JP2012178024A - Portable terminal device and character input method of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable terminal device which allows a user to easily select a special character suitable for a sender of an e-mail message, and its character input method.SOLUTION: The portable terminal device includes information preservation means and processing means. When preserving a special character included in a received e-mail message, the information preservation means preserves the special character and acquisition origin information indicating a transmission origin of the e-mail message in association. When inserting a special character to an e-mail message to be transmitted, the processing means refers to the information preserved in the information preservation means and deletes a special character for which the information indicating the transmission destination of the e-mail message and the acquisition origin information match from an input candidate list of special characters to be inserted to the e-mail message.

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable terminal device that can use electronic mail and a character input method thereof.

  In recent years, as the memory capacity of portable terminal devices has increased, the display panel has become larger and the resolution has improved, the number of users who attach pictograms to e-mails transmitted and received by the portable terminal devices has increased. There is a tendency to increase the types of pictograms that can be stored.

  Moreover, with the increase of the variation of pictograms, those uses are clearly distinguished according to the other party who transmits. For example, a broken impression pictogram sent to a close friend is not necessarily suitable for sending to a business partner or boss.

  In the mobile terminal device, it is also possible to duplicate the pictograph inserted in the received e-mail body and store it in the mobile terminal device, and use the stored pictograph when creating the e-mail. Here, it is often considered that it is not suitable to send another e-mail in which the pictograph is inserted to the other party who sent the e-mail containing the copied pictograph.

  However, since the number of stored pictograms is enormous, it is difficult for the user to find a pictogram suitable for the sender of the e-mail from a large number of pictograms, and how each pictogram was obtained. It is difficult for the user to grasp.

  A technique for efficiently selecting pictographs is proposed in, for example, Patent Document 1. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151867 describes a technique for storing pictographs and character strings in association with each other and, when a character string is input, automatically inserting or replacing the pictograph stored in association with the character string. ing. In addition, although it is not a technique for selecting pictographs efficiently, Patent Document 2 discloses that electronic pictograms created by mobile phone users can be stored electronically without requiring a common database for pictograms on the network. It describes the technology that has been made available via email.

JP 2010-015221 A JP 2006-163698 A

  As described above, since the number of stored pictograms is enormous in the mobile terminal device, it is difficult for the user to find a pictogram suitable for the sender of the e-mail from a large number of pictograms. It is difficult for the user to grasp how the information is obtained. Therefore, it is desirable that the user can easily select special characters such as pictograms suitable for the sender of the e-mail.

  The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the background art as described above, and allows a user to easily select a special character suitable for an e-mail sender and a character input method thereof. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the portable terminal device of the present invention, when storing a special character included in a received electronic mail, stores the special character in association with acquisition source information indicating the transmission source of the electronic mail. When,
When a special character is inserted into an e-mail to be transmitted, information stored in the information storage unit is referred to, and information indicating the destination of the e-mail and the acquisition source information are obtained from the special character inserted into the e-mail. Processing means for deleting a matching special character from the input candidate list of the special character;
Have

On the other hand, the character input method of the mobile terminal device of the present invention is a character input method of the mobile terminal device for inputting special characters in an electronic mail,
Processing means
When storing the special character included in the received e-mail, the special character and the acquisition source information indicating the transmission source of the e-mail are associated and stored in the information storage unit,
When inserting special characters into the e-mail to be transmitted, refer to the information stored in the information storage means,
In this method, a special character whose information indicating the destination of the electronic mail matches the acquisition source information is deleted from a list of special character input candidates to be inserted into the electronic mail.

  According to the present invention, the user can easily select special characters suitable for the sender of the e-mail.

It is a block diagram which shows one structural example of the portable terminal device of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the portable terminal device shown in FIG. It is a table | surface which shows an example of pictogram data stored in the pictogram data holding part shown in FIG. It is a table | surface which shows an example of the usage log | history for every pictogram stored in the pictogram data holding | maintenance part shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display by a display apparatus which made some pictograms gray out. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the portable terminal device of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the portable terminal device of 2nd Embodiment.

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a mobile terminal device of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal device of the present invention stores information that stores the special characters in association with the acquisition source information indicating the transmission source of the e-mail when storing the special characters included in the received e-mail. When the special character is inserted into the means 10 and the e-mail to be transmitted, the information stored in the information storage means 10 is referred to, and the information indicating the transmission destination of the e-mail and the acquisition source are referred to from the special character inserted into the e-mail. The processing unit 20 is configured to delete a special character that matches the information from the input candidate list of the special character.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the mobile terminal device shown in FIG.

