JP2001202309A - System and method for making computer perform desired action - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a computer perform the action desired by a user with a method familiar and easy for the user. SOLUTION: When the user inputs the voices of a word with a computer 401, there voices are recognized and converted to the character code stream of the word by a voice input system 404, and the character code stream is dispatched to a linker 23. Besides, when the user designated any arbitrary word on an arbitrary application such as word processor 3, the character code stream of the word is captured by the linker 23. The linker 23 acquires a character code stream 423 for action corresponding to a character code stream 421 of the word from a data base 417 or 425 and controls the computer 401 so as to execute the action corresponding to the character code stream for action (such as accessing a specified URL, starting a specified application program or opening a specified file, for example).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a system and a method for causing a computer to perform a desired action.

[0002] The present invention also relates to a technique for utilizing a communication network by using a computer.
A physical or logical location on a network, such as the Internet's uniform resource location
Taz (hereinafter referred to as "URL") and e-mail (hereinafter referred to as "URL")
The present invention relates to a technique for easily specifying an address (referred to as “E-mail”), a telephone number on a telephone network, and the like.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art A general-purpose computer has a plurality of application programs, and can execute various actions by executing those applications. The user launches a specific application to cause the computer to perform a desired action, and gives the application a desired action (eg, opening a specific file, accessing a specific location on a communication network, etc.). ) Is input using an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard. Here, the prior art will be described below with an example of an action of accessing a specific place on a communication network.

[0004] Various communication networks accessible by computers, such as the Internet and many intranets, use the World Wide Web (hereinafter "WWW").
), Email and file transfer protocols (hereafter,
Various information provision services or information transfer services such as “FTP” are provided. To use these services, the user must specify the location on the network to which the information is to be provided or to which the information is to be transferred.

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

[0006] The most common method of specifying a URL is to type input from a keyboard. But UR
L is a string of more than a dozen to twenty or more characters, and since there are many things that are difficult for humans to remember, most users avoid typing this. The same applies to telephone numbers.

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

[0008] Further, there is a case where, while performing some work on a certain application, it is desired to obtain information related to the work content from a network. For example, a word processor type application (hereinafter, referred to as
If you are creating a document on "intellectual property rights" with a "word processor", open the JPO's website to check the contents of the JPO's services, or create a document on "automobile" For example, a website of a certain car maker is opened to check the specifications of a certain car model. In this case, the user first interrupts the work with the application currently used, and then
Launch W browser (here, "Launch" means
Means to start the execution of the application and, in a multi-program loading type or multi-task type environment, if the application has already been executed and is currently running in the background, the application running in the background is It is necessary to perform an operation of designating a URL of a desired website. This is quite troublesome for the user. The same applies when making a call.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to enable a computer to perform a desired action in a manner that is easy and familiar to a user.

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

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

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer system for causing a computer to perform a desired action by inputting a voice in which a user utters a word and recognizing the voice. A voice input system that outputs the character code sequence of the word, a character string capturing unit that receives the character code sequence of the word output from the voice input system, and performs a specific action on the computer when input to the computer A database that holds a plurality of action-activating character code strings to be associated with character code strings of a plurality of predetermined words, respectively, and a database that stores the character code strings of the words received by the character string capturing unit. A search unit that searches the action activation character code string from the database; Receiving the Deployment starting character code string, and a control unit for controlling the computer so as to perform an action corresponding to the words input by the user using the action start character code string in the computer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer system for causing a computer to perform a desired action by inputting a voice of a user uttering a word, recognizing the voice, and recognizing the character code string of the word. And a character string capturing unit that receives a character code string of a word output from the voice input system, and a plurality of input devices that cause the computer to perform a specific action when input to the computer. A database that holds an action activation character code string in association with a character code string of a predetermined plurality of words, wherein the database is connected to the computer via a communication network. The action-initiating character code associated with the character code string of the word received by the capturing unit. A search request unit for transmitting a search request for searching a column, a receiving unit for receiving the action-starting character code string searched based on the search request from the database, and the action received by the receiving unit A control unit that controls the computer so as to cause the computer to perform an action corresponding to the word input by the user using the character code string for activation.

According to these computer systems,
When the user inputs a word by voice, the voice is recognized and converted into a character code string representing the word, and various actions for various actions corresponding to the character code strings of various words registered in the database in advance. An action character code string corresponding to the input word is extracted from the character code string, and the computer is controlled using the action character code string to execute the action.

In a preferred embodiment, when a specific URL is registered in a database as a character string for activating an action in association with a specific word, when the user inputs the specific word by voice, ( If the WWW browser has not been started, start it) and change the URL to W
The control of passing the URL to the WWW browser is performed, and the WWW browser accesses the URL.

In a preferred embodiment, when a specific telephone number is registered in a database as a character code string for activating an action in connection with a specific word, when the user inputs the specific word by voice, the computer In the control, the telephone number is passed to the telephone application (if the telephone application has not been activated yet, the telephone application is activated), and the telephone application calls the telephone number.

In a preferred embodiment, when a path and a file name of a specific application program in a computer are registered in a database in association with a specific word as a character code string for activating an action, the specific word is used. Is input by the user, the specific application program is activated in the computer.

In a preferred embodiment, a path and a file name of a file which can be opened by a specific application program in the computer are registered in a database in association with a specific word as a character code string for action activation. When the user speaks the particular word, the computer controls the computer to pass the path and file name to the application program (by launching the particular application if it is not already running). Then, the application program opens the file.

In the computer system according to the present invention, the voice of the input word is temporarily converted into a character code string by the voice input system, and then the character code string of the word is received by the character string capturing section, and the character string corresponding to the word is received. Is converted to the action character code string. Therefore, a general voice recognition program for a general-purpose computer can be used as the voice input system. Also, there is an advantage that it is easy to configure so that a character string input method other than voice input can be used together as a method of inputting a character code string of words.

Taking advantage of this advantage, in a preferred embodiment, in addition to voice input, a user can arbitrarily specify a word specified by a user on an application program (for example, a word processor or a spreadsheet program) capable of handling character code strings in a computer. The character string capturing unit can also receive a character code string, a character code string of a word arbitrarily specified by a user on a display screen of a computer, and the like. In short, the user selects an arbitrary character code string from all the character code strings input to the computer,
It can be passed to the string capture to cause the computer to execute the corresponding action.

Further, in the computer system of the present invention, since the data held in the database is a character code string of words and actions, the user edits the character code string in the database, and the user can arbitrarily edit the character code string. It is easy to determine words and corresponding actions.

