JP2011018357A - Information retrieval device, method, recording medium, and information retrieval system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify copying operation after the specification of a range by a pointing device or operation for transferring data in a specified range to its processing program.SOLUTION: A determination is made as to whether coordinates obtained by the click operation of the pointing device are included within a range specified by the range specifying operation of the pointing device which is executed prior to the click operation. If it is determined that the coordinates are included within the specified range, the data in the specified range are transferred to a transfer destination. Thus the operability of the device is good.

Description

  The present invention attaches data in a range specified using an input device such as a mouse, touch panel, or keyboard to a clipboard, attached to a waveform graph that visualizes a document, image, or sound that is arbitrarily selected and displayed by a user. The present invention relates to a data delivery apparatus, a data delivery method, and a recording medium on which a data delivery program is recorded, which can improve the operability when passing to an application program such as an editor. In addition, this application is made in order to make a claim for priority claim of what was invented after the filing of Japanese Patent Application No. 10-320055 and to refer to the prior art found during this time.

  In an operating system and application program of a personal computer having a so-called window system, various operations can be performed with a pointing device such as a mouse. For example, an operation such as dragging after selecting a character string with a mouse or clicking a button icon or link with a mouse button is possible.

  For example, when considering an operation of copying an arbitrary character string from a browser on the World Wide Web to a document editor, the character string 80 is first selected by using a mouse or the like on the browser as shown in FIG. Then, execute the copy command from "Edit" in the pull-down menu 8, focus on the editor, place the mouse cursor at the desired position, and then execute the paste command from "Edit" in the editor pull-down menu. I'm taking it. As shown in FIG. 53, when the mouse has left and right buttons and the pop-up menu 81 can be displayed by the right button, the character string 80 is selected by dragging using the left button of the mouse, and then the pop-up menu 81 is selected. There are cases where a procedure of executing a copy or paste command is taken.

  Japanese Patent Application No. 10-320055

  Although the above procedure is redundant, it is said that it is a procedure that must be used by those who work with computers, so it has been followed without any doubt. Although an operation for selecting a character string is necessary, it is desirable that the subsequent copy operation be simpler. For this basic operation, you have to go through several different steps, change your finger pressing the button, or move your mouse to the pull-down menu. If not, smooth operability cannot be obtained. Regarding the operation of handing over the selected character string to the character string processing program, it is desirable that the handing over operation after the character string is selected be simpler. For example, if you use a mouse to select an arbitrary range with a waveform graph that visualizes a document, image, or sound, you can use the same button that was used to select this range and hand it over to the processing program. If so, it will be a big help for the user.

  As described above, an open patent as an input method in the information communication processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-325875 has been newly found. This is a direct connection between a host computer serving as a communication center and a user terminal, and a CUI (character The present invention relates to an input method on a so-called personal computer communication system that performs communication via a user interface. This is related to the input method for guiding the user to the information screen prepared in advance so that the hierarchical menus sent by the host computer can be sequentially traced. From the viewpoint of a flexible communication method such as the modern WWW (World Wide Web) that allows you to select and display files, it is already a thing of the past, and it is difficult to say that it is a user-friendly interface is there. As a similar system, a menu system on a touch panel in a so-called system notebook can be raised. Each item in the menu is actually a switch, static and fixed.

  In addition, a newly discovered data delivery method on the WWW that is not a published patent, but uses a two-button mouse to pass keywords to the search engine, and selects a keyword by specifying a range with the left button Then, a menu is displayed by clicking the right button on the keyword, and a search command appearing on the menu is executed. However, as mentioned above, the above procedure is redundant. Although an operation for selecting a keyword is necessary, it is desirable that the operation method up to the subsequent execution of the search command is further easy to understand and simple.

  Therefore, the present invention is a part of a character string or image arbitrarily designated by the user from a document or still image arbitrarily selected and displayed by the user or a progress graph visualizing moving images or sounds in time series. The purpose is to improve the operability when transferring data such as a part of a graph or a graph to a clipboard or another application program.

  (Means 1 to 6) According to the data delivery apparatus and the data delivery method of the present invention, the switch operation by the input device is performed on the operation target arbitrarily selected by the user following the range specifying operation by the input device. When done, data within an arbitrarily specified range is passed to the delivery destination based on the delivery destination data. This operation target is not fixed and what is displayed is not constant, but is characterized in that a range specifying operation can be performed at the user's free will. Therefore, the user can arbitrarily select the operation target, and after specifying the range for this operation target, the user can pass the data within the specified range to the delivery destination simply by operating the switch. The operation is easy for anyone to understand, simple, smooth and convenient. Until now, there has been no one that has realized such a good operability for an operation target arbitrarily selected by a user.

  In the means 2 and means 5, it is determined whether or not the coordinates when the switch operation by the input device is performed are within the range specified by the range specifying operation by the input device prior to the switch operation, When it is determined that the data is within the specified range, the data within the specified range is transferred to the delivery destination. That is, after the range is designated, the switch within the designated range is simply operated, and the data within the designated range is passed to the delivery destination. Since the designated range can be represented by a plurality of coordinates, it can be determined whether or not the designated range is within the range by examining the positional relationship between each coordinate and the coordinates when the click operation is performed. Accordingly, it is possible to realize intuitive operability that the user only needs to perform a switch operation within a specified range.

  Further, the means 3 and means 6 determine whether or not the coordinates when the switch operation by the input device is performed are outside the range specified by the range specifying operation by the input device prior to the switch operation. If it is outside the specified range, the data within the arbitrarily specified range is passed to the delivery destination. Therefore, after the range designation operation, the switch operation may be performed without moving the cursor over the designated range, and easy operability can be realized.

  (Means 7 and 8) In the recording medium on which the data delivery program of the present invention is recorded, the switch operation by the input device is performed following the range designation operation by the input device for the operation target arbitrarily displayed by the user. The program is recorded so that the data within the arbitrarily specified range is passed to the delivery destination based on the delivery destination data. Therefore, data can be delivered based on this program by selecting an arbitrary range from an arbitrarily selected operation target and passing it to the delivery destination simply by operating the switch. Convenient. Note that the recording medium on which the program of the means 7 is recorded does not include data relating to the delivery destination, and is separately introduced. Accordingly, a program for delivering range-designated data and data relating to the delivery destination can be sold separately. That is, only the data related to the delivery destination may be read from another recording medium such as a CD-ROM, or may be read via a network. On the other hand, in the recording medium on which the program of the means 8 is recorded, a program including data relating to the delivery destination is recorded in advance. The data related to the delivery destination is data necessary for specifying the delivery destination, such as a delivery destination address. Furthermore, it is data unique to the delivery destination as described in the embodiment. Therefore, the program for delivering the range-designated data and the data relating to the delivery destination can be recorded and recorded together on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM. It is possible to put data relating to the delivery destination in the program code of the present invention.

  Furthermore, in the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded, the data in the designated range is transferred to the delivery destination in the means 9 when the coordinates when the switch operation by the input device is performed are within the designated range. The program is recorded. Therefore, it is possible to realize an intuitive and easy-to-understand operability that the user only needs to perform a switch operation within a specified range. In the related art described above, the range designation is canceled when a click operation is performed even if it is within the designated range as well as outside the designated range.

  Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is a program in which the data in the designated range is transferred to the delivery destination in the means 10 when the coordinates when the switch operation by the input device is performed are outside the designated range. Is recorded. Therefore, after the range designation operation, the switch operation may be performed without moving the cursor over the designated range, and easy operability can be realized.

  (Description of Input Device) As an input device, a pointing device such as a mouse, a trackball, a touch panel, a pen tablet, a light pen, a line-of-sight input device, a digitizer, or an arrow key of a keyboard can be raised. The switch varies depending on the input device, for example, a button for a mouse, a return key or other set key for a keyboard, or a remote control button or device attached to a home appliance that can be connected to the Internet. It is a switch. The switch operation is, for example, a click operation with a mouse, and this click operation is to press and release a button provided on the mouse. In a touch panel, the surface is touched with a fingertip or a pen and then released. Even in the case of a touch panel, the switch remains on and off. The switch operation may be single click, double click or triple click with the mouse, depending on the design.

  The timing at which the data within the specified range is delivered may be determined, for example, when the mouse switch is pressed or released thereafter. In the mouse event, the button being pressed is referred to as mouse down, and the button being released is referred to as mouse up. There are various types of mouse, from one to three buttons, and one with a clickable wheel, any of which may be used. In a two-button mouse, it is most effective to assign the click operation in the present invention to the left button. This is because this operation using the index finger is the most frequently used and easy to handle. When the mouse cursor is within the specified range, the cursor shape may be changed to a pointer such as an arrow shape.

  (Means 11) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 9 and uses the designated range as an object, and when the switch operation is performed by the input device, the data in the designated range is delivered. The program that is supposed to be handed over is recorded. For example, an onClick event implemented in Internet Explorer (trademark) operating on Windows (trademark of Microsoft Corporation), which is a typical GUI operating system, may be used. The data obtained by designating the range is compared with the data obtained by the onClick event on the designated range, and if both are the same, this data is passed to the delivery destination. Therefore, the present invention can be easily implemented.

  (Means 12) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 9 and includes a program for performing the determination process after the designated range is expanded after a range is designated. It is recorded. Therefore, even if the switch operation is performed outside the actual specified range, data is transferred as long as the coordinates are within the expanded specified range, so that much less nerve is required for the switch operation.

  (Means 13) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 9 and records the program that automatically moves the cursor of the input device within the designated range after the range is designated. Yes. Therefore, the operation of moving the cursor of the input device within the specified range after the range is specified becomes unnecessary, and the operation becomes even easier.

  (Means 14) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is provided with a voice input device, and causes a computer that performs voice recognition of words arbitrarily issued by the user to perform the processing according to means 13. Then, receive the speech recognition result of the word from the user who wants to specify the range, determine the match between the recognition result character string and the display character string, and if it matches, focus on the display character string By performing control corresponding to the switch operation by the input device, a program for transferring the character string to the transfer destination is recorded. Since it is determined whether or not the character string that has been voice-recognized matches the character string that the range is desired to be specified, the range specification is reliable. Accordingly, the range can be designated by voice toward the microphone, and the cursor is within the designated range, so that only the switch operation is performed thereafter, and the operability is good. In addition, it is difficult to specify a range in a device such as a wearable computer in which the display is configured as eyeglasses and placed in front of the eyes, or directly projects an image on the retina. . In the above description, it is assumed that the character string includes the case of one character. If the recognition rate of speech recognition is low, an ambiguous process may be performed as long as the range has been designated as long as the speech-recognized character string and the character string to be range-designated substantially match. Although the focus is not highlight, it is easier to understand if the character string determined to match is highlighted (highlighted). Obviously, there may be any number of matching character strings in the document. The above description is only for text. However, in the case of an image, a match cannot be obtained, and the image data may be transferred as it is.