  The mobile terminal device shown in FIG. 2 can be realized by a known mobile phone or information processing device including a CPU, a memory, a display device, a wireless communication unit, an operation button (keyboard), and the like. FIG. 2 shows, in blocks, functions of processing by programs realized by the CPU.

  In the following, a mobile phone will be described as an example of a mobile terminal device. However, the present invention is not limited to any device as long as it is a device that can create and send / receive e-mail and can use special characters in the e-mail. It can also be applied to. For example, the present invention can be applied to a portable PDA (Personal Data Assistance, Personal Digital Assistants), a notebook computer, a tablet computer, or the like.

  In the following, an example in which a pictograph is inserted into an e-mail body will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to a pictograph, and is also applicable to an image that can be inserted into the body of an e-mail, such as a decoration mail image. Is possible. In this specification, these pictograms and images are collectively referred to as “special characters”.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal device of the present invention includes an analysis unit 1, a mail creation unit 2, a screen drawing unit 3, a phone book data management unit 4, a pictographic data management unit 5, a phone book data holding unit 6, and a pictograph. A data holding unit 7 is provided.

  In accordance with the instruction from the mail creation unit 2, the screen drawing unit 3 is a list of input candidates such as characters, symbols, pictograms, and images to be entered in the email body, an email body, and an email address that specifies the email destination Etc. are displayed on a display device (not shown).

  The phone book data holding unit 6 stores telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, and names (names), addresses, images (including photographs), and the like corresponding to the phone numbers and e-mail addresses registered by user operations. Hereinafter, such information stored in association with each name is referred to as “phone book data”.

  The telephone book data management unit 4 stores a telephone number, an e-mail address, a name (name), an address, image (photo) data, etc. corresponding to them in the telephone book data holding unit 6 in accordance with a well-known operation by the user. At the same time, the phone book data designated by the analysis unit 1 is read from the phone book data management unit 4 and passed to the analysis unit 1.

  The pictogram data holding unit 7 stores pictogram data indicating information for each pictogram and a use history for each pictogram. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the pictographic data indicates the file type, file size, storage date / time, presence / absence of file restrictions, display size, and acquisition source in association with the file name storing the pictographic image data. Information such as information (e-mail address, etc.) is stored. The pictograph is composed of data (code or the like) for displaying the pictograph. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the usage history of pictograms is stored for each pictogram data in association with the transmission destination (destination) of the used e-mail. Although not shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the use history of pictograms includes the total number of uses for each pictogram by the user.

  The pictographic data only needs to include at least information indicating the name of the file storing the pictographic image data and the source from which the pictograph is acquired. The information (e-mail address) indicating the acquisition source does not have to be one. If the same pictogram is received from a plurality of places, the plurality of e-mail addresses may be registered. In that case, the mail creation unit 2 displays a confirmation screen on a display device (not shown) using the screen drawing unit 3, and confirms with the user whether or not additional registration of an e-mail address for the already registered pictographic data is necessary. May be. The information storage means 10 of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is realized by, for example, a pictographic data holding unit 7 shown in FIG.

  The pictogram data management unit 5 acquires the number of each pictogram used in the text of the e-mail via the mail creation unit 2 and the analysis unit 1 when the user creates the e-mail, and based on the value The number of uses for each pictogram corresponding to the e-mail address and the total number of uses for each pictogram by the user are counted, a use history for each pictogram is created and updated, and stored in the pictogram data holding unit 7. Also, the pictographic data management unit 5 reads the pictorial use history and pictographic data specified by the analyzing unit 1 from the pictographic data holding unit 7 and passes them to the analyzing unit 1.

  Further, when the pictographic data management unit 5 is instructed to save the pictograph in the received e-mail body by the operation of the user, the pictograph data management unit 5 corresponds to the pictograph including the e-mail address from which the e-mail is transmitted. The pictograph data to be created is created and stored in the pictograph data holding unit 7. For pictographs stored since the purchase of the mobile terminal device, it is assumed that pictographic data including information indicating the time of purchase is created in advance and stored in the pictograph data storage unit 7.

  The analysis unit 1 acquires an e-mail address that is an e-mail transmission destination from the phone book data holding unit 6 via the phone book data management unit 4 in accordance with an instruction from the mail generation unit 2 and passes it to the mail generation unit 2 Then, the pictographic data and the usage history of pictograms related to the e-mail address are acquired from the pictographic data holding unit 7 via the pictographic data management unit 5 and passed to the mail creation unit 2.