Taking advantage of this advantage, in the preferred embodiment, the user can additionally register a new action character code string and a character code string of a new word related to the new action character string, or register an action code already registered in the database. The starting character code string and the character code strings of words related thereto can be deleted or changed.

[0023]

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

This embodiment is used for the purpose of designating a URL for a WWW browser of a computer using the Internet, but if the following description of this embodiment is read, those skilled in the art will be able to understand the present invention. It should be readily understood that the principles of the present invention are not limited to Internet URLs, but can be applied to specifying various types of locations in various types of computer networks.

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

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

Each of the client computers 3A, 3B,
Are the client computers 3A, 3
Any symbol can be specified for the linkers 23A, 23B,. Each of the linkers 23A, 23 in the client computers 3A, 3B,.
B transmit a search request to the URL server 5 using the specified symbols 7A, 7B,... As keywords (that is, words to be searched for). The URL server 5
Each symbol 7A, included in each search request received from each client computer 1A, 3B,.
7B as keywords, each URL 9A, 9 corresponding to each symbol 7A, 7B,.
B, ... are searched. Then, the URL server 5 returns the searched URLs 9A, 9B,... To the linkers 23A, 23B,... In the client computers 1A, 3B,. Upon receiving the URLs 9A, 9B,... From the URL server 5, the linkers 23A, 23B,... In the client computers 1A, 3B,.
…give. Therefore, each WWW browser 21A, 21B,
... accesses the websites of the respective URLs 9A, 9B,.

By the above operation, the user of each of the client computers 3A, 3B,... Can obtain the same result as that of specifying the URL by specifying the symbol. For example, if the word "Japan Patent Office" is specified as a symbol, the website of the Japan Patent Office can be accessed. Therefore, the user only needs to know the symbol of the website he wants to visit.
You do not need to know L. Symbols such as texts and figures that can be easily remembered by humans can be set. For example, corporate websites can be set with symbols that are familiar to users, such as trade names and trademarks, catchphrases such as "in front of the station", and pictures of animal personalities (characters such as mascots). it can. Therefore, it is much easier for the user to specify a symbol than to specify a URL. Even in the case of registering in a list such as "favorite" or "bookmark", by registering using a symbol, it is easy to find a desired entry from the list.

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

When searching for a symbol, if the symbol is image (including graphic) or sound data,
It is possible to determine whether they match (hereinafter, referred to as “hit”) by using a pattern recognition technique for images and sounds.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the man-machine interface screen 31 of the client computer 3 when a user designates a symbol. Note that the example shown in FIG. 2 is in a "Windows" type environment (hereinafter simply referred to as "Windows" environment) provided by one of operating systems sold by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington, USA. However, from the description, those skilled in the art can easily understand how to achieve the same effect in other operating systems.

In FIG. 2, on the desktop 39 of the display screen 31, window-type sub-display areas (hereinafter, referred to as WWW browsers 21 and word processors) of some applications already started by the user.
33, 35, and 37 are open. Further, a box-shaped area (hereinafter, referred to as an “edit box”) 43 for receiving a user input of the linker 23 is also opened. Linker 23 icon 41
Is also placed on the desktop 39. Bar-shaped menu on the edge of the screen 31 (hereinafter, referred to as “task bar”) 45
Is provided with a control button 47 of the linker 23.

The user activates the function of the linker 23 by clicking or double-clicking the linker control button 47 in the task bar 45 (that is, by using a mouse-type interface (hereinafter referred to as “mouse”)). Can be disabled or disabled. Only when the linker 23 is valid, a symbol can be given to the linker 23 by the operation described below.

Here, it is assumed that the user wants to open the website of the JPO while creating a document using an arbitrary application such as a word processor. Then, if the word “Patent Office” 51, which is a symbol of the JPO, is present in the document being created, the user presses the direction key (hereinafter referred to as “arrow key”) on the keyboard or the mouse. Or use the keyboard or type in the word "patent office" 51 from the keyboard and select it. Then, the word “Patent Office” 51 is, for example, highlighted (ie, in a “highlighted” state) on the screen. Subsequently, the user may select some optional operations, such as the following (1), to pass the selected word "patent office" 51 as a symbol to the linker 23.
Perform a favorite one of (3) and the like.

(1) Copy the word "patent office" 51 to the clipboard. That is, for example, "Control +
C "(where" + "means pressing multiple keys at the same time), or in the toolbar of the word processor window 35 (a bar-shaped menu similar to the task bar of the operating system). Is clicked on the copy button 53 in.

(2) As shown by the arrow 55, drag and drop (using a mouse) the word "patent office" 51 onto the icon 41 of the linker 23.

(3) As shown by the arrow 57, the word "patent office" 51 is copied into the edit box 43 of the linker 23 by drag and drop, and the word "patent office" 51 is pressed by pressing the return key or the like. Confirm and select (that is, confirm). It is also possible to drag and drop the word "patent" on the word processor into the edit box 43, change the word "patent" into "patent office" on the edit box 43, and confirm and select.

When any of the above operations is performed, the linker 23 receives the word “Patent Office” 51 as a symbol,
This is sent to the URL server 5 as described above, and the URL of the JPO website "http: //www.jpo-miti.go.j
p / ", and issues a start command of the WWW browser 21 containing the URL. Thereby, W
UR of the JPO website to the WW browser 21
L "http://www.jpo-miti.go.jp/" is designated. As a result, the window 33 of the WWW browser 21 displays the URL “http://www.jpo-miti.go.jp”.
/ ”61 and the JPO homepage 63 are displayed.

As a method of designating a symbol in the linker 23, there is another method for designating a symbol in the linker edit box 43.
To type a symbol directly into the web browser, or "Open location" or "Address" on the window 33 of the WWW browser.
There is a method of inputting a symbol instead of inputting a URL in an input field for inputting a site to be accessed.

A voice input device such as a microphone and a voice recognition module (a computer program or a computer program, which recognizes input voice and converts it into a character string)
If the computer is equipped with a voice input system having a dedicated hardware circuit), a word uttered by the user is converted into a character code string (character string) using the voice input system, The character string can be passed (designated) to the linker 23 as a symbol.
In that case, the functions of the voice input system and the linker 23 can be set so that the character string output from the voice input system is always passed to the linker 23, and the character code string output from the voice input system can be set. Only a character code string specified by the user in a predetermined manner (for example, only a character string which is a recognition result of a voice input to the voice input system while the user presses the "Control" key) is a linker. It is also possible to set the functions of the voice input system and the linker 23 so that the functions are passed to the voice input system 23.