  (Means 15) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is provided with a voice input device, and causes a computer that performs voice recognition of words arbitrarily issued by the user to perform the processing according to the means 7 or 8. A program is recorded that receives a speech recognition result of a word issued by a user for specifying a range and displays an edit box that can edit the character string of the recognition result. If necessary, the speech recognition result displayed in the edit box can be edited in the edit box. Therefore, when the speech recognition result of the spoken language is unsatisfactory or excessive or insufficient, it can be edited and delivered to the delivery destination. The editing process may be edited using voice recognition. The same applies to an item that displays an edit box described later.

  (Means 16) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 7 or 8, and the range is designated by a predetermined rule when the cursor of the input device is placed at an arbitrary position where the range is desired. I recorded the program. For example, if the operation target is text and the input device is a mouse, the range is specified by extracting the word at the position where the mouse cursor is placed, or the range is specified for one line or one paragraph. It is a rule like this. Therefore, since the switch operation and the subsequent drag operation are not necessary for specifying the range, the operation is further facilitated. In particular, the user interface is suitable for a touch panel operated with a fingertip. In addition, since the range specification is accurately performed according to a predetermined rule, unlike the manual range specification operation, there are few problems such as lack of a range or extra range specification.

  (Means 17) Further, in relation to the means 7 or 8, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is designated by a predetermined rule when a switch operation is performed at an arbitrary position to be designated. Recorded program. For example, if the input device is a mouse and the operation target is an image, the predetermined rule is a rule that specifies how many pixels to the left and right and how many pixels to the top and bottom with respect to the click position. Further, for example, if the operation target is a waveform graph visualizing sound, it is a rule that specifies a range from the click position to the left and right silent parts. Therefore, since the drag operation is not necessary for specifying the range, the operation is further facilitated. It is also a suitable user interface for a touch panel operated with a fingertip.

  In addition, when the switch operation is performed at the position where the range is desired to be specified, this switch operation first sets the specified range according to a predetermined rule, and subsequently passes the data in the specified range to the delivery destination. It is good also as what to do. Specifically, when a mouse down event occurs, a range is designated, and when a mouse up event occurs, data within the designated range is passed to the delivery destination.

  (Means 18) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 7 or 8, and the first switch operation is performed at an arbitrary position where the range is desired, and then the next recording is performed within a predetermined time. A program is recorded in which a designated range is set according to a predetermined rule by performing a switch operation. Performing the next switch operation within a predetermined time after the first switch operation is a general double click with a mouse. The predetermined rule is, for example, if the operation target is text, and if a second click operation is performed within a predetermined time, the word at the click operation position is extracted and designated as a range, and the predetermined time is set. When the third click operation is performed, the next word to the right of the word that was extracted first and the range specified is extracted, and the range specified together with the previously extracted word is specified. It is. Also, for example, when the third click operation is performed within a predetermined time, the words adjacent to the left and right of the word extracted and specified in the range are extracted, and the continuous range together with the previously extracted word is extracted. It is a rule that specifies. Further, for example, if the operation target is an image, the number of pixels is sequentially enlarged by the number of pixels on the left and right and the number of pixels on the top and bottom through the second and third click operations performed within a predetermined time centering on the click position. It is a rule that specifies a range. Therefore, not only is the drag operation unnecessary for specifying the range, but the specified range can be continuously expanded, so that the operation becomes easier. In particular, the user interface is suitable for a touch panel operated with a fingertip. Note that the first click operation can be a double click instead of a single click.

  (Means 19) Further, a recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded, in association with the means 17 or 18, is recorded with a program that can expand or reduce the arbitrary specified range by operating an input device. Yes. Therefore, if the result of the range specification as described above is unsatisfactory, the specified range can be arbitrarily enlarged or reduced. As an input device, a combination of an arrow key and a control key of a keyboard may be used, or a combination of an arrow key and a shift key may be used. At this time, it may be set so that it can be enlarged or reduced according to a predetermined rule.

  (Means 20) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 7 or 8, and after the first switch operation is performed at an arbitrary position where the range is desired, another recording is performed within a predetermined time. A program is recorded in which a specified range is set between two positions by performing the next switch operation at the position. Therefore, the drag operation is not necessary, and the range designation is easy. When the operation target is a waveform graph that visualizes still images or audio, for example, a rubber band and a handle are displayed as the frame of the specified range so that the specified range can be changed later by operating them. Also good. This is a convenient feature worthy of being implemented by other means.

  (Means 21) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 7 or 8, and when the operation target is a document, the data is designated when the data is designated by the range designation operation by the input device. Is incomplete as a idiom or sentence, and if it is incomplete, a program is recorded that complements the specified range by expanding or contracting. In this case, an intelligent dictionary function is provided, and when data is specified, the dictionary is used to immediately check whether it can be used as an idiom and whether or not there are some missing kana characters. It will inform you to complement it. Therefore, the nerve is not used so much for the range specifying operation.

  (Means 22) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is divided into ranges according to a predetermined rule in relation to the means 7 or 8, and the plurality of divided ranges are recorded. A program is recorded in which an arbitrary divided range is designated by an input device. For example, if a Japanese sentence is an operation target, morphological analysis is performed to put the document in a so-called fragmented state. If a Western sentence is an operation target, words are separated by spaces, for example, the mouse cursor (pointer) is placed or clicked. By doing this, or by pressing the tab key or the right and down arrow keys on the keyboard, you can move the specified range one after another. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of specifying a range by a drag operation, and it is easy to redo the range specification. It is a suitable user interface for a touch panel operated with a fingertip. Note that after the morphological analysis, a process may be performed in which an adverb after a common noun is connected to a common noun, or a final particle after an adjective is connected to an adjective.

  (Means 23) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded, in association with the means 22, records a program in which a plurality of divided ranges can be instructed continuously or discontinuously and the range can be designated. For example, the switch operation using a control key or the like can be used together to specify the range by connecting the divided ranges, or specify the ranges discontinuously. In particular, there has never been a function for discontinuously specifying a specified range. Therefore, it is very convenient to specify the range continuously. When the switch of the input device is pressed on each divided range, a menu of Boolean operation symbols is displayed, which can be selected by the input device, and when the data within the specified range is passed to the delivery destination, the divided range is displayed. It is also possible to perform processing such as inserting a selected Boolean operation symbol between the data.

  (Means 24) Further, when the recording medium recording the program of the present invention designates data by the range designation operation by the input device in relation to the means 7 or 8, the switch that occurs at the end of the range designation operation is released. A program is recorded that allows data within a specified range to be transferred to a delivery destination by an operation. Therefore, the data within the designated range can be transferred to the delivery destination with a very simple operation of performing the range designation operation. When the range specification operation is completed, the data in the specified range is immediately passed to the transfer destination, so an error-free range specification operation is required, but it is only necessary to perform the range specification operation carefully. Even this is a matter of familiarity.

  (Means 25) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 7 or 8, and after the data is designated by the range designation operation by the input device, when a predetermined time has passed, A program that passes the data to the delivery destination is recorded. Therefore, if the user waits for a predetermined time after performing the range specifying operation, the data within the specified range can be transferred to the delivery destination, so that the operability is good. For example, one second is set as the predetermined time. If another operation such as pressing the switch of the input device is performed within this time, the processing for passing the data within the specified range to the delivery destination may be stopped.

  (Means 26) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 7 or 8, and after the data is designated by the range designation operation by the input device, the switch is different from the switch provided in the input device. A program that records data within the specified range to the delivery destination by pressing is recorded. For example, it is possible to use a mouse and a keyboard together, specify the range with the mouse, and then use the return key to pass the data within the specified range to the delivery destination. Therefore, the data within the designated range can be transferred to the delivery destination by a simple operation of performing the range designation operation and pressing a predetermined switch. In addition, a space key or the like can be raised as the predetermined key. Control keys and other keys may be combined. Or if it is a household appliance which can be connected to the internet, the button of a remote control and the switch attached to the apparatus side may be used.

  (Means 27) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 7 or 8, and is a program in which one or more delivery destinations can be designated from a plurality of delivery destinations. It is recorded. Therefore, the following can be realized regardless of the route data obtained by any route. In other words, if there are multiple delivery destinations, you can select and specify one of them, so you have more options, and you can specify two or more delivery destinations and pass data within the specified range to each. Can improve efficiency. Note that, as described above, regarding the data acquisition route relating to the delivery destination, the program having the data relating to the delivery destination is recorded in advance on the recording medium on which the program of the means 8 is recorded. On the other hand, the recording medium on which the program of the means 7 is recorded is acquired later. For example, it can be read from another CD-ROM or read via a network. These are so-called registration of delivery destination data. The menu types include a dialog box, a pull-down menu, a drop-down menu, a check button, a pop-up menu, and the like, but are not limited to these.

  (Means 28) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is the same as the switch used in the designation of the range of the input device within the designated range after the range is designated by the input device in relation to the means 27. When an operation of pressing the switch is performed, a program for displaying a delivery destination as a menu selectable by an input device is recorded. It is convenient if the menu is displayed near the location where the switch is pressed. In this case, if you have a two-button mouse, the menu is displayed when you press the same left button that was used to specify the range, and the pointer is moved to the desired delivery destination on the menu while it is pressed. So, when you release the button, the data will be handed over. Alternatively, the menu is displayed by the first click operation with the same left button used when specifying the range (events are mouse down and mouse up continuously), and the pointer is moved to the desired delivery destination on the menu. The data may be transferred by performing the next click operation there. Therefore, since the delivery destination can be selected from the menu while visually checking, the delivery destination can be easily confirmed. Note that in the related technology described above, a mouse having two switches on the left and right displays a pop-up menu of copy, cut, paste, etc. when the right switch is pressed or released (see Figure XX). It should also be noted that the menu can be selected with the same switch as that used to specify the range, and the operation can be performed smoothly and work can be performed smoothly.

  (Means 29) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 27, and after the range is designated by the input device, when the cursor of the input device is placed in the designated range, the delivery destination is input. A program that is displayed as a menu that can be selected by the device is recorded. Data can be handed over by performing a switch operation on the menu that is automatically displayed when the cursor of the input device is placed within the specified range. Therefore, it is easy to confirm the delivery destination, and the click operation is easy because only one time of data delivery is required. It should be noted that once the cursor is placed within the specified range, it is preferable to set so that the menu continues to be displayed for a certain period of time even if the cursor is moved out of the specified range. If there is only one delivery destination, there is no need to select the delivery destination, so that the delivery destination may be displayed in a pop-up when the cursor of the input device is placed within the specified range.

  (Means 30) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 27, and after the range is designated by the input device, the operation of pressing the switch of the input device within the designated range is continued for a predetermined time or longer. In this case, a program is recorded in which the delivery destination is displayed as a menu that can be selected by the input device. Therefore, if the operation of continuing to hold the switch for a predetermined time after the range is specified is continued, it is displayed on the menu, so that the usability is good. It should be set so that when the switch operation (click operation for the mouse) is performed within the specified range, the data is transferred to the default transfer destination. That is, if the default delivery destination is acceptable, the switch operation is performed as it is, and if it is desired to select a delivery destination that is not the default, the operation can be continued by pressing the switch for a predetermined time. Convenience is good.

