JP2680845B2 - Character input coding method - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a character input method for a word processor, a personal computer, or the like.

[Conventional technology]

Character input methods such as kana input using a keyboard, Roman character input and handwriting input using OLCR (on-line character recognition) are used as character input methods for characters and information processing devices such as conventional word processors and personal computers.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

Kana input has a large number of keys, and the keyboard is in a JIS layout, so it is difficult to remember, and the Japanese syllabary layout has a problem of poor operability.

In addition, although the number of keys for roman alphabet input is smaller than that for kana input, it takes time and effort because it is necessary to convert to romaji and input.

OLCR is expensive because it takes time to input each character, and the recognition rate varies.

As a device used for inputting these characters, there is a keyboard for English characters / kana and a touch panel of OLCR.

The English / Kana keyboard has a large number of keys, and because the key tops are searched for, the visual burden is heavy.

Also, OLCR touch panels have a low penetration rate and require a dedicated pen.

Therefore, there is provided an inexpensive system that enables input with a small number of keys such as ten keys and the like, and allows characters to be input and coded with a sense of kana writing.

An object of the present invention is to enable each kana character to be quickly coded even if the kana characters are continuously input.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, when a character is input using a key group such as a numeric keypad, the shape or stroke order of the character to be input is applied to the positional relationship of the keys and the character is input for each character. In the character input coding method that encodes the characters that have been input while referring to the correspondence table for the character number string in which the number of positions of the specified characters are linked, the number of positions for multiple characters is input continuously. When the number of positions is divided into a character string, the character string and the character string in the above correspondence table are repeatedly compared, and when a character string that is neither a short character string nor a long character string is completely matched, from the above correspondence table Outputs the character code corresponding to the character number sequence, sets the next position number of the character number sequence to the beginning of the next character number sequence, and when the character number sequence of the short character number sequence is completely matched, the above comparison is continued and the long character number sequence of Character sequence When there is a perfect match, the character code corresponding to that character string is output from the above correspondence table, and the next position number of the character string of the long character string is set as the beginning of the next character string, and the character string of the long character string is completely matched. When they do not match, a character code corresponding to the short character number sequence is output from the correspondence table, and a character input encoding method is provided in which the number of positions next to the short character number sequence is set to the head of the next character number sequence.

Further, when the character number sequence does not match any character number sequence in the correspondence table, the character code is not output,
It is advisable to set the number of positions next to the mismatched character number sequence as the head of the next character number sequence.

(Operation)

According to this character input coding method, when the character shape or the stroke order is applied to the positional relationship of the keys and each character is continuously input with a small number of keys such as 9 to 10 keys, the input is made. Since the character number string in which the number of key positions are connected is divided into character number strings for each character and compared with the correspondence table and coded for each character, it can be quickly coded.

Further, if the erroneous input character is encoded by removing the erroneous sequence, the encoding process can be continued even if an erroneous input is made.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

First, the terms used in this embodiment will be described.

(1) Key group for inputting characters The key group shown in FIG. 1 (a) is a key group 10 having a number of keys of 3 × 3, which is generally called a numeric keypad used in this embodiment. The key group shown in FIG. 3B is a 3 × 3 + 1 key group 11, and the character shape can be applied to each of these keys.

Each of these keys is used to indicate a position, and the number of positions attached to each key for the purpose of identifying the position is displayed by the numbers 1 to 9 in the key group 10 of FIG. 1 (a). In the key group 11 of FIG. 1B, the numbers 0 to 9 are displayed and the position of each key is assigned.

(2) Characters to be input Characters to be input are all or part of katakana, hiragana, alphanumeric characters, kanji, and marks. However, in this embodiment, the following description will be given by using katakana as an example.

(3) About the positional relationship of the key to be input FIG. 1 is shown according to the number of positions displayed by 10 numbers 0 to 9 defined in (1) and (2) above and the character to be input ( As shown in (a) and (b), the positional relationship of the keys to be input, such as the 7th position, the 9th position, the 1st position, the 3rd position, etc., is shown.

(4) Applying the shape and stroke order of characters to the positional relationship of keys Character shape Character shapes should be easy to apply to the key positions.

Here, as the key group, 3 × 3 shown in FIG.
An example in which katakana is used as a character target using the key group 10 of will be described.

For example, when the character is divided into each stroke and the end point E and the break point C of each character are used as the depression point D, the result is as shown in FIG.