  The mail creation unit 2 creates an electronic mail according to an instruction by the user's operation, and displays the operation result on a display device (not shown) using the screen drawing unit 3.

  In addition, the e-mail creation unit 2 obtains each pictogram (if it has been stored since the purchase of the mobile terminal device, or if it was copied and saved from the received e-mail, the transmission source Created when displaying a list of input candidates for pictograms based on pictographic data including information indicating (e-mail address) and usage history for each pictogram (number of uses for each e-mail address and total number of uses by the user) By graying out or not displaying pictograms that have the same e-mail transmission destination and acquisition source, the user is allowed to select a pictogram that is not acquired from the e-mail transmission destination. Note that although the grayed-out pictograms prompt the user not to select them, it does not prohibit the user from selecting the grayed-out pictograms. FIG. 5 shows a display example by the display device in which a part of the pictogram is grayed out so as not to be selected by the user.

  In addition, when the mail creation unit 2 displays a list of input candidates for pictograms on a display device (not shown) using the screen drawing unit 3, it is used corresponding to the destination (destination) of the email being created. Arrange each pictogram in descending order.

  In addition, when the e-mail address of the transmission destination (destination) is not input to the e-mail, the e-mail creation unit 2 may display the pictogram input candidate list in descending order of the total number of uses by the user.

  Further, if there is no use history of pictograms corresponding to the destination e-mail address, the mail creation unit 2 may display a list of pictogram input candidates in descending order of the total number of use by the user.

  Further, when one e-mail is transmitted to a plurality of destinations, the e-mail creating unit 2 is configured to gray out or not display all pictograms having the same e-mail transmission destination and acquisition source. Good. At this time, the mail creation unit 2 may display a list of input candidates for pictograms in descending order of the number of times of use corresponding to the destination specified by the user, for example. An input candidate list may be displayed. In that case, the mail creation unit 2 may cause the user to select a display method of the input candidate list by displaying a selection screen on a display device (not shown) using the screen drawing unit 3. The number of times of use for each pictogram (total number of times of use) may be counted in units of e-mails. When one e-mail is sent to a plurality of destinations, it is sent to the number used in the e-mail body. A value obtained by multiplying the previous number may be used.

  The processing means 20 of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is realized by, for example, the analysis unit 1, the mail creation unit 2, the screen drawing unit 3, the telephone directory data management unit 4 and the pictographic data management unit 5 shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the mobile terminal device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of the mobile terminal device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 shows an example of a processing procedure for displaying a list of input candidates for pictograms suitable for a transmission destination when an e-mail is created.

  The processing of the mobile terminal device of the present embodiment shown below is realized by the CPU executing the processing according to the control program stored in the ROM or the like.

  In the following description, it is assumed that an application program for creating an e-mail by the user's operation has already started and the user is creating an e-mail. The character input method of the mobile terminal device of this embodiment is assumed to start from reading out a list of input candidates for pictograms in order to input pictograms in an e-mail body by user operation. As a method for selecting an e-mail address by a user, a method for inputting characters and symbols to an e-mail body, a method for attaching a file (image or text) to an e-mail, etc., a well-known method may be used. There is no particular limitation.

  In the following, a case where a single e-mail is transmitted to a plurality of destinations and a list of pictogram input candidates is displayed in descending order of the total number of uses by the user will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when a pictograph input candidate list is called by a user's operation (step 2-1), the mail creation unit 2 inputs the destination email address to the email being created. It is determined whether or not (step 2-2). If the destination e-mail address has been input, the process proceeds to step 2-3. If not, the process proceeds to step 2-5.

  In step 2-3, the mail creation unit 2 determines whether the destination of the e-mail is one place.

  When the transmission destination is not one place, the process proceeds to step 2-5. When the transmission destination is one place, the mail creation unit 2 determines whether there is a use history of pictograms corresponding to the electronic mail address of the transmission destination (step 2-4).

  In step 2-4, the mail creation unit 2 first transmits the destination e-mail address to the analysis unit 1. The analysis unit 1 transfers the received e-mail address to the pictographic data management unit 5. The pictogram data management unit 5 searches the usage history for each pictogram stored in the pictogram data holding unit 7 based on the email address received from the analysis unit 1 and uses it for the email body addressed to the destination email address. The pictograph that has been used is extracted, and information indicating the pictograph is returned to the analysis unit 1. At this time, if no pictograph has been used in the body of the email for the destination email address, the fact is returned to the analysis unit 1.