  (Means 31) Further, in relation to the means 27, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is lightly displayed as a menu selectable by the input device, and the cursor of the input device is placed on this menu. The program is recorded so that the menu display is darkened. Therefore, even if the range is specified, if the subsequent work is to be stopped, the menu display is not noticeable if the menu display is thin. On the contrary, when the menu is necessary, the menu is displayed dark and usable. Also, the menu that is displayed lightly helps the judgment at the time of data delivery.

  (Means 32) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 27 by the operation of releasing the switch that occurs at the end of the range designation operation when the data is designated by the range designation operation using the input device. A program for displaying the data delivery destination as a menu selectable by the input device is recorded. Therefore, since the search destination can be selected from the menu while viewing it, the search destination can be easily confirmed. It should be noted that the operability is good because the menu is displayed without performing the switch operation as long as the range specifying operation is performed. In connection with this point, there may be inconveniences such as specifying a range without a part of a desired range, or conversely specifying an extra range, but it can be said that there is an advantage over it. The menus may be rearranged according to the selection frequency of the search destination, or the previous designation destination may be rearranged to the top position.

  (Means 33) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded continues to press the switch until a predetermined time elapses at the end of the range specifying operation using the input device in relation to the means 27. By doing so, a program is recorded in which the delivery destination is displayed as a menu selectable by the input device. Therefore, if it is desired to display the menu, it is only necessary to continue the operation of pressing the switch at the end of the range specifying operation, and if not, the switch may be released, so that it is easy to use properly. When an operation of releasing the switch is performed within a predetermined time, it may be delivered to a predetermined search destination as it is, for example, as in the means 24. The default search destination is set in advance.

  (Means 34) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 27, and after the range is designated by the input device, the category to which the data in the designated range belongs is examined, and the delivery destination corresponding to the corresponding category is determined. A program that selects and passes data to the delivery destination is recorded. According to this, it is possible to sort data such as the document editor if the data is a document and the paint software if the data is a still image. Alternatively, if the data within the specified range is to be passed to the search engine, the delivery destination corresponding to the category is selected according to which search engine is selected from among many. To check the category, you can search the index stored locally or search the index placed on the network. In addition, as a result of examining the category to which the data within the specified range belongs, if it is handed over to multiple search destinations, this can be done automatically or can be selected by a pointing device to let the user select the search destination It may be displayed as a simple menu. In displaying the menu, display / non-display for each search destination and arrangement for display may be optimized. Furthermore, the path portion of the search directory can be selected in advance for each search destination. The category information may be handed over to the search destination together with the data, and it is only necessary to search for this category at the search destination. Therefore, as described in the examples of the paint software and the search engine, the data is automatically transferred by specifying the transfer destination, so that the trouble of specifying the search destination can be saved.

  Note that this is the case where the delivery destination is a WWW search engine. When displaying the search destination menu, the category menu is displayed first, the category selected by the input device is displayed, and the search destination menu is further displayed. Thus, the menu may be hierarchized. Further, when the category designation is hidden by a tag or the like on the page being viewed in the WWW browser, the category may be read and used for selecting a search destination. Further, when the search destination is a CD-ROM, it is sufficient that information is recorded in each category in the CD-ROM, and if the contents of the CD-ROM are installed in a storage device such as a hard disk, each category is stored. It is sufficient to sort automatically.

  In any case, if such a determination is made using the agent technology, more complicated preprocessing for the search destination becomes possible. Agent technology is effective not only for pre-processing but also for processing of passing keywords, still image data, etc. to search destinations, and it has been generally used for information processing systems that operate between the operation display system and the storage system. Not only a remote procedure call but also a remote programming scheme can be used. If the agent can register the user profile, that is, the user's preference, the menu is automatically selected without displaying the menu.

  (Means 35) Further, the recording medium in which the program of the present invention is recorded checks whether or not a specific delivery destination is designated in relation to the means 27, and when a specific delivery destination is designated, the delivery is performed. A program that prevents data from being transferred to the destination is recorded. Therefore, for example, sending characters to a speech editor is meaningless, and search results can be obtained by sending Japanese keywords to a search engine that can only search English. In such cases, data is delivered. In this way, problems can be prevented from occurring. In such a case, it may be displayed that it cannot be delivered, or it may be automatically delivered to another appropriate delivery destination.

  (Means 36) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded can be selected by the input device by obtaining unique information owned by the operation target of the input device in relation to the means 7 or 8. When a unique information is selected, a program is recorded that passes the information along with data within a specified range to the delivery destination. For example, when the operation target is a Web page displayed on a WWW browser and the author name of the page is not displayed, the author name is unique information of the Web page. . The author name is added to the menu and can be selected. For this purpose, for example, when the delivery destination of the data within the specified range is a search engine of WWW, the data within the specified range as the search keyword and the author name are passed to the search engine, and the logical product of the two is obtained. Search, and get search results returned. A Boolean search method such as logical product or logical sum may be selected. Therefore, delivery of more complicated data can be performed with a simple operation. In the case of a Web page, if the range is specified for the margin, the data is not substantially specified. However, only the unique information added to the menu can be passed to the delivery destination. Also good. Note that the unique information may be locally owned by the user in some route in advance, or if the operation target arbitrarily displayed includes unique information, the unique information is unique at this time. Information may be acquired automatically or by performing an acquisition operation.

  (Means 37) Further, in the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded, the input device includes a switch different from the switch used for designating the range in association with the means 36. When an operation of pressing another switch is performed, a program is recorded that displays the unique information as a menu that can be selected by an input device. For example, in the case of a two-button mouse, the left button is used when a range is specified, and then the right button is pressed to display the unique information on the menu. Therefore, it is possible to use the method of properly using two buttons, which is an operation method that has been followed conventionally. However, there has been no display of the unique information in the menu displayed by pressing the right button.

  (Means 38) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded registers user-specific information in advance in association with the means 7 or 8, and when the data within the designated range is transferred to the delivery destination, In addition, a program for passing the user-specific information is recorded. For example, when the delivery destination of data within the specified range is a WWW membership search engine, an identification number as user-specific information is used as a search keyword for session management and user authentication. You can raise it to pass along with the data to the search engine. Or personal information such as user preferences can be raised. Accordingly, data can be easily transferred so that complicated data processing can be performed at the data transfer destination.

  (Means 39) Further, in relation to the means 36, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded checks whether there is designation of the delivery destination of the data within the designated range as the unique information. In some cases, a program is recorded in which this is the delivery destination. In this case, the data delivery destination is handled as specific information. For example, when the address (URL) of a Web page that is arbitrarily selected and displayed by the user is written in the header of the Web page with a META tag, this address is read as unique information and used as a delivery destination. The address of this Web page is the address of the search engine. Therefore, there is an advantage that the user does not need to specify a delivery destination. Note that the use of the delivery destination can be temporary or can be fixed here in the future.

  (Means 40) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 39, and records the program that allows the destination of the designated range data to be additionally registered in a menu selectable by the input device. is doing. Therefore, once the delivery destination is reached, there is an advantage that the delivery destination can be selected from the menu from the next time.

  (Means 41) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded, in association with the means 7 or 8, records the program for displaying the data when the data within the specified range is delivered. The data display may be popped up for a certain time near the specified range, or when the present invention is implemented as an application program, for example, a display window may be provided on the toolbar and displayed there. . Therefore, it is possible to confirm what the delivered data is after the data delivery, which is convenient. Note that it is also possible not to cancel the range designation after the data within the designated range is delivered. It may be canceled by specifying the next range. Until now, for example, when a copy command is executed for data within a specified range, the range specification is generally canceled thereafter.

  (Means 42) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 7 or 8, and records the program for displaying the delivery destination when delivering the data within the specified range. Yes. The display of the delivery destination may be popped up for a certain time near the specified range. When the present invention is implemented as an application program, for example, a display window is provided on a toolbar and displayed there. It may be. Therefore, it is possible to confirm where the delivery destination is after the data delivery, which is convenient.

  (Means 43) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 7 or 8, and when the processing status or processing result of the data within the specified range can be received from the delivery destination, the delivery destination A program that receives and displays the processing status or processing result from is recorded. For example, when the delivery destination to which the data within the specified range is transferred is a WWW search engine, the progress status data of the search processing is received as the processing status and displayed as a graph. Alternatively, a list of Web pages retrieved as a processing result is received and displayed as a pop-up display as a menu (link collection) that can be selected by the input device. In the latter case, it is common to receive the list data and display it on the browser side. However, even if the search result is 0, the display is completely rewritten. It is also preferable to display a pop-up indicating that there are no search results. Therefore, since it is possible to know the processing status of the delivery destination, there is no frustration. In addition, since the processing result of the transfer destination can be known by a user interface similar to that at the time of data transfer, the uniformity of the operation can be maintained. In the present invention, the delivery destination is a program that processes data within a specified range, but a so-called agent program that processes work on behalf of the user can be used as the delivery destination.

  (Means 44) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded performs character recognition of the data within the designated range in association with the means 7 or 8, and when the character is recognized, the character string is transferred to the delivery destination. The program that I was trying to pass is recorded. In this case, even if it looks like a character on the display device, it is not text data, but is actually a character drawn as an image, it is recognized once, converted into text data, and passed to the delivery destination. Therefore, as long as the data within the specified range can be read properly as characters, it can be handled in the same way as text data.

  (Means 45) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 7 or 8, and the data within the specified range is transferred to another language prior to the process of transferring the data within the designated range to the delivery destination. The program that is supposed to perform the process of translating to is recorded. Therefore, it is possible to translate data designated by a range designation operation using an input device from a page written in the home language into another language and pass it to the document editor. For example, if the data is translated into another language and then passed to the search destination, pages in the other language can be collected in the link collection as a search result. From this point on, it is only necessary to translate it back into your own language if necessary. Note that the language type may be selected prior to translating data within the designated range into another language.

  (Means 46) Further, in relation to the means 7 or 8, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded displays a switch that can be operated by the input device on the display screen and turns it on. When a switch other than the switch provided in the input device is turned on, a program is recorded that displays an edit box that can edit data within a specified range. Therefore, not only the data specified by the range specification operation by the input device is passed to the transfer destination of this data, but also an edit box is displayed if necessary, and this data is edited in this edit box. Can be passed to the delivery destination. For example, this edit box is used when it is desired to add a character string to a term on a page that is currently viewed on a Web browser. For example, this edit box is used to prepare data (keywords) within a specified range so as to correspond to the Boolean search format supported by the search destination. Or if you come up with a term that doesn't exist on this page in the first place, you can only use this edit box. That is, the concept of editing may include input.