FIG. 2A shows the katakana "mo" as an example. (B), (c) and (d) of the figure are decomposed according to the stroke order of "mo", connecting the end points E and E of the upper horizontal line, and then connecting the end points E and E of the lower horizontal line, and It is formed by connecting an end point E on a vertical line, a folding point C which is a lower end point, and an end point E on the right side thereof.

The “•” indicating each end point E and the break point C is also the pressing point D.

Next, when there is an image including roundness such as the katakana "ri", a plurality of key input methods can be considered as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b).

FIG. 3 (a) shows that a folding point C is input at a rounded position between the end points E-E of "ri", and FIG. 3 (b) omits the folding point at the rounded position. The two end points E are directly connected.

It is also conceivable that only the characteristic image is extracted and expressed only by its shape.

For example, the katakana "ta" shown in FIG. 4 (a) can be represented only by a characteristic image as shown in FIG. 4 (b).

Stroke order of letters The stroke order of letters is the order in which the strokes of letters are drawn. When inputting in the stroke order of letters, the following two methods are possible.

There are two methods, one is for the standard stroke order and the other is for multiple stroke orders including individual differences.

For example, when the stroke order is applied to the positional relationship of the keys by taking the katakana “mo” in FIG. 2 as an example, the result is as shown in FIG. 5 (a).

FIG. 5 (a) shows the order in which the katakana "mo" key is pressed, that is, the stroke order.
In this order, the keys are the 7 key and the 3 key, and FIG. 5 (b) shows the number sequence of the pressed characters, which is "7946823" and FIG. 1 (a). 5) shows that each key of the key group 10 is pressed down in the writing order from the number in FIG.

(5) Input The katakana character "mo" shown in FIG. 5 is the one in which the katakana "mo" is input by pressing the keys at that position in this order. As the method, there are two methods of dividing the character into units and a method of making characters continuous.

(B) Method of dividing by character unit Enter a delimiter key for each character input. Each time you enter a character, wait for a certain amount of time before entering it.

(B) Method of making characters continuous It is possible to input characters continuously without the need for each character input operation.

(6) Character number sequence The character number sequence is a character number sequence obtained when the number of positions of the pressed keys is replaced according to the order of the pressed keys. This character number sequence is the katakana "mo" shown in FIG. In the example, it is "7946823". Further, in the example of "F" shown in FIG. 6, it is "791", and in the example of "Su" shown in FIG. 7, it is "7915".
3 ”.

As shown in FIG. 6 (b), when a surplus sequence, which is a specific sequence, is added to the rear of a certain character sequence to give another character sequence, as shown in FIG. 6 (b). , A character sequence that does not include a remainder sequence is called a short character sequence. FIG. 7 (b)
As shown in, the character sequence including the remainder sequence is called a long character sequence.

(7) About sentence number sequence The sentence number sequence is a sequence of character number sequences obtained when a sentence is input.

(B) In the case of a method of dividing into character units For example, as shown in FIGS. 11 (c) and (d), by including a signal (indicated by "|") separating the character number units into character number sequence units, etc. , Can be easily separated by the character string unit.

(B) In the case of a method of making characters continuous For example, as shown in FIGS. 12 (c) and 12 (d), a signal indicating the unit of the character sequence is not included.

(8) Correspondence table As shown in FIG. 8, the characters input by keys are indicated by pressing points, the character number string indicating the number of positions in the pressing order, and the hexadecimal number h
9 is a correspondence table in which character codes represented by (hex) are associated with each other.

In this embodiment, a microcomputer (CPU) (not shown) performs an encoding process of the input characters with reference to this correspondence table according to a flow chart (program) described later.

In this case, the character number sequence and the hexadecimal character code in the correspondence table have a one-to-one correspondence, but it is also possible to make a many-to-one correspondence. Also, when the mode is set according to the method of determining the character type and the character number sequence, it becomes necessary to prepare a plurality of correspondence tables.

(9) Encoding process of input characters Referring to the above correspondence table, each character string is converted into a hexadecimal character code. The processing flow differs depending on the following methods (a) and (b).

(B) Sentence number sequence input by delimiting by character unit The flow of character encoding processing in this case is shown in the flow chart of FIG. Code by reading in character string units. This operation is repeated to obtain the character code string (refer to the correspondence table).

(B) Sentence sequence input by the method of making characters continuous The flow of character encoding processing in this case is shown in the flow chart of FIG. It is read in units of one number and coded by separating it into a character string.

Further, in the case of a short character number sequence, there is a possibility of becoming a long character number sequence, so it is determined whether or not the subsequent number sequence is a surplus number sequence, and the short character number sequence and the long character number sequence are distinguished.