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

In the client computer 3, the linker 23 monitors the clipboard 79, which is one of the memory areas managed by the OS 73, for example, the operating system of a product of Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington. When a certain symbol 75 is copied from the memory area of a certain application, for example, the word processor 71 to the clipboard 79 (arrow 77), the linker 23 takes in the symbol 81 in the clipboard 79 (arrow 83). Subsequently, the linker 23 refers to its own cache file 87, and searches the same for the same symbol as the symbol 85 just fetched. The cache file 87 contains the latest predetermined number of symbols 8 handled by the linker 23 so far.
9A, 89B,... And URLs 91A, 91B,. If the same symbol (for example, 89B) as the just-acquired symbol 85 is found in the cache file 87, the linker 23 reads the URL 91B corresponding to the symbol 89B from the cache file 87 (arrow 93), and reads the URL 91B. U
The RL 95 is passed to the WWW browser 21 (arrow 97).

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

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

Further, the linker 23 includes a keyboard 121
It also monitors that a symbol is entered instead of a URL in an input field for entering a site to be accessed, such as an "open location" or an "address" of the WWW browser 21 by the type input from. That is,
The linker 23 monitors the path (arrow 123) through which the OS 73 transfers the symbol input from the keyboard 121 to the WWW browser 123, and fetches the symbol therefrom (arrow 127). Note that whether the typed text is a symbol or a URL is determined, for example, if the text matches a predetermined format of the URL, the URL is determined as follows.
If they do not match, it is determined to be a symbol. The operation after taking in the symbol is the same as the operation described above.

Further, the voice input system 1 is set so that a character string is passed from the voice input system 122 to the linker 23.
When the functions of 22 and linker 23 are set,
A user speaks a word and outputs the voice to the voice input system 12
When the input is made to 2, the voice input system 122 recognizes the voice, creates a character string of the word, and passes the character string of the word to the linker 23. The linker 23 regards the character string passed from the voice input system 122 as a symbol, and performs an operation on the character string after the symbol described above has been fetched.

FIG. 4 shows a processing flow of the linker 23.

The linker 23 periodically checks whether or not a symbol has entered the clipboard (S1). Further, as described above, it is also checked whether or not a symbol has been typed in the input field for entry of a site to be accessed, such as the "open location" or "address" of the WWW browser 21 (S2). If any check result is YES, the linker 23 fetches the symbol, and first searches for the same symbol as the symbol from its own cache file 87 (S4).
Also, when a symbol is transferred by drag and drop from another application (S3), the linker 23
Goes to step S4. Further, when a character string of a word is passed as a symbol from the voice input system (S3-2), the linker 23 proceeds to step S4.

At step S4, the cache file 87
When the corresponding symbol is found from the URL, the linker 23 reads all URLs corresponding to the symbol from the cache file 87 (S5). And the read UR
If there is only one L, the linker 23 issues a start command of the WWW browser 21 and passes the URL to the WWW browser 21 (S9). If there are a plurality of URLs read from the cache file 87, a list of the plurality of URLs is displayed on the man-machine interface screen in order to allow the user to select one of the URLs (S7). The user is one URL from the list
Is selected (S8), the linker 23 proceeds to step S9
Then, the URL is passed to the WWW browser 21. If the user does not make a selection from the list (for example, selects “Cancel” or the like), the linker 23
Proceeds to step S10 described later.

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

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

FIG. 5 shows a processing flow of the URL server 5.

Upon receiving a symbol search request from the linker 23 (S21), the URL server 5 searches for the symbol from the database 15 (S22). If a symbol is found, the URL server 5 reads all URLs corresponding to the symbol from the database 15 and reads the URL. It is returned to S23 as a search result (S23). If the symbol is not found in the database 15, a response indicating that there is no hit (match) is returned (S23).

When a plurality of URLs correspond to one symbol, the URL server 5 may perform the following instead of returning the plurality of URLs to the linker 23. That is, a hypertext markup language (hereinafter, “HTML”) for the plurality of URLs
Is prepared in advance with a one-page website having a URL list having a link of the above-mentioned type, and the URL of the URL list page is stored in the database 15 in association with the symbol. Accordingly, the URL server 5 responds to the search request for the symbol by responding to the URL.
The URL of the list page is returned as a search result. As a result, the URL list page is displayed on the WWW browser, and the user can easily jump (ie, access) from the page to a desired URL.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The L server 5 sends only the URL 109 to the linker 23. As a modified example, the URL server 5 stores the symbol 103
3 may be sent to the linker 23, so that the linker 23 only needs to store the set of the symbol 103 and the URL 109 received from the URL server 5 in the cache file 87 (that is, FIG. It is not necessary for the linker 23 to write the symbol 85 as indicated by the arrow 113).

The linker 123 shown in FIG. 6 includes a symbol determination unit 125 and a URL conversion unit 12 as execution modules.
And 7. The symbol determination unit 125 is a symbol link web 1 in which the user freely links various symbols 131A, 131B,.
29. The symbol determination unit 125 performs a process for allowing a user to select a desired symbol while freely following the link of the symbol link web 129. Further, the URL conversion unit 127 receives the symbol selected by the user from the symbol determination unit 125,
The processing after step S4 in FIG. 4 is performed.

FIG. 7 shows a case where the user uses the symbol link web 1
An example of a screen displayed by the symbol determination unit 125 when selecting symbols while following 29 links is shown.

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

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

As described above, the user can use the symbol link web 129 freely constructed by himself to find and select a desired symbol while following the link between the symbols. This function may have various uses.

One of the uses is to help human memory. For example, suppose you visit a website of a mail order company and find a catalog of your favorite shoulder bags, but you do not want to buy it now.
At that time, it is assumed that the name of the mail order company and the word “shoulder bag” are linked and registered in the symbol link web 129, considering that the shoulder bag may be purchased in the future. That way, when you really wanted the shoulder bag later, even if you didn't remember the name of the mail order, you could pass the word "shoulder bag" to the linker and it would link to the "shoulder bag" A list of symbols is displayed. From the list, the name of the mail order company can be found, and by double-clicking the name, the website of the mail order company can be accessed again.

Another use is for customizing a symbol by a user. That is, the symbols that can be passed to the URL server will not be those defined by individual users, but will be those defined on the URL server side. In that case, if the user does not like the symbol defined on the URL server side, he or she will want to use the symbol defined by himself instead. In this case, the symbol link web 12 links the symbol defined by the user and the symbol defined on the URL server side.
If registered in 9, the symbol defined by oneself can be used.