  The switch may be displayed as a button or a menu. After editing, press the return key to display the button and press it to transfer it to the delivery destination. The edit box is a character input box if the object to be edited is a character string, a picture box if it is an image, and a waveform graph editing screen that visualizes the sound if it is a sound. The switch may be an agent character that lives on the display screen. The above-described data preparation process may be left to the agent. The edit box may be displayed floating on the display screen or beside the toolbar of the application software. Or you may make it perform the process which always displays an edit box.

  (Means 47) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded can display the data in the designated range and edit the data after the range designation operation using the input device in relation to the means 7 or 8. A program that displays an edit box is recorded. Therefore, when the range specification operation is completed, an edit box is displayed, and the data in the specified range is automatically entered in the edit box. Therefore, if the data is appropriate for passing to the delivery destination, If you are not satisfied, you can edit it and pass it.

  (Means 48) Further, in the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded, the edit box displays the data search destination as a menu selectable by the input device in relation to the means 46 or 47. Is recorded. Therefore, the data delivery destination after editing can be selected from the menu provided in the edit box by the input device. The menu may be displayed as an array of buttons, or may be displayed as a radio button or a drop-down menu in a dialog box. When the data delivery destination is a search engine, an edit box may be displayed to narrow down the search results when displaying the search results returned from the search engine.

  (Means 49) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded has a switch operable by the input device on the display screen in association with the means 7 or 8, and a range specifying operation using the input device. After the data is designated by the above, a program is recorded in which the operation of pushing this switch is performed so that the data within the designated range is transferred to the delivery destination. Therefore, after the range designation operation is performed, the data within the designated range can be transferred to the delivery destination with a simple operation of simply pressing this switch. For example, in the case of a browser that displays a Web page to be operated, this switch may be provided on the side of the toolbar, or may be floatingly displayed at an arbitrary location on the display screen away from the Web browser. In any case, it may be displayed on the display screen. It is also possible to display the menu described above by holding down this switch. A plurality of switches may be displayed and different search destinations may be assigned to the switches. These switches may be operated with a keyboard or the like. When a switch floatingly displayed on the screen is pressed, it is possible to consider that the switch itself is within the specified range if the data within the specified range is transferred to the transfer destination.

  (Means 50) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 7 or 8 and displays a switch that can be operated using the input device on the display screen, and the range using the input device. After data is designated by the designation operation, a program is recorded in which the range designation is canceled by depressing this switch. Therefore, if you want to stop passing data within the specified range to the delivery destination, you only need to press this switch. In particular, when the coordinates when the switch operation by the input device is performed as described in the means 10 are outside the designated range, the data within the arbitrarily designated range is passed to the delivery destination, but the range designation is canceled. Can be used.

  (Means 51) Further, a recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded has a display screen associated with the means 49 or 50 after a switch that can be operated using the input device after a range specifying operation using the input device. The program that is displayed above is recorded. This is a switch that appears when the range is specified. When this switch is applied to the means 49, the data within the specified range can be transferred to the delivery destination by pressing the switch that appears after the range is specified. The present invention can also be applied to the means 41 and the means 42. When this is applied to the means 50, the range designation can be canceled by pressing this switch. In particular, when the coordinates when the switch operation by the input device is performed are outside the designated range, the data within the arbitrarily designated range is passed to the delivery destination, but can be used to cancel the range designation. Therefore, the means 51 has an advantage that, when a range is designated, a switch appears, so that it is immediately understood which operation should be performed next.

  (Means 52) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded displays on the display screen a switch indicating a data delivery destination that can be operated using the input device in association with the means 7 or 8. When the switch is turned on in advance, a program is recorded so that data is transferred to the delivery destination. Therefore, the delivery destination of the data whose range is specified can be determined in advance using this switch. A plurality of search destinations may be selected at the same time.

  (Means 53) Further, in relation to the means 7 or 8, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is an operation of dragging and dropping to a predetermined position after designating data by a range designation operation using an input device. Thus, a program for performing processing for passing data within a specified range to a delivery destination is recorded. Therefore, since the operation of dragging and dropping the range designation portion to a predetermined position is performed with a clear intention, the user's awareness of the delivery operation can be increased. For example, in the case of a Web browser, an input box can be provided on the side of the tool bar and set as a predetermined position. Moreover, you may make it editable here. Alternatively, it may be set so that it can be passed to the delivery destination by an operation of dragging and dropping the range designation portion to the zone set at the right end of the screen.

  (Means 54) Further, in relation to the means 7 or 8, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded starts the range specifying operation using the input device within a predetermined time after the switch operation by the input device. Whether or not a range designation operation is started within that time, a program is recorded to perform the series of processes following the range designation operation. For example, when the input device is a mouse, the mode is changed to the data transfer mode to the transfer destination only when the range designation operation with the mouse is started immediately after the first click. Without clicking, a series of processing after the range specification operation will not make sense. Therefore, although there is a limitation within a predetermined time, the switch operation by the input device performed prior to the range specifying operation is a switch for enabling data transfer. The case where this switch is not in the ON state means that the series of processing of the present invention is in the OFF state. For example, the behavior by the input device such as the drag and drop operation in the document editor is performed. In addition, coexistence with related technologies can be realized. In the above mouse example, the first click may be a double click.

  (Means 55) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded has a switch that can be operated by the input device on the display screen in relation to the means 7 or 8, and is turned on. When a switch other than the switch included in the input device is turned on, a program for performing the series of processes following the range specifying operation is recorded. Therefore, data can be delivered by turning on the switch displayed on the display screen. For example, in the case of a Web browser, a menu for turning on and off the data delivery mode may be added to the pull-down menu, and this is also a switch.

  (Means 56) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 7 or 8, and when the operation target has a hyperlink when performing the range specifying operation by the input device, this hyperlink. A program that performs processing to disable the operation is recorded. By the way, the so-called hypertext link is actually hard to specify a range. For example, if you specify a range to copy the character string in the link, you can easily experience it. This is because a link is intended to be clicked in the first place. Accordingly, by disabling the hyperlink, it becomes easy to specify the range of data on the hyperlink. In order to disable the hyperlink, for example, the anchor tag <A HREF=”scheme name: //domain name/path name/”> </A> in HTML format is deleted, and the screen is redrawn. Comment out the tag and redraw it, replace it with the underline tag <U> </ U>, redraw it, ignore the hyperlink in the Web browser program, etc. In order to shift to a processing mode in which hyperlinks cannot be operated, means 57 and means 58 described below may be employed. It should be noted that the processing for disabling hyperlinks can also be set so that it is released once each time a range specifying operation and subsequent data transfer are completed.

  (Means 57) Further, in relation to the means 56, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded displays a switch that can be operated by the input device on the display screen and turns it on, or the input device When a switch other than the switch provided with is turned on, a program is recorded so as to make the operation target hyperlink inoperable. Accordingly, it is possible to disable the hyperlink by an easy-to-understand operation of turning on the switch. The switch is preferably a button, but may be a check button in a dialog box. In the former, by providing this in a Web browser, it can be seen at a glance that this browser is related to the present invention. You may make it display so that it can see that the hyperlink of operation object is inoperable.

  (Means 58) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded displays a menu for disabling the operation target hyperlink on the display screen in association with the means 56, and this menu is selected. In this case, a program is recorded that performs processing for disabling the hyperlink to be operated. Therefore, it can be realized as a pull-down menu, a drop-down menu, a pop-up menu, etc., and the operability is good. In addition to this, a process of making the operation target hyperlink inoperable may be performed by pressing the button of the input device on the hyperlink or the display screen for a predetermined time or longer.

  (Means 59) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 7 or 8, and when the operation object is editable when performing the range specifying operation by the input device, the operation object is selected. A program for performing the process of making editing impossible is recorded. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an error such that an operation of specifying and passing data in a document editor or a voice editor is erroneously dragged and dropped. Note that such a problem does not occur in the Web browser because drag and drop is originally impossible.

  (Means 60) Further, in relation to the means 59, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded displays a switch that can be operated by the input device on the display screen and turns it on, or the input device When a switch other than the provided switch is turned on, a program is recorded so as to perform a process of making the operation target uneditable. Therefore, the operation target can be made uneditable by an easy-to-understand operation of turning on the switch.

  (Means 61) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded relates to the means 59 and displays on the display screen a menu for making the operation object uneditable, and the operation is performed when this menu is selected. A program that performs processing for making the object uneditable is recorded. Therefore, means for making the operation target uneditable can be implemented as a pull-down menu, a drop-down menu, a pop-up menu, etc., and the operability is good.

  (Means 62) Further, in the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded, in relation to the means 7 or 8, the data delivery destination within the arbitrarily specified range is a global memory, and this global memory is designated as the delivery destination. A program that can be used is recorded. Accordingly, by referring to a global memory that can be used jointly by an application program or the like as a delivery destination, data within a specified range can be passed, so that a wide range of uses can be cultivated.

  (Means 63) Further, in the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded, in relation to the means 7 or 8, the delivery destination of the data within the arbitrarily specified range is a retrieval processing program, and this retrieval processing program is used as the delivery destination. A program that can be specified is recorded. Data that is arbitrarily specified in a range from a document or a still image on the Internet or a LAN such as the Internet or LAN arbitrarily selected and displayed by the user is passed to the search processing program. This search result may be received by any processing program. Therefore, data can be delivered based on this program by selecting an arbitrary range from an arbitrarily selected operation target and passing it to the search processing program simply by operating the switch. Convenient. The search processing program includes a search engine on the Internet, a dictionary program for a local drive, and the like.

  (Means 64) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is related to the means 63 so as to receive a search result from the search processing program and display it as a hyperlink that can be selected by the input device. Recorded program. Since the search results from the search processing program are displayed as hyperlinks, the next resource can be accessed with a simple operation of selecting the hyperlinks with the input device. The data specified by the specified operation can be transferred to the search processing program, and the search results can be received and displayed as a hyperlink that can be selected by the input device. Is possible. Therefore, even in a portion without a hyperlink in the page, it becomes possible to smoothly access related resources from the data in the specified range only by operating an input device such as a mouse. Note that what is displayed on the operation target is not constant, but the present invention is characterized in that a user can freely specify a range for the operation target.

  (Means 65) Further, in relation to the means 7 or 8, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded has an editor program as a delivery destination for data within an arbitrarily specified range, and designates this editor program as a delivery destination. It records the program that you get. Data arbitrarily designated by a range is delivered to the editor program from documents, still images, audio data, and the like arbitrarily selected and displayed by the user. Therefore, since the data delivery based on this program only needs to select an arbitrary range from an arbitrarily selected operation target and perform a switch operation, the operation is easy, easy, smooth and convenient for anyone.

  (Means 66) Further, a recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded records a program that can edit the hypertext in association with the means 65. Therefore, the arbitrarily specified range can be passed to the editor program as it is in the hypertext format from the arbitrarily displayed hypertext.

  (Means 67) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded is a message transmission program such as an e-mail to which data within an arbitrarily specified range is delivered in association with the means 7 or 8. The message transmission program Is recorded as a delivery destination. Therefore, it does not take time to quote other sentences in the message transmission program.