This operation is repeated to obtain a character code string (see the correspondence table).

(C) Other cases Regarding the processing when there is an erroneous input, in the case of the above (a), it is detected as an error during the processing of (A) of FIG.

In the case of the above (b), an error detection routine (see the correspondence table) is inserted in (B) of FIG.

To continue the process, remove the number at the beginning of the sequence at the time the error was detected as an erroneous number, as shown in Figure 13,
Effective methods include a method of removing error sequences by continuing processing, and a method of character encoding from the rear as shown in FIG.

Next, the flow of the character encoding process of dividing characters by character will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

First, a CPU (not shown) reads from the storage area in character string units. Then, referring to a correspondence table in a dictionary (not shown), conversion is performed into a character code. Then, it is determined whether or not the sentence is over, and this process is repeated until the sentence in the storage area is over.

A flow of character encoding processing of a method of making characters continuous by the flow chart shown in FIG. 10 will be described.

Similar to FIG. 9, a CPU (not shown) sequentially reads the numbers from the storage area. Then, it is determined whether or not the read number is a character number string by referring to the correspondence table.

If it is not the character number string, the number is sequentially read from the storage area. If it is a character number string, it is determined whether or not it is a short character number string by referring to the correspondence table.

As a result, if it is a short character number sequence, a sequence of the remainder columns is read. Then, it is determined whether or not it is a remainder sequence, and if it is a remainder sequence, it is a long sentence count sequence, and character encoding processing is performed by referring to the correspondence table.

If it is not a remainder sequence, it is a short sentence sequence, and character encoding processing is performed by referring to the correspondence table.

If it is determined that it is not a short character number string and it is not a short character number string, a character encoding process is performed by referring to the correspondence table.

Then, these processes are performed until the sentence in the storage area is completed.

For reference, the flow of information in the case (a) described above is shown in FIG.

The sentence "Harugakita" shown in Fig. 11 (a) is shown in Fig. 1 (a).
Input with the 3 × 3 key group 10 shown in Fig. 11 (b).
Enter the key shown in as the pressing point. As a result, the character number sequence “7193” corresponding to “C” shown in FIG.

Below, "71826" of "Le", "46382" and "9" of "Ga"
9 ”,“ ki ”“ 794682 ”, and“ ta ”“ 848625 ”are input in sequence, and the obtained character number sequence shown in FIG.
The number of characters in the correspondence table is sequentially corresponded by U by each number of characters.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 11 (e), the character number sequence “7193” corresponding to “C” becomes the hexadecimal character code “CAh” as shown in FIG. "71826" becomes "D9h" as shown in (g) of the figure, and is sequentially converted, and then "CAh", "D9h", "B6" as shown in (h) of the figure.
Converted to each character code of h "," DEh "," B7h "," C0h ".

Next, FIG. 12 shows the flow of information in the case of (b) described above.

As in the case of FIG. 11 (a), when the sentence “Harugakita” shown in FIG. 12 (a) is entered with the 3 × 3 key group 10 shown in FIG. 1 (a), it is shown in FIG. 12 (b). Key as the pressing point. As a result, the character number sequence “7193” corresponding to “C” shown in FIG.

Below, "71826" of "Le", "46382" and "9" of "Ga"
9 "," ki "" 794682 ", and" ta "" 848625 "are sequentially input, and the obtained character number sequence shown in FIG. It is sequentially corresponded according to the numbers of the and press keys.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 12 (e), it is sequentially judged as 7193 ... And converted to the character code of “CAh” as shown in FIG. 12 (f). ), It is converted to the character code of "D9h".

Thereafter, the same processing is performed, and as shown in FIG. 12 (j), "CAh", "D9h", "B6h", "DEh", "B7h", "C0h" are sequentially converted into hexadecimal character codes. .

Next, the processing when an erroneous input is made will be described with reference to FIG.

Enter the sentence "Haru ..." as shown in Figure 13 (a). At this time, it is assumed that "c" is erroneously input next to "c" as shown in FIG.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 13 (c), the character sequence is "71.
"93", "712", "71826", etc. are entered, and "712" is an incorrect sequence. In this case, assuming that no delimiter signal is included, a series of character numbers is obtained as shown in FIG.
There is an error sequence in this.

This is sequentially converted to a hexadecimal character code as shown in Fig. 13 (e), and converted to "CAh" as shown in Fig. 13 (f), and the next character string "712" is converted into a correspondence table. Therefore, the CPU (not shown) detects the error number "7" and
As shown in (h) to (712), up to "712" are processed as an erroneous sequence.