  If there is no use history of pictograms for the destination e-mail address, the mail creating unit 2 proceeds to the processing of step 2-5, and if there is a use history of pictograms for the destination e-mail address, step 2-6. Transition to processing.

  In step 2-5, the mail creation unit 2 acquires the total number of times of use for each pictogram by the user stored in the pictogram data holding unit 7 via the analysis unit 1 and the pictogram data management unit 5, and step 2-7. Move on to processing.

  In step 2-6, the mail creation unit 2 obtains a usage history for each pictogram corresponding to the destination e-mail address from the analysis unit 1, and corresponds to the destination e-mail address in descending order of the number of uses. The pictographs are arranged (step 2-7). In step 2-7, if the processing has shifted from step 2-5, pictographs are arranged in descending order of the total number of times used by the user.

  Next, the mail creation unit 2 determines whether or not there is a pictographic character whose destination e-mail address matches the pictorial data acquisition destination in the pictographs displayed on the display device (not shown) as an input candidate list. (Step 2-8). In step 2-8, the mail creation unit 2 searches each pictographic data for each pictogram, and determines whether or not the destination e-mail address is registered as the acquisition destination, thereby determining the destination e-mail. It is determined whether there is a pictograph whose address is the acquisition destination.

  When there is a pictograph whose destination e-mail address matches the pictographic data acquisition destination, the mail creation unit 2 uses the screen drawing unit 3 to display a pictogram input candidate list to be displayed on a display device (not shown). The pictograph whose destination e-mail address matches the acquisition destination is grayed out (step 2-9). At this time, the mail creation unit 2 may not display the pictograph whose destination is the e-mail address of the transmission destination in the input candidate list.

  When there is no pictogram in which the e-mail address of the transmission destination matches the pictogram data acquisition destination, the mail creation unit 2 displays a list of input candidates arranged in descending order of the total number of use by the user using the screen drawing unit 3. It is displayed on an apparatus (not shown) (step 2-10).

  According to the present embodiment, since the mobile terminal device displays the input candidate list in order from the pictogram frequently used by the user corresponding to the destination of the e-mail using the pictogram usage history, the operation effort for selecting the pictogram Can be reduced.

  Further, by graying out or not displaying pictograms whose transmission destination and acquisition destination match according to the acquisition source of pictograms, it is possible to avoid the use of pictograms acquired from the transmission destination of e-mails.

Therefore, the user can easily select a pictograph (special character) suitable for the sender of the e-mail.
(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, an example in which the user selects a pictograph from the input candidate list and inserts it in the e-mail body is shown. The second embodiment is an example in which pictographs are automatically inserted into the e-mail body being created. For example, the technique described in Patent Document 1 may be used as a method for automatically inserting pictograms in the e-mail body. The present embodiment is an example of automatically selecting special characters suitable for an e-mail sender by using in combination with the technique described in Patent Document 1 and the like. Whether the pictograph is selected from the input candidate list and inserted into the e-mail text or whether the pictograph is automatically inserted into the e-mail text may be set by the user in advance in the mobile terminal device. Since the configuration of the portable terminal device is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of the mobile terminal device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 7 shows an example of a processing procedure for automatically inserting a pictograph suitable for a transmission destination when creating an e-mail.

  The processing of the mobile terminal device of the present embodiment shown below is realized by the CPU executing the processing according to the control program stored in the ROM or the like.

  In the following description, it is assumed that an application program for creating an e-mail by the user's operation has already started and the user is creating an e-mail. The character input method of the portable terminal device of this embodiment is assumed to start from setting a function for automatically inserting pictographs in an e-mail body by a user operation. As a method for selecting an e-mail address by a user, a method for inputting characters and symbols to an e-mail body, a method for attaching a file (image or text) to an e-mail, etc., a well-known method may be used. There is no particular limitation.

  In the following, a case where a single e-mail is transmitted to a plurality of destinations and a list of pictogram input candidates is displayed in descending order of the total number of uses by the user will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when a function for automatically inserting a pictograph into an e-mail body is set by a user's operation (step 3-1), an analysis unit 1, a mail creation unit 2, a screen drawing unit 3. The pictograph data management unit 5 and the pictograph data holding unit 7 execute the same processing as steps 2-2 to 2-8 shown in FIG. That is, Steps 3-2 to 3-8 shown in FIG. 7 correspond to the processing of Steps 2-2 to 2-8 shown in FIG.