  (Means 68) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded has a retrieval processing program in association with the means 7 or 8, and retrieves data designated by an arbitrary range designation operation using an input device. The program that is supposed to perform is recorded. That is, an information processing system that operates between the operation display system and the storage system is provided. Therefore, a favorite search processing program can be prepared by itself. The database to be searched may be an external database or a locally owned database.

  For example, a file acquired from a website on the Internet is stored in a cache, and a search processing program searches for it. In addition, an index may be created or a user profile may be registered. In addition, for the search processing process, it is possible to perform a more advanced search by using a remote programming method of agent technology, and further, an operation suitable for a search is performed. You can also For key data, for example, text, a natural sentence as well as a word may be interpreted and searched. If a keyword is inappropriate, it may be pointed out or corrected autonomously.

  (Means 69) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded records a program including an index in association with the means 68. Therefore, it is possible to own only indexes necessary for individual users.

  (Means 70) Further, a recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded records a program including a database in association with the means 68. That is, a recording medium recording a program for causing a computer having an input device and a database to search the database using key data, and to perform processing for receiving and displaying the result. A program for causing a computer to perform a database search process using data specified by a range specification operation using a device as a key and a display process for receiving the search result and displaying it as a hyperlink that can be selected by an input device Is recorded. This search destination is a local search processing program, and a search target is a database formed in a local storage device. Therefore, a database of interest to the user may be created in a local storage device, or a CD-ROM on which the database is formed may be mounted on a CD-ROM drive. Further, the search processing process may fetch an index or generate an inverted file by itself. So-called grep may be executed without using an index. The database may have logical definition information such as key fields in the database, but it goes without saying that only a set of data may be used as the database.

  Especially on the Internet, the number of accessible resources has exploded, and various search engines have become available. However, frequently used keywords have tens of thousands of search results. There is. It is extremely difficult to go through each of these links, and it is often necessary to have very few links. If so, you might own a database of your choice or what you need, and search for it. You may purchase what is sold as a CD-ROM. As a result, the local storage device can own only what is really necessary for itself or the group, thereby preventing the intellectual overhead of the search result.

  Also, in the field of education, it is often not good to connect to sites that seem to be unfavorable on the Internet. In such a case, it is also possible to build all the digital libraries necessary for education locally. The means 70 is an optimal solution for such a purpose. Furthermore, according to the present invention, a “book with only a table of contents” described later can be realized, and the contents of the book can be changed freely within a predetermined frame.

  Note that the recording medium on which the program of the invention of the means 70 is recorded may be a program in which a program including a database is recorded in advance, or a database may be acquired later. In the former, it is possible to record and sell a program and a database that deliver range-specified data together on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM. In the latter case, an optional CD-ROM in which a database is recorded can be used, or the database can be sold via a network.

  (Means 71) Further, a recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded records a program related to the means 70 for collecting data accumulated in the database. Therefore, the data collection process is carried out by itself, and only carefully selected resources are accumulated in the local database. It is preferable to perform automatic collection processing for websites that are regularly visited, as long as the site has permission. The data collection process may be performed using a PULL (Information Pull) type or a PUSH (information Push) type. For example, an update file is pushed from a contract site. Furthermore, a mobile agent may be constructed using an agent language, and distributed cooperation may be performed with other agents. It is also possible to collaborate using user profile information. The data collection process may include an indexing process.

  (Means 72) Further, when the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded receives a search result indicating that the search result is 0 in relation to the means 63 or 68, the display screen at the time of data delivery is redrawn. Instead, a program that displays that the search result is 0 is recorded. Therefore, even though the search result is 0, an extra operation such as redrawing the display screen at the time of data transfer for the display and returning to the display screen at the time of data transfer again. Can be omitted. Also, since the screen does not change unnecessarily, it is easy to see the display screen. In addition, for displaying 0 search results, a display window may be popped up, or a dedicated display window may be provided in the Web browser. In the latter case, the search result display window is not limited to zero and may be used to display the number of search results.

  (Means 73) Further, the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded receives the search results in relation to the means 63 or 68, and displays the search results on another screen without redrawing the display screen at the time of data delivery. I recorded the program. Therefore, at least until the link collection displayed in the separate window is selected by the input device, the display screen at the time of data transfer can be left as it is, and can be compared with the link destination. As another window, the display window may be popped up or a web browser may be started up. When a Web browser is launched as a separate window, the link destination may be displayed on the Web browser side as the separate window.

  (Description of Recording Medium) The recording medium on which the program is recorded is a concept including CD-ROM, DVD-RAM, hard disk, flexible disk, ROM, RAM, memory card, paper tape, punch card, and the like. In addition to a recording medium that records a program in a state that can be directly executed by a computer, for example, a recording medium that records a program that can be executed by installing it from a CD-ROM to another recording medium such as a hard disk, or data It also includes a recording medium on which an encoded, encrypted, or compressed program is recorded. The reason why the RAM is included in the above is that a program received via the network may be expanded on the RAM.

  As described above, according to the present invention, key data can be generated from any part of an arbitrary page regardless of a link. The operability is also good.

  It is a figure which shows the whole structure of a data delivery apparatus.   This is a display screen of the display device 11.   It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions at the time of implement | achieving the apparatus of FIG. 1 using CPU2.   It is a figure which shows each process part in the data processing implement | achieved by CPU2 of FIG.   It is a figure which shows the range designation | designated area | region.   It is a figure which shows the display 11 with which the browser 4 and the clipboard 40 were displayed.   It is a figure which shows the character string 50 and the mouse pointer.   3 is a flowchart of a mouse program 30.   It is a figure which shows the operation state of a cancel button.   It is a figure which shows the operation state of a search button.   It is a figure which shows the range designation | designated state of a still image.   It is a figure which shows the range specification state of the audio | voice represented with the graph.   3 is a diagram showing a CD-ROM 23. FIG.   It is a figure which shows the processing block for receiving delivery destination data via the internet.   It is a figure which shows the range designation | designated area | region.   It is a figure which shows the character string 50 and the mouse pointer.   It is a figure which shows the character string 53 and the mouse pointer.   It is a flowchart of a mouse program for realizing delivery of range designation data.   It is a figure which shows a division area.   It is a figure which shows the character string 53, the extension range 54, and the mouse pointer 5. FIG.   It is a flowchart of a mouse program for realizing range specification.   2 is a diagram showing a hard disk 21. FIG.   It is a figure which shows the drop down menu (a) for delivery destination designation | designated, and the dialog box (b) for performing default setting.   It is a flowchart of a mouse program in which a delivery destination is displayed as a menu.   It is a figure which shows how to make the range specification and menu display which used "left button" of the mouse continuously.   It is a flowchart of the data delivery program by drag and drop.   It is a figure which shows the pop-up menu 61 of the delivery destination of the character string.   It is a figure which shows the whole structure of a data delivery apparatus.   6 is a flowchart of a mouse program for realizing delivery of range designation data and display of search results.   It is a figure which shows the flow of the data via the internet.   It is a figure which shows the screen display of the web browser which received and displayed the search result.   It is a figure which shows the specific information described in the HTML sentence.   It is a figure which shows the data movement between the processing blocks via the internet.   It is a figure which shows the menu which presents the received specific information.   It is a figure which shows the format of the user specific information to transmit.   It is a figure which shows the delivery data display.   It is a figure which shows the delivery data display.   It is a figure which shows the delivery destination display.   It is a figure which shows the delivery destination display.   It is a figure which shows the condition which is popping up as the graph 74 the process condition from a delivery destination program.   It is a figure which shows the condition which is popping up the 0 case display 75 of the search result from a delivery destination program.   It is a figure which shows the condition which is displaying the result display pop-up menu 62 from the search result from a delivery destination program.   2 is a diagram showing a hard disk 21. FIG.   It is a flowchart of the mouse program which makes it pass to a delivery destination after character recognition of the designated range.   3 is a block diagram around an input / output control unit 33. FIG.   It is a figure which shows the focused coincidence range 56. FIG.   It is a figure which shows the hard disk 21 in which the speech recognition program 303 was installed.   It is a flowchart of the touch panel program which designates a range by voice recognition and passes it to a delivery destination.   It is a flowchart of the installation program for installing a search destination separately.   3 is a diagram showing a CD-ROM 23. FIG.   It is a figure which shows the display screen of an HTML editor.   It is the figure which displayed the pull-down menu 8 of related technology.   It is the figure which displayed the pop-up menu 81 of related technology.

First embodiment

  FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a data delivery apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The input device 1 is a pointing device for performing range specification and click operation. The display device 11 is for displaying a document that is an operation target of the input device 1 and a cursor of the input device 1. In this embodiment, a case where data in a specified range is copied to the clipboard will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same applies to a case where the data is transferred to another device or program that requires the data. be able to. For example, a document editing program such as an editor, an agent program for processing work on behalf of the user, or the like can be used as a delivery destination. In addition to programs, global memory can be increased. In general, data passed to the global memory can be shared by any application software.

  The range of the text displayed on the display device 11 is first designated by operating the input device 1 with the cursor. This specified range is displayed by inverting the character string. If the range specification is not successful, the operator can redo the range specification. Since the cursor should be at the end position of the specified range, move it into the specified range as it is, and if you click within the specified range, the data in the specified range is copied to the clipboard (by issuing a copy command ) Then, the reverse display is eliminated. This series of operations is very simple, only a range designation operation and a click operation, and the operator needs to move the mouse only slightly between the two operations. The processing device 10 is responsible for processing for this series of operations. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 50 denotes a range designating unit, and in this case, reversal processing (highlighting) is performed.

Second embodiment

  FIG. 3 shows a hardware configuration when the processing device 10 of FIG. 1 is realized by using the CPU 2. FIG. 4 shows each processing unit in the data processing realized by the CPU 2 in FIG. The processing device 10 may be configured by hardware logic without using a CPU.

  Connected to the CPU 2 are a memory 20, a hard disk 21 as a storage device, a mouse 1 as an input device, a display 11 as a display device, and a CD-ROM drive 22. The hard disk 21 stores an operating system OS3 and a mouse program 30 that is a data delivery program. The mouse program 30 is installed from the CD-ROM 23 via the CD-ROM drive 22. The other hard disk 21 stores other application programs 32 including the browser 4 of the World Wide Web. The operating system OS3 provides a clipboard 40 so that these application programs 32 can share a global memory. Here, the mouse 1 is a two-button mouse.

  FIG. 6 shows the browser 4 and the clipboard 40 displayed on the display 11. FIG. 7 shows a character string 50 and a mouse pointer 5 with a range specified. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the mouse program 30. The operator operates the mouse 1 to specify the range of the document displayed on the browser 4 (step S1). Here, a part of the displayed document, “Specify a range of an arbitrary character string with the mouse” is specified. The character string 50 in this designated range is displayed in reverse video.