FIG. 8 shows a processing flow of the symbol determination section 125.

First, the symbol determination section 125 obtains the first symbol in steps S1, S2 and S3 shown in FIG. 4 (S31) and displays it (S32).
Next, when the displayed symbol is single-clicked (S33), the symbol determination unit 125 searches the symbol link web 129 for another symbol linked to the symbol (S34), and the searched symbol (plurality) In the case of (1), the list) is displayed (S32). When the displayed symbol is double-clicked (S3
3), the symbol determination unit 125 converts the symbol into a URL
It is passed to the conversion unit 127 (S35).

FIGS. 9 and 10 show two alternative embodiments for passing user input strings as symbols to the linker, respectively.

In these embodiments, the character string input by the user from the keyboard is converted as necessary for the input character string (for example, in the case of Japanese input, the phonetic characters of hiragana and katakana are used). The sequence is converted to a kanji ideographic character string and passed to the linker via an input method editor (hereinafter, referred to as "IME"), which is a program module that acts as an intermediary to pass to the application. In particular, in the embodiment of FIG. 9, the client computer has a linker IME 201 specifically designed for the linker 209. On the other hand, in the embodiment of FIG. 10, the linker IME 22 in which the linker character string determination unit 233 is incorporated in the existing IME modules 231 and 235 is used.
Have one. The embodiment of FIG. 9 is suitable for handling single-byte code characters (eg, ASCII-encoded text characters, etc.) and that of FIG. 10 is for double-byte code characters (eg, JIS-encoded text characters (JIS characters).
Is a character encoding system similar to ASCII, but uses a 2-byte code instead of a 1-byte code to represent the many character sets required for Japanese.))
Suitable for handling.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the linker IME2
01 has a character string determination unit 213 and a buffer 211 in which a character string before or during conversion is stored. When the user presses a key on the keyboard 205, a character corresponding to the pressed key (here, “character” is used in the most general sense including symbols and numbers) according to the IME specification of the OS through the keyboard driver 203. ) Or an instruction is input to the character string determination unit 213 of the linker IME 201.
The character string determination unit 213 operates as follows in response to the input character or command.

(1) When a General Character Key is Pressed The character string determination unit 213 adds a character input from a general number, symbol, or character key to the buffer,
Currently active applications (eg, word processors, spreadsheet software, etc.) 20
7 and the same character is underlined, highlighted, shaded,
Flashing or highlight color display. Therefore, the input character string is temporarily displayed on the application 207.

(2) When the “ESC key” is pressed The character string determination unit 213 clears the buffer 211 if any character is stored in the buffer 211 in response to a command from the ESC key. At the same time, characters temporarily displayed on the application 207 (underlined, highlighted,
The display of the characters with shadows, blinking, or highlighted display is erased from the application 207 (that is, the input of the temporarily displayed characters is canceled).
If the buffer 211 is empty, the character string determination unit 213
Executes the function of the “Back Space key” assigned by the application 207.

(3) When a "Confirmation Key" (for example, "Enter Key") is Pressed In response to a command from the confirmation key, the character string determining unit 213 determines whether any character is stored in the buffer 211. Then, after temporarily deleting characters temporarily displayed on the application 207, the contents of the buffer 211 are transferred to the application 207, and the buffer 211 is cleared (that is, simple character registration to the application 207).

(4) A “link key” (for example, “Alt key + L key” may be defined by software, or a dedicated “link key” may be provided on a keyboard) The character string determination unit 213 transfers the contents of the buffer 211 to the linker 209 in response to the command from the link key,
The buffer 211 is cleared. Then, Linker 209
Performs operations such as converting characters transferred to URLs to enable Internet access as described above.

(5) When the “link key” and the “confirmation key” are pressed The character string determination unit 213 responds to a command from the link key and the confirmation key if any character is stored in the buffer 211. Then, after temporarily deleting characters temporarily displayed on the application 207, the buffer 211
Are transferred to the application 207,
Transfer the contents of buffer 211 to linker 209 and clear buffer 211 (application 20
7 and the function of the linker 209 coexist).

In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the linker IME
Reference numeral 221 denotes an IME core 235 of the existing IME.
And a buffer 231, and a linker 209.
It has a character string determination unit 233 specially designed for use. When the user presses a key on the keyboard 205, a character or an instruction corresponding to the pressed key is transmitted to the linker IME2 through the keyboard driver 203 according to the IME specification of the OS.
21 is input to the character string determination unit 233. The character string determination unit 233 performs processing of the input key character or
Any key input (eg, a “link key”) assigned to launching the linker 209 while handing over to the core 235
Is recognized, the contents of the buffer 231 are passed to the linker 209 as it is, regardless of whether it is before or during the conversion. When any other key is pressed, the character string determination unit 233 simply passes the processing of the input character or instruction to the IME core 235, and the operation of the linker IME 221 is substantially the same as the operation of the existing IME. become. Character string judgment unit 2
The operation of No. 33 is specifically described below, taking the case of Japanese input as an example.

(1) When General Character Key is Depressed The character string determination unit 233 performs processing of the input character by the IME
Deliver to core 235. The IME core 235 converts a character string into a hiragana (or katakana) from a combination of the input alphabets when a Roman character input (a system in which Japanese hiragana and katakana characters are rewritten into a Roman alphabet, that is, a normal alphabet) is set. Automatic conversion is performed, and the converted kana character is added to the buffer 231.
7, the same character is underlined, inverted, shaded, blinking or highlighted. Therefore, the input kana character is temporarily displayed on the application 207.

(2) When a “Confirmation Key” (for example, “Enter Key”) is Pressed The character string determination unit 233 executes processing of an instruction from the confirmation key
Deliver to ME core 235. The IME core 235 obtains a conversion candidate character string by associating the character string in the buffer 231 with a built-in kanji dictionary and overwrites the contents of the buffer 231. At the same time, the IME core 235 transfers the conversion candidate character string to the application 207 by underlining, inverting, shadowing, blinking, or highlighting the color. Therefore, the conversion candidate character string is spot-displayed on the application 207.

(3) When the “ESC key” is pressed The character string determination unit 233 transfers the processing of the instruction from the ESC key to the IME core 235. The IME core 235 performs the same operation as that performed by the character string determination unit 213 illustrated in FIG. However, among the existing IMEs, the IME core 235
Receives an instruction from the ESC key, the buffer 231
In some cases, the conversion candidates in are discarded to return to the initial kana character display.