Then, the next "71826" is judged as shown in FIG. 7 (i), and is converted into "CAh", "D9h" ... And hexadecimal character code as shown in FIG.

Next, referring to FIG. 14, a method of character encoding from the back of the sentence will be described.

As shown in Fig. 14 (a), enter the sentence "... Kita". In this case, when the key at the pressed point position as shown in FIG. 7B is input, the character number sequence shown in FIG. 7C is input, and the obtained character number sequence shown in FIG. As shown in e), the character sequence in the correspondence table is collated from the rear, and the
As shown in FIG. 14 (f), the character code is first coded as "C0h".

Then, the long character number sequence of the number "794682" in front of it is coded as "B7h" as shown in FIG.

In this case, "79" of "794682" is the remainder sequence, and "4682"
Is a short character sequence.

Next, the overall configuration will be described with reference to the conceptual diagrams shown in FIG. 15 and FIG.

(B) Configuration of temporary storage format The configuration of the temporary storage format is for inputting characters on a sentence-by-sentence basis. When a character is input using the numeric keypad group 10 as shown in Fig. 15 (a), it is displayed on the right. The sentence is input as a character sequence as a series of characters.

The input method of the input means 12 is divided into a character fitting method and a sentence input method as shown in FIG. 15 (b). The sentence input method is divided into character units or continuous characters. is there.

FIG. 15 (c) shows the data stored in the storage area 13 of the memory by the character division method and the data stored by the character continuation method separately.

FIG. 15 (d) shows that the character encoding processing method by the encoding processing means 14 is processed by the correspondence table stored in the dictionary 15 of the memory in a different processing flow between the two methods. FIG. 3E shows the memory 16 for storing the character code string resulting from the character encoding process.

(B) Configuration of input character encoding continuous type The configuration of the input character encoding continuous type is different from the examples described so far, and when input is performed by the key group 10 of the numeric keypad in FIG. 16 (a), As shown on the right, processing is performed in character units.

FIG. 16 (b) shows the input method by this input means 22
It indicates that there are two types of input methods, that is, a method of separating by character unit and a method of not separating by character.

FIG. 16 (c) shows that the encoding process by the encoding process means 24 is processed by the correspondence table stored in the memory dictionary 15 in a different flow between the two methods in FIG. 16 (b). .

Then, the character code obtained in FIG. 16 (d) is stored in the memory.
25 shows that the character of the character code is displayed on the display 26 in FIG. 25E, and the character code string obtained by repeating the above process is stored in the memory 27 of FIG. There is.

In addition, it is recommended to use the correspondence table using the following simplified character sequence to perform the character encoding process, display the result, and inform the user that the next character process has been entered. If so, high-speed input is possible.

FIG. 17 shows an example of a part of the correspondence table using the simplified character sequence.

In this method, as shown in the figure, at the time when it can be determined that the corresponding character is before the pressing of all the pressing points, the next character input is performed.

 Other cases will be described.

For example, if there are characters that are difficult to fit in shape, such as the katakana “ne” shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, or if there is a difference in the stroke order, set a specific rule or have multiple character strings. Alternatively, a method of matching the key group to the character can be considered.

FIGS. 18 (a), (b) and (c) show the letters "ne" having a character code "C8h" in a different stroke order using the 3 × 3 key group 10.

Further, FIG. 19 shows the same “ne” character using the 3 × 3 + 1 key group 11.

Example of Specific Rule For example, the first stroke showing the first point of “U” or “Ne” is represented by the number of positions 8, and the position is interpreted as if it is at the top or higher.

Further, when shortening the character number sequence, the above-mentioned example of "ta" in FIG. 4 and the following examples can be considered.

For example, a series of two strokes with two horizontal lines of "ki" and "mo"
Expressed as 7,6. In addition, “to” is represented by a series of numbers 5 and 6, and so on.

To summarize the above description, according to the character input coding method of this embodiment, the shape of a character can be applied by a group of 3 × 3 keys or a group of 3 × 3 + 1 keys.

It can be used for all or part of katakana, hiragana, alphanumeric characters, kanji, and marks.

Since the number of positions is determined for each key of the key group, the shape can be intuitively applied. As for the stroke order, there are a method that handles only the standard stroke order and a method that handles multiple stroke orders.

Therefore, since the number of keys is small and the numeric keypad which is widely used can be used, the size can be reduced, single-handed input is possible, and the cost is low.