  Next, the operator operates the mouse 1 to move the mouse cursor over the character string 50 in the specified range. Here, the shape of the mouse cursor is changed to the arrow-shaped pointer 5, but this point will not be described. Then, a click operation using the left button of the mouse 1 is performed on the highlighted character string 50, that is, within the specified range (step S2). An example of using only a character “character string” having a large font size has been given at the same time, but in such a case, the same range can be specified.

  Based on the mouse up event in step S2, it is determined whether or not the click position overlaps the designated range (step S3). Here, since the mouse cursor (pointer 5) is on the character string 50 in the specified range, the determination is true and the character string 50 is copied to the clipboard 40 (step S4). This state can be confirmed by displaying the copied data 51 on the clipboard 40 of FIG.

  If the operator performs a click operation at a place other than the character string 50 without moving the mouse cursor over the character string 50 in the specified range, the determination in step S3 is false. The range designation is canceled (step S5).

  The processing process by the mouse program 30 is as follows from the viewpoint of the mouse event. When the cursor 1 is moved or clicked on the mouse 1, the input / output controller 33 determines this operation, creates an information record called an event, and sends it to the event queue 34. The event queue 34 stores a plurality of events that occur each time the mouse 1 is operated in the order of occurrence. The process determination unit 35 extracts events from the event queue 34 in the oldest order, decodes the contents of the events, and determines a process corresponding to the operation of the mouse 1. The determination result is processed into an information record called a processing instruction and passed to the processing execution unit 36. The process execution unit 36 calls and executes a process routine corresponding to the process instruction. Further, the process execution unit 36 transmits image information such as a designated range to the input / output control unit 33. The input / output control unit 33 converts this image information into an output signal and displays it on the display 11. In this embodiment, the character string 50 within the specified range is copied to the clipboard 40. However, as will be described later, when the data transfer destination within the specified range is selectable, the process is executed. The unit 36 may access the hard disk 21 and obtain necessary information.

  As described above, since the designated range can be expressed by a plurality of coordinates, it can be determined whether or not it is within the range by examining the positional relationship between each coordinate and the coordinates when the click operation is performed. (See FIG. 5). Therefore, the character string 50 within the specified range can be passed to the clipboard 40 simply by performing a click operation after specifying the range.

  In the embodiment described above, a character string is handled as an operation target, but a waveform graph or the like that visualizes an image or sound can be used as the operation target. FIG. 11 shows a still image editor 41, and a portion surrounded by the handle 42 and the rubber band 43 is a designated range 503. FIG. 12 shows a voice editor 44 that represents a voice as a waveform graph 45, and a portion indicated by reference numeral 500 is a designated range. In this embodiment, the data 51 can be used from other software by passing the character string 50 to the clipboard 40. However, the data within the specified range is delivered to a document editing program such as an editor instead of the clipboard 40. can do. If these programs are not activated, the data within the specified range can be delivered after the programs are activated. In FIG. 3, the keyboard is shown together with the mouse 1. However, mouse dragging in the range specifying operation can be set to substitute with the arrow keys of the keyboard.

Third embodiment

  In the embodiment described above, data in the specified range is delivered only when the click position overlaps the specified range. However, when the click position is outside the specified range, the data within the specified range may be delivered. To cancel the specified range, you can decide to double-click on the screen. In FIG. 9, when a mouse up event occurs at the end of the range specifying operation, a cancel switch 9 that can be operated by the mouse is displayed on the display screen, and the cancel switch 9 is pressed. , Stop the process of passing the data within the specified range to the delivery destination. The cancel switch 9 cancels the range specification.

Fourth embodiment

  On the other hand, in FIG. 10, when a mouse up event occurs at the end of the range specifying operation, a search switch 90 that can be operated by the mouse is displayed on the display screen, and this search switch 90 is pressed. By performing the operation, the processing to pass the data within the specified range to the delivery destination was performed. Note that neither the search switch 90 nor the cancel switch 9 is displayed by a mouse event. For example, a browser that displays a Web page to be operated may be provided beside the toolbar. In any case, it may be displayed on the display screen.

Fifth embodiment

  The delivery destination data 31 can be installed later from a recording medium different from the recording medium on which the mouse program 30 is recorded (FIG. 13). It can be installed later via the network, or can be introduced as needed. What is shown in FIG. 14 is a processing block when the communication control unit 37 receives delivery destination data from a World Wide Web server via the Internet, and the processing execution unit 36 stores this data in the hard disk 21. .

  The communication control unit 37 receives a Web page from the World Wide Web server via the Internet, and the processing execution unit 36 extracts the delivery destination data described in the Web page, and this data is stored in the mouse program 30. Can be used. The process execution unit 36 may pass the transfer destination data to a transfer destination setting unit 38, which will be described later, so that it can be registered in the menu. Also, the mouse program 30 itself may be downloaded and installed via the network, or executed as a mouse control transmitted via the network.

Sixth embodiment

  FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a range designation area according to the sixth embodiment. When a rectangular range having coordinates A, B, C, and D is designated as a range designated by range designation, the designated range is automatically expanded in the horizontal direction by the distance PX and in the vertical direction by PY. As a result, the rectangular range having the coordinates of E, F, G, and H is an enlarged new designated range.

  Originally, in the click operation at the point J, the data in the rectangular range having the coordinates of A, B, C, and D cannot be transferred to the transfer destination (see FIG. 5). Although a click operation within the range is required, according to the present embodiment, data can be transferred even by a click operation within the point J, that is, within the enlarged range 52.

Seventh embodiment

  FIG. 16 (a) is a diagram showing a character string 50 and a mouse pointer 5 with a range specified at the mouse up coordinate K in the range specifying operation, and FIG. 16 (b) is automatically within the specified range thereafter. It is a figure which shows the state by which the mouse pointer 5 was moved to the coordinate L of. The distance between the coordinate K and the coordinate L is QX, and when the range designation operation is performed from left to right, the distance is set to be moved by QX in the minus direction of the X coordinate. In the opposite case, it may be set so that it is moved by QX in the positive direction of the X coordinate.

  This eliminates the need to move the mouse pointer 5 into the specified range prior to the mouse click operation, and allows the user to deliver data by performing the click operation immediately after the range specifying operation. In this example, the mouse cursor is set to change to an arrow-shaped pointer after the range specifying operation. Further, with respect to the Y direction, it is possible to perform correction such that the height of the specified range is taken and the mouse pointer 5 is moved to the intermediate position.

Eighth embodiment

  FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the range-designated character string 53 and the mouse pointer 5, and FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a mouse program for realizing this range designation. In the embodiments so far, the range is specified through the operations of mouse down, drag, and mouse up. However, when a click operation is performed at a position where the range is desired to be specified, the specified range may be set according to a predetermined rule, such as extracting a word at the click operation position.

  The operator performs a click operation with the mouse on the text displayed on the display (step S6). The mouse program checks the type of character code at the clicked location (step S7). The type of character code is a type such as Japanese kanji, hiragana or katakana. If it is determined that the character code type of the clicked part is Kanji, the mouse program looks at the left and right character codes from the clicked part, and specifies the range up to where it is no longer a Kanji code (step) S8). As a result, a 4-character idiom can be specified by a click operation. Then, by continuing the click operation as it is, the data within the specified range can be delivered.

  If the sentence displayed on the display is written in alphabet, there is a space between the words, so the range of words can be specified with a space.

Ninth embodiment

  In the above-described eighth embodiment, when a mouse click operation is performed, range specification is performed at the click position according to a predetermined rule. On the other hand, in the ninth embodiment, a morphological analysis is performed when a sentence arbitrarily selected by the user is read, and although it is not displayed on the screen, a phrase is inserted in the sentence. Accordingly, the range is not designated when the mouse click operation is performed, but the mouse is selected from the already divided ranges. The range may be selected by an operation of placing a mouse pointer instead of a mouse click operation. On the touch panel or the like, a range can be selected with a fingertip. Reference numeral 501 denotes a section range.

Tenth embodiment

  In this embodiment, the first click operation is performed at a position where the range is desired to be specified, and then the next click operation is performed within a predetermined time, whereby the specified range is set according to a predetermined rule. Assuming a case where the click operation is performed three times within a predetermined time, in this embodiment, the range is specified by the first one-click operation as in the eighth embodiment (FIG. 20A), In the subsequent second click operation, the rule that the range designation is extended to the next specified range (FIG. 20B) is adopted. Subsequently, when the third click operation is performed, the designated range is extended to the range indicated by the broken line in FIG. However, it may be specified that the range up to FIG. 20A is specified by performing a click operation twice within a predetermined time, that is, by double-clicking. In this case, the range up to FIG. 20B is designated by the third click operation. Further, in FIG. 20B, in order to extend the designated range to the range indicated by the broken line, a fourth click operation is required within the time.

  FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a mouse program for realizing this range specification. The CPU 2 uses the real-time clock 25 shown in FIG. 3 for timer setting. FIG. 20A shows a diagram in which the idiom “character string” at the place where the click operation is performed by the first click operation is designated. The operator performs a click operation with the mouse on the text displayed on the display (step S9). The mouse program confirms the type of character code at the clicked location (step S10). The mouse program looks at the left and right character codes from the clicked location, and designates a range from the point where it is no longer a kanji code (step S11). When the second click operation is performed, the passage of time from the first click operation is checked (step S12). If it is within the determined time, the extension range 54 is extended to “character string as mouse” (step S13). . If the click continues within the determined time, this process is repeated. However, when the click operation is performed after the determined time has elapsed, the range specification is canceled or the click operation is performed. If the coordinates are within the specified range, the data within the specified range is passed to the delivery destination. According to the rules here, kanji (including 2-byte numbers), hiragana, and katakana are set to the same character code group for extension of range specification.

  This embodiment is also effective when a touch panel is used as a vice for pointing. This is because it is possible to perform a range designation operation and transfer of data within the designated range simply by tapping with a fingertip or a pen. In addition, it is effective for a vice with a pointing device for a spectacle display used in a wearable computer because the range designation operation is easy.

Eleventh embodiment

  FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the hard disk 21. The mouse program 30 includes a delivery destination setting unit 38. Thus, when a click operation is performed within the designated range, a default delivery destination can be set in advance, or a direct delivery destination can be selected and designated directly.

  FIG. 23A shows a drop-down menu 6 for selecting and specifying a delivery destination. Among the options, editor, word processor, and paint are other applications installed in the hard disk 21, the temporary name Watson is the agent program, and the encyclopedia is the CD-ROM 23 set on the CD-ROM drive 22. In the example, the dictionary is installed in the hard disk 21 and the search engine is set as a search system on the Internet. When a search engine is installed in the hard disk 21, a menu for designating the search engine to search its own directory may be displayed. For such a case, an additional menu for delivery destination is provided.