  In step 3-8, if there is a pictograph whose destination e-mail address matches the pictographic data acquisition destination, the mail creation unit 2 excludes the pictograph whose destination e-mail address matches the pictographic data acquisition destination. Then, in priority to the frequently used pictograms arranged corresponding to the destination e-mail address, the pictogram corresponding to the character input by the user's operation is inserted into the e-mail body (step 3- 9).

  On the other hand, when there is no pictogram in which the destination e-mail address matches the pictogram data acquisition destination, the e-mail creation unit 2 is input by the user's operation in preference to the pictogram that is used by the user a lot. A pictograph corresponding to the character is inserted into the e-mail body (step 3-10).

  According to the second embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and the pictogram is automatically inserted into the e-mail body, so that the operation burden on the user is further reduced.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Analysis part 2 Mail preparation part 3 Screen drawing part 4 Phonebook data management part 5 Pictogram data management part 6 Phonebook data holding part 7 Pictogram data holding part 10 Information storage means 20 Processing means

Claims (9)

Information storing means for storing the special character and the acquisition source information indicating the transmission source of the electronic mail in association with each other when storing the special character included in the received electronic mail;
When a special character is inserted into an e-mail to be transmitted, information stored in the information storage unit is referred to, and information indicating the destination of the e-mail and the acquisition source information are obtained from the special character inserted into the e-mail. Processing means for deleting a matching special character from the input candidate list of the special character;
A mobile terminal device. A display means for displaying a list of input candidates for e-mail and special characters;
The processing means includes
Information indicating the destination of the e-mail in the special character input candidate list displayed on the display unit with reference to information stored in the information storage unit at the time of inserting a special character into the e-mail to be transmitted; The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein a special character that matches the acquisition source information is grayed out. A display means for displaying a list of input candidates for e-mail and special characters;
The processing means includes
Information indicating the destination of the e-mail in the special character input candidate list displayed on the display unit with reference to information stored in the information storage unit at the time of inserting a special character into the e-mail to be transmitted; The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein a special character that matches the acquisition source information is not displayed. The processing means includes
When inserting special characters in outgoing emails,
The number of uses for each special character is stored in the information storage unit in association with the information indicating the destination of the e-mail, and the total number of uses for each special character is stored in the information storage unit.
4. The portable terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the input candidate list to be displayed on the display means is displayed in the order of special characters frequently used stored in the information storage means in association with the destination of the e-mail. The processing means includes
At the time of inserting special characters for the e-mail to be transmitted, if the information indicating the destination of the e-mail is not input, if there is no special character stored in the information storage means in association with the destination of the e-mail, The portable terminal device according to claim 4, wherein when there are a plurality of transmission destinations of the e-mail, the input candidate list displayed on the display unit is displayed in the order of special characters having the highest total number of uses. The processing means includes
When inserting special characters in outgoing emails,
The number of uses for each special character is stored in the information storage unit in association with the information indicating the destination of the e-mail, and the total number of uses for each special character is stored in the information storage unit.
2. The special character corresponding to the inputted character string is inserted into the e-mail in preference to the special character having a high use count stored in the information storage unit in association with the destination of the e-mail. Mobile terminal device. The processing means includes
At the time of inserting special characters for the e-mail to be transmitted, if the information indicating the destination of the e-mail is not input, if there is no special character stored in the information storage means in association with the destination of the e-mail, Alternatively, when there are a plurality of transmission destinations of the e-mail, the special character corresponding to the input character string is inserted into the e-mail in preference to the special character having a large total number of times stored in the information storage unit. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1. A character input method of a mobile terminal device for inputting special characters in an e-mail,
Processing means
When storing the special character included in the received e-mail, the special character and the acquisition source information indicating the transmission source of the e-mail are associated and stored in the information storage unit,
When inserting special characters into the e-mail to be transmitted, refer to the information stored in the information storage means,
A character input method for a mobile terminal device, wherein a special character whose information indicating the destination of the electronic mail matches the acquisition source information is deleted from a list of special character input candidates to be inserted into the electronic mail. A portable terminal device is a program for inputting special characters in an email,
Processing means
When storing special characters included in the received e-mail, the information storage means stores the special characters in association with the acquisition source information indicating the transmission source of the e-mail,
When inserting special characters for the e-mail to be sent, the information stored in the information storage means is referred to,
A program for deleting from a list of candidate input candidates for special characters to be inserted into the e-mail, special characters whose information indicating the destination of the e-mail matches the acquisition source information.

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