(4) A “link key” (for example, “Alt key + L key” may be defined by software, or a dedicated “link key” may be provided on a keyboard) The character string determination unit 233 transfers the contents of the buffer 231 to the linker 209 in response to the command from the link key,
The buffer 211 is cleared. Then, Linker 209
Performs operations such as converting characters transferred to URLs to enable Internet access as described above.

(5) When “Link Key” and “Confirmation Key” are Pressed The character string determination unit 233 performs processing of an instruction from the confirmation key
At the same time as passing to the ME core 235, the contents of the buffer 231 are transmitted in response to an instruction from the link key.
Transfer to 9.

Hereinafter, a character string input expression method of the linker using the above-described IME will be specifically described.

1. Regarding the representation of the selected state of the character string In the IME, the representation of the character string in the selected state, that is, the representation of the character string that may be passed to the linker is, for example, in a Windows environment, as follows.
There may be cases.

A mode in which a character string in a selected state is displayed in a highlighted manner such as a reverse display.

A mode in which a solid or dotted underline is added to the selected character string.

In the specific example shown below, the input character string is enclosed in quotation marks "", and the selected state (that is, the part which is highlighted or underlined on the screen) is shown. It is shown in square brackets [].

2. Operation appearance when inputting 1-byte code characters in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 2-1. When Invoking the Linker Directly from the Desktop (ie, Not Indirectly from Other Applications) The Linker IME is loaded into random access memory (hereinafter "RAM"). This may be loaded as a terminate-and-stay resident (hereinafter, “TSR”) program, or may be started up in advance in a multitasking environment. It is assumed that it has been loaded. (Alternatively, any means of activation can be used, such as having the functionality of the linker written into operating system code or embedded in hardware or firmware.) In this case, the icon of the linker IME is displayed together with other TSR programs in the "task tray" (at the side of the time display) at the lower right corner of the screen.

Place the cursor anywhere on the screen that accepts character string typing and type in the character string you want to pass to the linker.

Example 1-1) "[SOFMAP]"

After inputting a character string as described above,
Press a link key such as t + Z. Alternatively, select the linker icon with the mouse. The linker starts with the selected string, converts the string to a URL,
The browser starts up with the URL and opens the page of the URL. When the link key further has a character string determination function, the character string is also determined at the same time.

Example 1-1): When the link key has only the function of starting the linker "[SOFMAP]" Result: The SOFMAP website is accessed.

Example 1-2): When the link key also has the function of the confirmation key "SOFMAP" Result: The website of SOFMAP is accessed.

2-2. When Activating Linker While Inputting Text with Word Processor or Other Application It is assumed here that the linker IME is loaded in the RAM as a TSR program. In that case, if it is the specification of the current Japanese version of Windows, in the "task tray" area in the lower right corner of the screen,
An icon of the linker IME is displayed together with other TSR programs.

A character string is normally input. At this time, all the characters in the input character string are in a selected state.

Example) "[The company]"

When the character string to be passed to the linker comes immediately before, the sentence up to that point is determined by the Enter key.

Example) "[The company is]" ↓ (Enter input) "The company is"

Enter the character string you want to pass to the linker.

Example 2) "The company is [SOFMAP]"

After inputting the character string as described above,
Press a link key such as t + Z. Alternatively, select the linker icon with the mouse. The linker starts with the selected string, converts the string to a URL, and the browser starts with the URL, and
Open the page. When the link key further has a character string determination function, the character string is also determined at the same time.

Example 2-1): When the link key has only the function of starting the linker "The company is [SOFMAP]" Result: The SOFMAP website is accessed.

Example 2-2): When the link key also has the function of the confirmation key "The company is SOFMAP" Result: The website of SOFMAP is accessed.

3. Operation of inputting 2-byte code characters in the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 Again, the IME for the linker (ie, the front-end processor (hereinafter referred to as “FEP”))
It is assumed that the program is loaded in the RAM as an SR program. In this case, if the specification is the current Japanese version of Windows, an icon of the linker IME is displayed together with other TSR programs in the "task tray" area at the lower right corner of the screen.

Place the cursor at a location on the screen that accepts the input of a character string, and type in the character string that you want to pass to the linker. Then, the FEP automatically converts the alphabet into hiragana (or katakana) and displays it.

Example 3) An example of this character input / display is shown in FIG.

After inputting characters as described above, Alt
Press a link key such as + Z. Alternatively, select the linker icon with the mouse. Then, the linker starts with the selected character string, converts the character string into a URL, and the browser starts with the URL, and the U
Access the RL website. When the link key further has a character string determination function, the character string is also determined at the same time.

Example 3-1): When the link key has only the function of activating the linker FIG. 18 shows an example of this character input / display. Result: If a Sofmap Future Design website exists, that website is accessed.

Example 3-2): When the link key further has a function of an enter key FIG. 19 shows an example of this character input / display. Result: If a Sofmap Future Design website exists, that website is accessed.

If no URL is assigned to the character string of Hiragana or Katakana shown in FIG. 20, the user presses a Kana-Kanji conversion key such as a space key to
Performs Kana-Kanji conversion of EP. The kana-kanji conversion operation can be performed until the desired character string is displayed, and the conversion candidates can be changed over and over.

Example 4) An example of this character input / display is shown in FIG. ↓ (Space key input) FIG. 22 shows an example of this character input / display. ↓ (Space key input) FIG. 23 shows an example of this character input / display. (As shown, long character strings may be automatically split into multiple conversion candidates by FEP).

When the character string to be selected (for example, the character string shown in FIG. 24) is displayed as a conversion candidate,
Press a link key such as t + Z. Alternatively, select the linker icon with the mouse. Then, the linker starts up with the selected character string as a conversion candidate, converts the character string into a URL, and the browser starts up with the URL and accesses the website of the URL. When the link key further has a character string determination function, the character string is also determined at the same time.

Example 4-1): When the link key has only the function of activating the linker FIG. 25 shows an example of this character input / display. Result: If a Sofmap Future Design website exists, that website is accessed.

Example 4-2): When the link key further has a function of a decision key FIG. 26 shows an example of this character input / display. Result: If a Sofmap Future Design website exists, that website is accessed.

3-1. Linker activation while inputting text with a word processor or other application It is assumed that a linker IME (FEP) has been loaded into RAM as a TSR program. In that case, if it is the specification of the current Japanese version of Windows, in the "task tray" area in the lower right corner of the screen,
An icon of the linker IME is displayed together with other TSR programs.

