 which checks if block 47 found a title, and if not, the computer programme moves to block 49 which displays an error message on the screen 9, and returns the computer programme to block 22. Should block 48 determine that block 47 has selected a title, the computer programme moves to block 52 which displays the selected title, and moves the computer programme to block 53 which stores the displayed title. The computer programme then returns to block 22. Block 52, as well as displaying titles selected by block 47, also positions the cursor on the first letter of the word in which the character string terminated, in other words, the first letter of the word SUPPORTS, which in this case is the letter S in the word SUPPORTS.

The rest of the computer programme will be described with reference to the method steps which found the title MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE MEDIUM.

On the computer programme having returned to block 22 with the title MURPHYS SUPPORT FOOT LARGE displayed on the screen 9, block 22 waits for a character to be entered, and if no character is entered which in this case it will not be, the computer programme moves to block 23. Block 23 checks if the tab key for moving the cursor from the first letter of the word SUPPORT to the first letter of the next word in the title, namely, the word FOOT has been operated. In this case, since the user will wish to move the cursor from the first letter S in the word SUPPORT to the first letter F in the word FOOT the tab key will be operated and the computer programme then moves to block 60. Block 60 moves the cursor to the first letter of the next word, which in this case, is the letter F of the word FOOT and the computer programme is returned to block 22.

Block 22 waits for a character to be entered, and since in this case, the user wishes to alter the search string to be searched to MURPHYS SUPPORTS K, the letter K being the first letter in the word KNEE, the user enters the letter K in the position of the cursor, which is the position of the letter F, and the displayed title on the screen now reads MURPHYS SUPPORTS ROOT LARGE. The cursor remains on the letter R, and the computer programme moves through blocks 23 to block 29, and block 29 determines that a printable character, namely, the letter K has been entered.

The computer programme moves to block 30 which adds the character to the character string and the computer programme then moves to block 31 which sets the cursor position to a position equal to the present cursor position plus one. The computer programme is then returned to block 22 which waits for another character to be entered. In this case no further character is entered, and accordingly, the computer programme again passes through block 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29. Since no further characters have been entered, the computer programme moves from block 29 to block 34 which checks if the enter key has been operated. If so, the computer programme moves to block 36 which has already been described and sets the character string equal to the part of the displayed title which includes the characters from the character position 1, namely, the first letter M of the word MURPHYS to the character in the position of the cursor, in other words, the letter K in the word ROOT.

The computer programme then passes through blocks 37, 40, 41, 47, 48, 52 and 53 and returns to block 22. At this stage, the screen is displaying the title MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE LARGE* At this stage, no character is entered and the computer programme moves to block 23 which checks if the tab key has been operated, and in this case since it will have been operated the cursor is moved from the position of the first letter of the word KNEE, namely, the position of the letter K to the position of the first letter of the word LARGE, namely, the letter L. The computer programme then returns to block 22 and waits for a character to be entered. In this case, the character M will be entered in the cursor position of the first letter L of the word LARGE, thus, changing the word LARGE to MARGE. The computer programme then moves through blocks 23 to 29 which checks if a printable character has been entered, and since the letter M has been entered and it is a printable character, the computer programme then moves through block 30 and 31 which have already been described. The computer programme is returned to block 22 and since no further character will be entered, the computer programme then moves through blocks 23 to 29, and in turn to block 34.

Since the enter key will have been activated the computer programme moves to block 36.

Block 36 sets the search string to read MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE M. The computer programme then moves to block 37, and in turn to block 40, and then to block 41. Since block 40 will not have found an identical title to the search string, which at this stage is MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE M”, block 41 moves the computer programme to block 47, and in turn, to block 48. The computer programme is then moved from block 48 to block 52 which displays the title found, which in this case is MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE MEDIUM. The cursor is placed on the letter M which is the first letter of the word MEDIUM in which the character string of the last search string terminated.

The computer programme then moves to block 53 and is returned to block 22. Since the title MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE MEDIUM is the title of the record for which the search is being carried out, no further characters are entered, and the computer programme moves from block 22 to block 23. Since block 23 will determine that the tab key has not been operated, the computer programme then moves to block 24 which checks if a key designated as being a look-up key, in other words, a key for displaying the full record which corresponds to the title, has been operated. Since the displayed title is the title for which the search is being carried out, the key designated as a look-up key will have been operated, and block 24 on determining this moves the computer programme to block 62 which retrieves the record for the title MURPHYS SUPPORTS KNEE MEDIUM from the database, and block 62 then displays the title along with the full record on the screen 9. The computer programme is then returned to block 22, and passes through the blocks 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 41, 42, 43 and onto block 44 which ends the programme.