In addition, since the type of key is not chosen, it has a wide range of applications, and because the characters on the key top are not searched, the visual burden is small,
It's easy to remember and easy to use because you can input as if you were writing a letter.

Then, in order to divide into character units, it is conceivable to input a signal indicating the character unit, or to set the character unit after a lapse of a predetermined time.

The method of making characters continuous does not require any operation between character units.

The number sequence obtained when the pressed points are replaced with the number of positions in the stroke order can be speeded up by an input method in which only a number sequence sufficient for character encoding processing is obtained.

The number sequence that is a sequence of the number of characters differs depending on whether the character sequence is divided into character units or the character sequence.

The correspondence table shows the correspondence between the character string and the character code. These relationships are one-to-one or many-to-one. It is possible to have a plurality of correspondence tables depending on the shape of the character and the method of determining the character sequence depending on the stroke order.

There are two methods of coding the sentence number sequence as a unit of one stroke: a method of encoding for each separated character number sequence and a method of encoding while separating the sentence number sequence for each character number sequence.
In addition, there are a method of coding while removing the error sequence and a method of coding from the rear.

The method of coding the character string as a unit of one stroke,
There are a method of encoding for each separated character number sequence and a method of encoding while separating the sentence number sequence for each character number sequence. In this case, the process proceeds to the next character input while displaying the result. Further, the speed can be increased by using a simplified correspondence table of character number sequences.

Therefore, the processing of the number sequence is easy, and by setting the writing mode by the correspondence table, it is possible to deal with the specification and the type of character according to the user.

Furthermore, it is possible to input characters continuously, and abbreviations can be coded quickly.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the character input coding method of the present invention, each kana character can be quickly coded even if kana characters are continuously input.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a numeric keypad as a key group for carrying out the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a key pressing order of a katakana character “MO” to be input, and FIG. 3 is also a katakana character “LI”. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the key pressing order of FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the key pressing order of the same katakana character “Ta”, and FIG. 6 and 7 are explanatory views showing the relationship between the order of pressing the keys and the character number sequence for the short character number sequence, the long character number sequence, and the remainder sequence, as in FIG. Fig. 9 is a correspondence table showing the relationship among key press points of input characters, character string, and character codes. Fig. 9 is a flow chart showing the flow of character encoding processing that divides input characters in character units Figure 10 shows the character encoding process that makes the entered characters continuous. FIG. 11 to FIG. 14 are explanatory diagrams of the conversion process showing a concrete example of a sentence input by a key, and FIGS. 15 and 16 show the overall configuration of the character input encoding process. The conceptual diagram shown in Fig. 17 is a diagram showing a part of the correspondence table using the simplified character number sequence, and Figs. 18 and 19 show the case of inputting characters that are difficult to apply to the shape or characters that are different in the stroke order. FIG. 10 …… 3 × 3 key group 11 …… 3 × 3 + 1 key group 12,22 …… input means, 13 …… memory storage area 14,24 …… coding processing means 15 …… memory dictionary, 16 , 25,27 …… Memory 26 …… Display E …… End point C …… Break point, D …… Press point

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. When inputting a character using a key group such as a numeric keypad, the shape or stroke order of the character to be input is applied to the positional relationship of the keys and the input is made for each character, and the number of positions of the character obtained at this time In the character input encoding method that encodes the characters entered by referring to the correspondence table for a string of consecutive characters, when the number of positions for multiple characters is input continuously, the number of positions Is divided into a character number sequence, and the character number sequence is repeatedly compared with the character number sequence in the above correspondence table, and when a character number sequence that is neither a short character number sequence nor a long character number sequence is completely matched, the corresponding character number sequence is corresponded from the correspondence table. The character code is output, the next position number of the character number sequence is set as the beginning of the next character number sequence, and when the character number sequence of the short character number sequence is completely matched, the comparison is continued, and the character number sequence of the long character number sequence is completely matched. When, before When the character code corresponding to the character string is output from the correspondence table and the position number next to the character string of the long character string is set as the beginning of the next character string and the character string of the long character string does not completely match, Output the character code corresponding to the short character sequence from the correspondence table,
A character input coding method characterized in that the next position number of the short character sequence is set to the beginning of the next character sequence. 2. The character input coding method according to claim 1, wherein when the character number sequence does not match any of the character number sequences in the correspondence table, the character code is not output, and the character number sequence does not match. A character input encoding method characterized in that the number of positions next to is the beginning of the next character number sequence.