A character string is normally input. At this time, all the character strings are automatically selected on the screen by the function of FEP (that is, highlighted display, etc.).
Is converted to Hiragana (or Katakana) and displayed.

Example 5) An example of this character input / display is shown in FIG.

Using the kana-kanji conversion function of FEP, a certain input character is converted to a kanji, and a certain input character is converted to a hiragana character, and a sentence is created while being converted by a normal operation. Until just before the character string you want to pass to the linker, press the Enter key, etc., and confirm the input text up to that point.

Example 6) An example of this character input / display is shown in FIG. ↓ (Space key input) FIG. 29 shows an example of this character input / display. ↓ (Enter input) FIG. 30 shows an example of this character input / display.

A character string to be passed to the linker is continuously input. The alphabet is automatically converted to hiragana (or katakana) by the FEP function and displayed.

Example 7) An example of this character input / display is shown in FIG.

After inputting characters as described above, Alt
Press a link key such as + Z. Alternatively, select the linker icon with the mouse. The character string is converted into a URL, the browser is started with the URL, and the URL is used.
Open the page. When the link key further has a character string determination function, the character string is also determined at the same time. If no URL is assigned to the above kana character string,
By pressing a kana-kanji conversion key such as a space key, the kana-kanji conversion of FEP is executed. The kana-kanji conversion operation can be performed until the desired character string is displayed, and the conversion candidates can be changed over and over.

Example 8) FIG. 32 shows an example of this character input / display. ↓ (Space key input) FIG. 33 shows an example of this character input / display. ↓ (Space key input) FIG. 34 shows an example of this character input / display.

When a character string to be selected, for example, the character string shown in FIG. 35 is displayed as a conversion candidate, a link activation key is pressed, or an icon is selected with a mouse. Then, the linker starts up with the selected character string as a conversion candidate, converts the character string into a URL, and the browser starts up with the URL, and
Access the RL website. When the link key further has a character string determination function, the character string is also determined at the same time.

Example 8-1): When the link key has only a linker activation function FIG. 36 shows an example of character input / display. Result: If a Sofmap Future Design website exists, it is opened.

Example 8-2): When the link key further includes the function of the enter key FIG. 37 shows an example of this character input / display. Result: If a Sofmap Future Design website exists, it is opened.

FIG. 11 shows yet another embodiment of the linker.

The linker 301 has a telephone word table 303 and a word-action table 305 on the client computer. Telephone word table 30
3, a plurality of keywords generally used to indicate a telephone number are registered. Various words (in the illustrated example, “sofm
“ap”, “cd”, “letter”, “Mary”, etc.) and the action name are linked to each other (in the figure, this link is indicated by an equal sign) and registered. Here, the action name designates an action to be executed by the client computer. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 11, a URL such as “http: // ....” specifies an action of accessing the URL, and “CDpl.
The file name of an executable program such as "ayer.EXE" specifies the action of launching the program, and the data file name such as "LetterHead.DOC" (where "data file" A non-executable file, such as a file containing ASCII or other text data, also falls into this category.)
A telephone number such as "1234567" specifies that the telephone number is to be called.

On the client computer, in addition to the linker 301, various files 311, 313, 3
15, 317 and 319 exist. In the example of FIG. 11, the file 311 is a telephone application for making a telephone call, the file 313 is a WWW browser, and the file 15 is a music compact disc (hereinafter referred to as “music C”) set in a CD-ROM drive of a client computer.
D]), a file 317 is a word processor, and a file 319 is a word processor 317.
Are document files (files containing text data) that can be opened, but these are merely examples, and any type of file may exist.

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

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

FIG. 12 shows Linker 3 in phone mode.
01 shows the processing flow.

When the linker 301 captures the character string symbol (S51), the linker 301 converts the character string into the telephone word table 3 (S51).
It matches with each keyword in 03 (S52). If the character string contains a word that matches any of the keywords (S53, Yes), this means that the telephone number is likely to be included in the character string. In this case, the linker 301 next extracts a telephone number from the character string (S54), and activates the telephone application 311 by designating the telephone number to make a call to the telephone number (S55). ). Step S5 above
2. It is also possible to omit S53 and directly enter step S54 from step S51.

[0130] In parallel with the processing for making a telephone call, the linker 301 also performs the processing from step S56. That is, when the local mode is set (S56, local), the linker 301 compares the captured character string with a word in the word action table 305 (S57). If the character string matches one of the words in the table 305 (S58, Yes), the linker 301 performs a process for executing the action specified by the action name linked on the table 305 to the matched word. Perform (S59). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 11, when the matched word is “sofmap”, the word “sofmap” has a URL “htt” as an action name.
Since p: // .... "is linked, the linker 301
Starts the WWW browser 313 by designating the URL "http: // ....", thereby accessing the website of the URL. When the matched word is “cd”, the file name “CDplayer.EXE” of the program for playing the music CD is linked to the word “cd”, so the linker 301 starts up the CDplayer.EXE 315. ,
Thereby, a music CD can be reproduced. If the matched word is "letter", the word "letter" is linked to a document file name "LetterHead.DOC" that can be opened by the word processor 317, and the linker 301 then determines the word "letter". Le
The word processor 317 is started by designating “tterHead.DOC”, whereby the document file is opened. If the matched word is “Mary”, the telephone number “tel03123456” is linked to the word “Mary”, and the linker 301 transmits the telephone number “0312”.
The user activates the telephone application 311 by designating "34567", thereby calling the telephone number.

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

FIG. 13 shows the procedure of the telephone number extracting process in step S54 in FIG.

The linker 301 first extracts, from the captured character string, only a numeral string expressed in a general telephone number expression format (S61). The general expression format of the telephone number is, for example, “1 (234) 56” that connects a set of numbers with a hyphen such as “1-234-5678”.
Part of the sequence is enclosed in parentheses as in "78" or "12
345678 ". In any of the expression forms, only a numeral such as “12345678” is extracted. Next, the linker 301
The number of digits of the extracted sequence is counted, and it is checked whether it is within a predetermined range of digits recognized as a telephone number (S62). For example, one or two digits will be too small and more than 20 digits will be too many. Only when the number of digits of the sequence falls within the predetermined digit range, the linker 301 recognizes the sequence as a telephone number (S63), and proceeds to step S55 in FIG. 12 described above.

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

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

FIG. 14 shows yet another embodiment of the linker.