  FIG. 23B is a diagram showing a dialog box 60 for setting a default delivery destination. When a click operation is performed within the designated range, the data within the designated range is delivered to a plurality of delivery destinations of the search engine checked with the radio button and the encyclopedia. Of the choices, movies and sounds are other applications installed in the hard disk 21. Further, the “data relating to the delivery destination obtained by any route” means that the data installed together with the mouse program 30 is obtained later via a CD-ROM or a network as described in the fifth embodiment. That is, it can be data.

12th embodiment

  In FIG. 24, after the range is specified by the mouse, when the “left button” of the mouse having two left and right buttons is pressed within the specified range, the delivery destination can be selected by the mouse near the pressed position. A program that is displayed as a menu is shown in a flowchart. A range designation operation is performed with the mouse (step S14). When a click operation is performed with the left mouse button within the designated range (step S15), it is determined whether or not the click position overlaps the designated range (step S15). S16) If they overlap, the pop-up menu 61 of the transfer destination is displayed near the mouse pointer (step S17), and when the transfer destination is selected by the mouse pointer (step S18), the data within the designated range is displayed. In the delivery (step S19), if the result of determination in step S16 is that the click position does not overlap the designated range, the range designation is canceled (step S20). FIG. 25 shows an example in which the pop-up menu 61 of the delivery destination of the character string 50 in the specified range is displayed in step S14. In this pop-up menu 61, a clipboard is displayed as a delivery destination.

13th Embodiment

  In this embodiment, the menu of the delivery destination of the character string 50 in the designated range is displayed by a mouse up event, and is similar to that described in the third embodiment, and is not shown here. When data is specified by a range specification operation using the mouse, the data transfer destination is displayed as a menu selectable by the mouse by releasing the switch that occurs at the end of the range specification operation.

Fourteenth embodiment

  Up to now, it has been described that data is transferred to a set transfer destination or data is transferred by selecting a transfer destination from a menu. However, in some cases, it is better not to pass data. In the fourteenth embodiment, although not shown, it is checked whether or not a specific delivery destination is specified. When a specific delivery destination is specified, data is not delivered to the delivery destination. Therefore, for example, when the acquisition route of the transfer destination data is illegal, it is possible to prevent the problem from occurring by not transferring the data.

15th embodiment

  Unlike the above-described twelfth embodiment, this embodiment provides a menu that can be selected near the cursor by the mouse when the mouse cursor is placed within the specified range after the range is specified by the mouse. It is displayed (not shown). “Placing”, unlike “clicking”, means placing the cursor on the object.

Sixteenth embodiment

  In FIG. 26, data is designated by a range designation operation using a mouse (step S21), and then dragged and dropped to an input box (not shown) provided beside the toolbar of the web browser (step S22). ), Processing to pass data within the specified range to the delivery destination. The input box allows you to type in keywords. However, when the data within the specified range is dropped, the process of passing to the delivery destination is performed as it is. Note that a button may be attached to the input box, and when this button is pressed, a process of passing to the delivery destination may be performed.

Seventeenth embodiment

  This embodiment is different from the twelfth embodiment. After the range is specified by the mouse, when the operation of pressing the left button of the mouse is continued for a predetermined time or longer within the specified range, the hand is delivered near the pressed position. The tip is displayed as a menu that can be selected by the mouse. FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing this program. When a range designation operation is performed with the mouse (step S23), and a mouse down operation is performed with the left mouse button within the designated range (step S24), it is first determined whether or not the click position overlaps the designated range. Is performed (step S25). If they do not overlap, the process proceeds to step S28 to cancel the range designation. If they overlap, it is next determined whether or not the mouse down operation is within a predetermined time (step S26). That is, the time from the mouse down operation to the mouse up operation is measured and judged. If the mouse-down operation to the mouse-up operation (click operation) is within a predetermined time, the data within the designated range is passed to the default delivery destination as it is (step S27), and the range designation is canceled (step S27). Step S28). However, when the predetermined time is exceeded, the delivery destination pop-up menu 61 is displayed near the mouse pointer 5 (step S29), and when the delivery destination is selected with the mouse pointer (step S30), this is the default. As the search destination (step S31), and then the data within the designated range is transferred to the search destination (step S32), and the range designation is canceled (step S28).

  In step S26, when the click operation is within the determined time, the data is transferred to the default delivery destination as it is. In this way, it is convenient to set a frequently used delivery destination as a default. The data within the specified range is handed over to this search destination. However, if this use is a so-called Web search and it is desired to receive the search result, such a posture may be prepared. For example, a Web browser is started up and search results are displayed on it. In the first place, if the display object on which the mouse operation is performed is the display screen of the Web browser, the search result may be displayed as it is. Such cases will be described in the following eighteenth and nineteenth embodiments.

18th embodiment

  FIG. 28 shows the overall configuration of an information retrieval apparatus using the present invention. The input device 1 is a pointing device for performing range specification and switch operation. The display device 11 is for displaying an HTML document that is an operation target of the input device 1 and a cursor of the input device 1.

  The range of the text displayed on the display device 11 is first designated by operating the input device 1 with the cursor. This specified range is displayed by inverting the character string. If the range specification is not successful, the operator can redo the range specification. Next, the processing device 10 takes in the character string designated in the range and passes it to the other computer connected to the search target network via the transmission / reception device 12 as a keyword. Then, the processing device 10 receives the search result from the search destination, and displays the search result as a hyperlink that can be selected by the pointing device on the display device 11. Thus, when the link of the search result is clicked by the input device 1, the processing device 10 obtains a document corresponding to the link from the link destination and displays it on the display device 11.

Nineteenth embodiment

  Next, the case where the processing apparatus 10 of FIG. 28 is implemented using a personal computer will be described. A memory, a hard disk as a storage device, a mouse as an input device, a display as a display device, and a CD-ROM drive are connected to the CPU. An operating system OS, a data delivery program, and a search result display program are recorded on the hard disk. The data delivery program and search result display program are installed from the CD-ROM via the CD-ROM drive (not shown above). In addition, the World Wide Web browser 4 and the like are stored in the hard disk. Here, the mouse is a two-button mouse. In addition, the information search device 15 of this embodiment is connected to the Internet as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 31 shows the browser 4 displayed on the display 11. FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a character string delivery process in this embodiment. The user can display an arbitrarily selected document on the browser 4. Further, the user operates the mouse to designate a range of the document displayed on the browser 4 (step S33). Next, when the user operates the mouse to “left-click” within the specified range, the data in the specified range is passed to the clipboard. This has the same effect as executing the copy command. The clipboard is constantly monitored, and when the contents are rewritten with data within the specified range, the data delivery program passes this data to the search server (step S35). When the search result transmitted from the search server is received (step S36), it is displayed on the browser 4 (step S37). FIG. 31 shows a search result page 52 displayed on the browser 4, and a hyperlink 53 is shown here. If this hyperlink 53 is clicked with the left button of the mouse 1, the linked page can be referred to. If the search result transmitted from the search server 82 is an HTML sentence, the display processing is left to the browser 4 as it is.

  In translation software etc., unknown words and phrases are translated by copying and displaying the translation results, but this did not provide a list of links like WWW. Furthermore, it was impossible to jump from the result page to another site. On the other hand, in search sites placed on the Internet, search results are displayed in hypertext, but an operation is required in which a keyword is written in a character input box and a search execution button is pressed. On the other hand, in this embodiment, a link list as a search result can be obtained simply by specifying a range of a character string to be used as a keyword with the “left button” of the mouse and then “left-clicking” on it. is there.

  In the embodiment described above, a character string is handled as an operation target, but a waveform graph or the like that visualizes an image or sound can be used as the operation target. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a keyboard together with a mouse is generally used for setting a range to be substituted with an arrow key of the keyboard.

20th embodiment

  FIG. 32 shows a part of the web page 57 received by the communication control unit 37. In this Web page, an <author> </ author> tag 58 is newly inserted and inserted into the page. The author's name is written in the portion sandwiched between the tags, but this does not appear on the browser 4 display. Next, as shown in FIG. 33, the communication control unit 37 receives a Web page from the World Wide Web server via the Internet and passes it to the unique information extracting unit 300, and the unique information extracting unit 300 receives this Web page. In the processing block when the author name of the <author> </ author> tag 58, which is unique information 57, is extracted and passed to the menu adding unit 301, the menu adding unit 301 adds the author name to the pull-down menu 63. is there. Unlike the pull-down menu 61 of the above-described twelfth embodiment, the pull-down menu 63 is not a data delivery destination menu but a menu of received unique information (see FIG. 34). The unique information selected from here is passed to the Web server together with the data for which the range has been specified, and is used for the search.

  The added author name menu is conveniently deleted from the pull-down menu 63 when a page of another Web site is displayed by the operation of the browser 4. The communication control unit 37 notifies the menu addition unit 301 that another Web page has been displayed, and the menu addition unit 301 deletes the author name from the menu. If the <author> </ author> tag 58 is present on the newly displayed Web page, it is added to the menu. Tags may be newly defined. Whether or not the browser can interpret this, the unique information extraction unit 300 can find this tag from the Web page.

  Note that there is a proposal (XURL) for including unique information of various pages in the URL (Uniform Resource Locator: RFC1738) itself (in the draft submission stage), from which unique information can be extracted. Let's go.

21st embodiment

  When the data within the specified range is passed to the delivery destination, unique information possessed by the user is also acquired and passed. FIG. 35 shows a data format 55 to be delivered to the delivery destination. An authentication code is placed in front of the specified range data. For example, when the delivery destination for passing data within the specified range is a World Wide Web membership search engine, an identification number as user-specific information is read from the hard disk 21 for session management and user authentication. It is possible to raise an effective use such as passing to a search engine together with data within a specified range as a search keyword.

Twenty-second embodiment

  The data is displayed after the data within the specified range is delivered. As shown in FIG. 36, the delivery data display 7 pops up for a certain time near the designated range. The transfer destination data display 7 displays the data “character string” within the broken line that has already been transferred and the range designation is canceled. The pop-up display of the delivery data display 7 can be set so as to continue to be displayed until the mouse button is clicked.

23rd embodiment

  FIG. 37 is a diagram showing the delivery data display 70 of the browser 4. After the data within the specified range is delivered, the data is displayed in the delivery data display 70 window. Until the next data is delivered, the delivery data display 70 remains.

24th embodiment

  After the data within the specified range is delivered, the delivery destination is displayed. As shown in FIG. 38, the delivery destination display 71 pops up near a designated range for a certain period of time. Here, an example in which the delivery destination is the clipboard is shown.

25th embodiment

  FIG. 39 is a diagram showing the delivery destination display 72 of the browser 4. The delivery destination is displayed in the delivery destination display 72 window after the data within the specified range is delivered. Until the next data is transferred, the transfer destination display 72 remains. In addition, although the code | symbol 73 is the URL display part of the browser 4, it can also be utilized as a delivery destination display.

26th embodiment

  In this embodiment, the data delivery destination is a program that processes data within a specified range, receives the processing status from this program, and displays it. FIG. 40 shows a situation in which the processing status graph 74 pops up for a certain time near the specified range. This is especially useful for sessions with search engines on the World Wide Web.