Returning now to blocks 25, 26, 27 and 28 at any stage, as the computer programme passes through these blocks, if any of the relevant keys on the keyboard had been activated, the computer programme is moved to the block which takes the appropriate action. In the case of block 25, if the arrow down key has been operated, the computer programme moves to block 64 which seeks the title of the next record in alphabetical order in the database to the title displayed on the screen 9. The computer programme then moves to block 65 which displays the title of the next record, and returns the computer programme to block 22.

Should block 26 determine that the arrow up key has been operated, the computer programme moves to block 66 which seeks the title of the previous record in alphabetical order which is immediately before the title displayed on the screen 9 from the database, the computer programme then moves to block 67 which displays the title on the screen 9 and returns the computer programme to block 22.

Should block 27 determine that the arrow left key has been operated, the computer programme is moved through block 68 which sets the cursor position equal to the current cursor position minus one, thereby moving the cursor one position to the left, and returns the computer programme to block 22.

Should block 28 determine that the arrow right key has been operated, the computer programme moves through blocks 70 which sets the cursor position equal to the current cursor position plus one, thereby moving the cursor one position to the right. The computer programme is then returned to block 22.

The arrow left and arrow right key would be operated should it be desired to alter the search string by removing some of the characters in the title from the search string or increasing the number of characters in the search string. For example, typically, the arrow left and arrow right key, in general, would be operated if the user wanted to either reduce the number of characters in the search string or increase them in combination with adding in one or more additional characters .

While the method has been described for searching through titles, each comprising four words, it will of course be appreciated that the titles in the database may contain any number of words more or less than four, and the length of the titles, by both number of words and characters, may vary from title to title in the database. c The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described which may be varied in detail.

Claims (5)

1. CIAIMS

1. A method for controlling a computer for searching titles of records in a computer database, the search being carried out in alpha and/or numeric order using a search routine, the method comprising the steps of: (a) permitting a user to enter a character or characters of a first part or all of a title to be searched commencing with the first character of the title to form a search string, (b) reading the entered search string, (c) searching for titles commencing with characters identical to and in the same order as the search string, (d) selecting the first title in alpha and/or numeric order, the first characters of which are identical to and in the same order as the search string, (e) displaying the selected title on a visual display screen, (f) displaying a cursor at the displayed title, (g) permitting a user to move the cursor along the displayed title to form a next search string, the next search string comprising the characters of the displayed title from the first character of the displayed title up to and including a character determined by the cursor position, (h) permitting the said next search string to be entered, and (i) repeating steps (b) to (h) until the user fails to form a next search string from the previously searched search string.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 in which each next 5 search string comprises the characters in the displayed title from the first character in the displayed title up to and including the character at the cursor position, and a user may enter one or more new characters to the search string after the position of 10 the cursor in the displayed title for forming the next search string.

3. A method as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 in which the cursor is displayed in the displayed title as the title is being displayed at a position which corresponds to 15 the first character of the word in the displayed title which corresponds to the word in which the search string terminated.

4. A method for controlling a computer for searching titles of records in a computer database, the method 20 being substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

5. Apparatus for carrying out the method of any . preceding claim, the apparatus comprising a means for permitting a user to enter a character or characters of a first part or all of a title to be searched commencing with the first character of the title to form a search string, a means for reading the entered search string, a means for searching for titles commencing with the search string, and having characters identical to and in the same order as the characters in the search string, a means for selecting the first title in alpha and/or numeric order, the first part of which comprises characters identical to the characters in the search string and in the same order as in the search string, a means for displaying the selected title on a visual display screen, a means for displaying a cursor at the displayed title, a means for permitting a user to move the cursor along the displayed title to form a next search string, the next search string comprising the characters in the displayed title from the first character of the displayed title up to and including a character determined by the cursor position, a means for permitting the next search string to be entered, and a means for reading the next search string and searching for the next search string until no further next search strings are formed.