The linker on the client computer 401 is composed of two types of program modules, a core linker 415 and an internet linker 419. The core linker 415 may be a TSR type program. FIG. 15 shows an operation flow of the core linker 415, and FIG. 16 shows an operation flow of the Internet linker 419.

The operation of the core linker 415 and the Internet linker 419 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The core linker 419 is a “network”
And "local", which can be selected by the user. In either mode, the core linker 415 captures a symbol when the user enters or selects the symbol on any application on the client computer 401 using any of the various methods described above ( (FIG. 15, step S71). FIG. 14 illustrates, as an example, a state in which the core linker 415 captures a symbol (character string) 431 input or selected by the user on the word processor 405 as indicated by an arrow 433. Further, as another example, a symbol (character string) 431 obtained by the voice input system 404 recognizing and outputting a voice of a word uttered by the user.
Is also shown as captured by the core linker 415 as shown by the arrow 432. The operation of the next core linker 415 branches according to the currently selected operation mode (S72). First, a series of operations in the network mode will be described.

In the network mode, the core linker 4
15 activates the Internet linker 419 and passes the captured symbol 435 to the Internet linker 419 as shown by the arrow 437 in FIG.
S73). Thereafter, the core linker 415 enters a standby state, and captures the new symbol when the user inputs or selects a new symbol (FIG. 15, S7).
1) The same operation is repeated.

The Internet linker 419 is activated by the core linker 415 to
From the symbol. Then, the Internet linker 419 performs a search for the symbol on the URL server 40.
Then, a search request statement 441 for making a request to the third database 425 is created (FIG. 16, S81). Subsequently, if the WWW browser 413 on the client computer 401 has not been started, the Internet linker 419 starts the WWW browser 413 (FIG. 16, S82, S83), and then the URL of the URL server 403 registered in advance.
439 and the above-described symbol search request sentence 441 are passed to the WWW browser 413 as shown by an arrow 443 (FIG. 16, S84). Thereafter, the Internet Linker 419 ends.

[0142] The WWW browser 413 sends the URL of the URL server 403 received from the Internet linker 419.
The URL server 403 is accessed using the RL, and the symbol search request sentence 445 received from the Internet linker 419 is passed to the URL server 403 as indicated by an arrow 447. The URL server 403 uses the received symbol search request statement 445 to
The requested symbol is searched from the database 425 of the RL server 403, and if there is a match, the URL linked to the symbol (or the set of the symbol and the URL) is read from the database 425 and the arrow 4
As indicated by reference numeral 49, it returns to the WWW browser 413. As a result, the WWW browser 413 accesses the website of the URL corresponding to the symbol.

Next, the operation in the local mode will be described.

In the local mode, the core linker 415
When the symbol 435 is captured, the symbol 435 is retrieved from the local database 417 prepared in the client computer 401 in advance (FIG. 15, S75). In the local database 417, various symbols 421A, 421B, 421C,
421D,... And various action names 423A, 423
B, 423C, 423D,... Are linked. Here, the action name indicates an action to be executed by the client computer when the user specifies a certain symbol. The action name includes, for example, a file name (including a directory) of a program to be executed, a file name (including a directory) of a data file to be opened, a telephone number to call, a URL of a website to be accessed, or An e-mail address of a destination to which the e-mail is to be transmitted may be employed.
In the example shown in FIG. 14, the action name linked to the symbol 421A is the program file name 423A of the spreadsheet application 407, the action name linked to the symbol 421B is a certain image file name 423B,
The one linked to the symbol 421C is a certain telephone number 4
23C, and linked to the symbol 421D is a certain URL 423D.

The core linker 415 searches for the captured symbol 435 from the local database 417, and if there is a match (Yes in S76 in FIG. 15), the symbol
The action name linked to 35 is stored in the database 417.
And execute the action indicated by the action name (FIG. 15, S77). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 14, if there is a match with the symbol 421A, the spreadsheet application 407 is activated using the spreadsheet application file name 423A as indicated by an arrow 451, and the symbol 421B is displayed. If there is a match, the graphic application 409 is started as shown by an arrow 453 and the image file name 423B is passed to open the image file. As shown, the telephone application 411 is activated to pass the telephone number 423C to make a call, or if there is a match with the symbol 421D, the WWW browser 413 is activated to pass the URL 423D as indicated by an arrow 457. Have the website open.

In this embodiment, “network” and “
Although there are two operation modes of “Cal”, as a modified example, the operation mode may be provided in only one of the modes.

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

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 shows a man-machine interface screen 31 of the client computer 3 when a user designates a symbol.
FIG.

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

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a linker 23;

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

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of a linker.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by a symbol determination unit when a user selects a symbol while following a link on a symbol link web 129.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a symbol determination unit 125;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment for passing a user input string to a linker using an IME.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating yet another embodiment for passing a user input character string to a linker using an IME.

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

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

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a telephone number extraction process in step S54 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating yet another embodiment of a linker.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the core linker.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the operation of the Internet linker.

FIG. 17 is an exemplary screen view showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 18 is a screen diagram showing an example of input and display of Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 19 is a screen diagram showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 20 is an exemplary screen view showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 21 is an exemplary screen view showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 22 is an exemplary screen view showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 23 is a screen diagram showing an example of input and display of Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 24 is a screen view showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 25 is an exemplary screen view showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 26 is a screen view showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 27 is an exemplary screen view showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 28 is a screen diagram showing an example of input and display of Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 29 is a screen diagram showing an example of input and display of Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 30 is an exemplary screen view showing an example of input and display of Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 31 is a screen diagram showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 32 is an exemplary screen view showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 33 is a screen diagram showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 34 is a screen diagram showing an example of input and display of Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 35 is a screen diagram showing an example of input and display of Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 36 is a screen diagram showing an example of inputting and displaying Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

FIG. 37 is a screen diagram showing an example of input and display of Japanese characters in the Windows Japanese version.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Network Location Designation System 3 Client Computer 5 URL Server 7, 11 Symbol 9, 13 URL 15 Database 21 WWW Browser 23, 209, 301 Linker 87 Cache File 122 Voice Input System 129 Symbol Link Web 201, 221 Linker IME 213, 233 Character string determination unit 303 Telephone word table 305 Word-action table 401 Client computer 404 Voice input system 405 Word processor 415 Core linker 419 Internet linker

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Ichiro Nakajima 3-14-10 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Dream Technologies Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Gabriel Gramrich Germany 51381 Leverkusen Kinderhausen 5F Term ( Reference) 5B085 CC16 CE08 5B089 GA01 GB03 JA22 KA03 KB06 KB07 KB09 KH16