27th embodiment

  In this embodiment, the data delivery destination is a program that searches for data within a specified range as a keyword. The list data of the search results is received and displayed on the browser side, but there are no search results. Only when the browser display is not rewritten, the 0-item display 75 pops up near the designated range for a certain period of time. Note that the pop-up display of the zero display 75 can be set to continue to be displayed until the operator clicks the mouse button (FIG. 41).

28th embodiment

  In this embodiment, the data transfer destination is a program that searches for data within a specified range as a keyword, and the search result list data is not displayed on a browser but can be selected by a pointing device. It pops up as a menu (link collection). If one is selected from the result display pop-up menu 62, the Web page at this address is downloaded to the browser and displayed (FIG. 42).

29th embodiment

  FIG. 43 is a diagram showing the hard disk 21. A character recognition program 302 is installed together with the mouse program 30. Thereby, the character recognition of the data within the specified range is performed, and when the character recognition is performed, this character string can be passed to the delivery destination. FIG. 44 is a flowchart showing this program. When the range designation operation is performed with the mouse (step S38), and the mouse down operation is performed with the left mouse button within the designated range (step S39), it is first determined whether or not the click position overlaps the designated range. Is performed (step S40). If they do not overlap, the process proceeds to step S43 to cancel the range designation. If they overlap, character recognition of the data within the specified range is performed in the next step S41, and if character recognition is possible, this character string is transferred to the delivery destination (step S42). In this embodiment, the range designation is not canceled after the character string is delivered, but it will be cleared by the next range designation operation.

30th embodiment

  45 to 48 show the case where the touch panel cursor is automatically moved within the specified range after the range is specified, and the user utters the character string that the user wants to specify the range. In response to the voice recognition, determine the match between the voice recognized character string and the character string whose range you want to specify, and if it matches, press the return key on the keyboard, which is equivalent to pressing the touch panel button. An embodiment in which this character string is delivered to the delivery destination is shown.

  The input / output control unit 33 is connected to the microphone 24, the keyboard and the touch panel 1, and the display 11 (see FIG. 45). A voice recognition program 303 is installed in the hard disk 21 together with the mouse program 30. The voice picked up by the input / output control unit 33 from the microphone 24 is transferred to the voice recognition program 303 and voice recognition processing is performed (see FIG. 47). A flowchart relating to this processing is shown in FIG.

  A voice input operation is performed toward the microphone 24 (step S44). In this case, the document displayed on the display 11 is visually observed, and a character string that the user wants to specify a range is uttered as words. In step S45, this voice recognition is performed, and it is determined whether or not the recognition result matches the character string to be designated as a range in the document (step S46). If they do not match, the process ends. If they match, the character string in the matched document is focused and displayed in reverse (step S47). In this state, as shown in FIG. 46, the pointer 59 of the touch panel 1 is in the matching range 56. Therefore, when an operation of pressing the return key of the keyboard is performed (step S48), the character string within the designated range is transferred to the delivery destination (step S49), and the focus is released (step S50). In step S46, the entire sentence is searched.

  Note that the mouse dragging in the range specification operation can be set to substitute with the arrow keys on the keyboard, and the operation to press the mouse button is the setting to substitute by pressing the return key on the keyboard. Therefore, the touch panel 1 has the same operation system. A dedicated switch may be provided instead of the return key of the keyboard.

31st embodiment

  49 and 50 are used for the description of this embodiment. A database 38 and a search destination registration program 91 are recorded on the CD-ROM 26. In the first place, this CD-ROM 26 does not include what constitutes the main part of the present invention, unlike the CD-ROM 23 of FIG. Either the database 38 is installed in the hard disk 21 or the CD-ROM 26 is mounted on the CD-ROM drive 38 and used as it is. When the installer of the search destination registration program 91 is activated (step S51), it sets itself as a search destination (step S52).

Thirty-second embodiment

  The HTML editor 42 is the delivery destination of the program data. A necessary article is copied from a Web browser or the like to a document editor. In this case, the file is simply saved as ASCII text, but in the case of an HTML editor, the saved file can be opened from a Web browser, and if a hyperlink is described, it leads to other data from there. Can do. However, even an HTML document cannot simply reach other data by simply quoting ASCII text. Even if you want to hit the original text at a later date, it is impossible without knowing the URL. Therefore, the program of this embodiment writes an anchor to the original sentence when transferring data to the HTML editor. In the figure, a button 502 marked Link is an anchor.

Thirty-third embodiment

  Although not shown in the description of this embodiment, after a switch operation by a pointing device such as a mouse, it is monitored whether or not a range designation operation using the pointing device has started within a predetermined time, and the range is within that time. When the designating operation is started, a program that performs the series of processes following the range designating operation is recorded. In other words, this provides a mechanism for turning ON an operation that can be turned ON / OFF by specifying an arbitrary range of data and passing it to a delivery destination. For example, in the case of a mouse, only when the user first clicks the range to start the range specification operation, the mode moves to the “data transfer mode” to the transfer destination. A series of processing after the operation also makes no sense. Since this is a switch itself, for example, a switch that can be clicked with a mouse for this purpose may be displayed on a Web browser.

34th embodiment

  Although not shown in the description of this embodiment, a switch that can be clicked with a mouse is provided in the Web browser in order to disable the hyperlink displayed in the Web browser. Specifying the range of the hyperlink part is a broken work, which makes the hyperlink inoperable.

  (Other Embodiments) Note that the designated range for character strings is generally displayed in reverse video, but color inversion, change in character color, blink display of characters, change to italic characters, bold characters, borders, Can be set arbitrarily, such as with an underline. It is also possible to make the specified range not particularly noticeable. With regard to the menu display of the delivery destination, the delivery destination that is most frequently used from the menu may be arranged at a higher level of the menu with reference to the history. Alternatively, the menu may be set so that the pointer automatically moves to the most frequently used delivery destination without rearranging the menu. You may make it display the edit box which can edit the data which designated the range. Further, in the recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded, this program can be realized as what the OS has as a basic function, a mouse driver, an application program, plug-in software incorporated in the application program, etc. It is not limited.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input device 10 Processing apparatus 11 Display apparatus 12 Transmission / reception apparatus 23 CD-ROM
30 Mouse program

Claims (11)

  A display device for displaying a pointing device such as a mouse, an operation target arbitrarily selected by a user and operated by the pointing device, and the following processing device, and the processing device includes the operation target Is a still image or a progress graph that visualizes video and audio in time series, an arbitrary range by the pointing device on the operation target to obtain search data from the operation target When the range specifying operation is performed, the specified range on the operation target is retained, and the switch operation is performed on the operation target by the pointing device. Coordinates are specified and held in the range specifying operation by the pointing device. It is determined whether or not it is within the specified range, and if it is determined that it is within the specified range, processing for transmitting data within the specified range to the search server as search data is performed. Search device.   The information search device according to claim 1, wherein the processing device performs processing for disabling a hyperlink related to the operation target based on a user request.   A display device for displaying a pointing device such as a mouse, an operation target arbitrarily selected by a user and operated by the pointing device, and the following processing device are provided. In the operation, when a switch other than the switch provided in the pointing device is turned on based on a user request, the hyperlink on the operation target is made inoperable, and the operation When the range specifying operation of an arbitrary range is performed on the operation target to obtain search data from the target, the specified range on the operation target is held, and the operation target This is a case where a switch operation is performed by the pointing device. It is determined whether or not the coordinates when the touch operation is performed are within the specified range specified and held by the range specifying operation by the pointing device. In this case, an information search device that performs processing for transmitting data within the specified range as search data to a search server.   A progress graph in which an operation target arbitrarily selected by a user and operated by a pointing device such as a mouse is displayed on a display device, and when the operation target is a still image or a moving image or sound is visualized in time series If the range designation operation of the arbitrary range by the pointing device is performed on the operation target so as to obtain search data from the operation target, the designated range on the operation target is held. When the switch operation is performed on the operation target by the pointing device, the coordinates when the switch operation is performed are designated and held by the range designating operation by the pointing device. It is determined whether or not it is within the specified range. Transmitting data to the search server as the search data in the range, the information retrieval method.   The information search method according to claim 4, wherein processing for disabling the hyperlink related to the operation target is performed based on a user request.   An information search method for transmitting search data to a WWW search server and receiving and displaying a search result from the search server, arbitrarily selected from the WWW by a user and operated by a pointing device such as a mouse The WWW page is displayed on the display device, and the hyperlink of the WWW page is made inoperable when a switch other than the switch provided in the input device is turned on based on the user's request in the following range specifying operation. In addition to performing processing, when the range specifying operation of an arbitrary range is performed on the WWW page by the pointing device to acquire search data from the WWW page, the specified range on the WWW page is retained. On the WWW page, switch operation by the pointing device Is determined, and it is determined whether or not the coordinates when the switch operation is performed are within the specified range specified and held by the range specifying operation by the pointing device. An information search method for transmitting data within the specified range to a search server as search data when it is determined that the data is within the range.   A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the information search method according to claim 4, 5, or 6 is recorded.   A program that causes a computer to execute the information search method according to claim 4, 5, or 6.   A search server that collects still image data or moving image data and audio data and creates a search index to enable the search of the data, and transmits the search data to the search server, and the search result from the search server An information search system comprising: an information search device that receives and displays the information search device, wherein the information search device includes a pointing device such as a mouse and an operation target that is arbitrarily selected by a user and operated by the pointing device. A display device for displaying, and the following processing device, wherein the processing device is a progress graph that visualizes moving images and sounds in time series when the operation target is a still image In addition, an arbitrary range by the pointing device on the operation target to obtain search data from the operation target. When the range specifying operation is performed, the specified range on the operation target is held, and the switch operation is performed on the operation target by the pointing device. It is determined whether or not the coordinates at the time of being within the designated range designated and held by the range designation operation by the pointing device. An information search system that performs processing for transmitting data within a specified range as search data to a search server.   The information search system according to claim 9, wherein the processing device performs processing for disabling a hyperlink related to the operation target based on a user request.   A WWW search server that performs WWW data collection processing and creates a search index to enable WWW search, and information search that transmits search data to the search server and receives and displays search results from the search server An information search system comprising: a pointing device such as a mouse; and a display for displaying a WWW page arbitrarily selected from the WWW by a user and operated by the pointing device The WWW page when a switch other than the switch provided in the input device is turned on based on a user's request in the following range specifying operation. In addition to performing the process of making the hyperlink inoperable, the WWW page If the range designation operation of an arbitrary range by the pointing device is performed on the WWW page in order to obtain search data from above, the designated range on the WWW page is retained, and the above-mentioned range is designated on the WWW page. Whether or not the coordinates when the switch operation is performed are within the specified range specified and held by the range specifying operation by the pointing device when the switch operation is performed by the pointing device An information retrieval system that performs a process of transmitting data within the designated range as retrieval data to a retrieval server when it is determined that the data is within the designated range.

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