Claims (19)

[Claims] 1. A system for causing a computer to perform a desired action, comprising: a voice input system for inputting voice of a user uttering a word, recognizing the voice, and outputting a character code string of the word; A character string capturing unit that receives a character code string of a word output from the voice input system, and a plurality of action-activating character code strings that, when input to the computer, cause the computer to perform a specific action. A database that holds the character code strings of a plurality of words in association with each other, and a character code string for action activation related to the character code string of the word received by the character string capturing unit is searched from the database. Receiving a character code string for activating the action searched by the search unit; Computer system comprising a controller, the controlling the computer so as to perform the computer an action corresponding to the words input by the user using the emission start character code string. 2. The control unit, when the action activation character code string received from the search unit indicates a specific URL, specifies the URL to a WWW browser in the computer, 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein said WW browser is used to access said URL. 3. The control unit, when the action activation character code string received from the search unit indicates a specific telephone number, specifies the telephone number to a telephone application in the computer. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein said telephone application causes said telephone application to call said telephone number. 4. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit activates the application program when the action activation character code string received from the search unit indicates a specific application program in the computer. Computer system. 5. The control unit, when the action activation character code string received from the search unit indicates a file that can be opened by a specific application program in the computer, 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the file is specified, and the application program causes the file to be opened. 6. The character string capturing unit can receive a character code string of a word arbitrarily designated by a user from not only the voice input system but also an application program capable of handling a character code string in the computer. The computer system according to claim 1. 7. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the character string capturing unit can receive not only the voice input system but also a character code string of a word arbitrarily specified by a user on a display screen of the computer. . 8. An additional registration of a character code string for a new action activation and a character code string of a new word related thereto in the database, and a registration of a character code string for an action activation already registered and a word related thereto. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the database is configured so that the user can arbitrarily delete and change the character code string. 9. A method for operating a computer for causing a computer to perform a desired action, wherein the user inputs a voice uttering a word, recognizes the voice, and outputs a character code string of the word. A voice input step, a character string capturing step of receiving a character code string of a word output in the voice input step, and a plurality of actions for initiating a plurality of actions that when input to the computer cause the computer to perform a specific action. Storing a character code string in a database in association with a character code string of a plurality of predetermined words, and storing the action activation character code string related to the character code string of the word received in the character string step. A search step for searching from the database; and before searching in the search step. A control step of receiving the action activation character code string and controlling the computer to cause the computer to perform an action corresponding to the word input by the user using the action activation character code string. How it works. 10. A method of operating a computer according to claim 1, wherein the computer inputs a voice uttering a word, recognizes the voice, and outputs a character code string of the word. A voice input step, a character string capturing step of receiving a character code string of a word output in the voice input step, and a plurality of actions for initiating a plurality of actions that, when input to the computer, cause the computer to perform a specific action. Storing a character code string in a database in association with a character code string of a plurality of predetermined words, and storing the action activation character code string related to the character code string of the word received in the character string step. A search step for searching from the database; Controlling the computer to receive the action-activating character code string and to cause the computer to perform an action corresponding to the word input by the user using the action-activating character code string. A computer-readable recording medium carrying a computer program to be executed by a computer. 11. A system for causing a computer to perform a desired action, comprising: a voice input system for inputting voice of a user uttering a word, recognizing the voice, and outputting a character code string of the word; A character string capturing unit that receives a character code string of a word output from the voice input system, and a plurality of action-activating character code strings that, when input to the computer, cause the computer to perform a specific action. A database that holds the character codes of a plurality of words in association with each other, wherein the database is connected to the computer via a communication network. Search request for searching for the character code string for action activation related to the character code string A search request unit that transmits the action activation character code string searched based on the search request from the database, and using the action activation character code string received by the reception unit. And a control unit that controls the computer so that the computer performs an action corresponding to the word input by the user. 12. The control unit, when the action activation character code string received from the search unit indicates a specific URL, specifies the URL to a WWW browser in the computer, The computer system according to claim 11, wherein the WW browser is used to access the URL. 13. The control unit, when the action activation character code string received from the search unit indicates a specific telephone number, specifies the telephone number to a telephone application in the computer. 12. The computer system according to claim 11, wherein the telephone application causes the telephone number to be called. 14. The control unit according to claim 11, wherein the control unit activates the application program when the action activation character code string received from the search unit indicates a specific application program in the computer. Computer system. 15. The control unit, when the action activation character code string received from the search unit indicates a file that can be opened by a specific application program in the computer, 12. The computer system according to claim 11, wherein the file is specified and the application program causes the file to be opened. 16. The character string capturing unit can receive a character code string of a word arbitrarily specified by a user not only from the voice input system but also from an application program capable of handling a character code string in the computer. The computer system according to claim 11. 17. The computer system according to claim 11, wherein the character string capturing unit can receive a character code string of a word arbitrarily designated by a user on a display screen of the computer as well as the voice input system. . 18. A computer operating method for causing a computer to perform a desired action, comprising: inputting a voice in which a user utters a word, recognizing the voice, and outputting a character code string of the word. A voice input step, a character string capturing step of receiving a character code string of a word output in the voice input step, and a plurality of actions for initiating a plurality of actions that when input to the computer cause the computer to perform a specific action. A database that stores character code strings in association with character code strings of a plurality of predetermined words, wherein the database is connected to the computer via a communication network; The character code for activating the action related to the character code string of the received word A search requesting step of transmitting a search request for searching for a character string; a receiving step of receiving, from the database, the action activation character code string searched based on the search request; A control step of controlling the computer so as to cause the computer to perform an action corresponding to the word input by the user using the character code string for activating the action. 19. A method of operating a computer for causing a computer to perform a desired action, comprising: inputting a voice uttered by a user, recognizing the voice, and outputting a character code string of the word. A voice input step, a character string capturing step of receiving a character code string of a word output in the voice input step, and a plurality of actions for initiating a plurality of actions that when input to the computer cause the computer to perform a specific action. A database that stores character code strings in association with character code strings of a plurality of predetermined words, wherein the database is connected to the computer via a communication network; The character code for activating the action related to the character code string of the received word A search requesting step of transmitting a search request for searching for a character string; a receiving step of receiving, from the database, the action activation character code string searched based on the search request; A control step of controlling the computer to cause the computer to perform an action corresponding to the word input by the user using the action-starting character code string; and a computer program for causing the computer to execute the control program. Computer-readable recording medium.