JP4439599B2 - Input data audio output device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Field of the Invention]
The present invention relates to a system for audibly notifying a user's operation to a user by outputting a keyboard operation of the computer user by voice. In particular, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform accurate notification regardless of the type of keyboard connected to the computer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a word processor or the like that outputs voice data of key input data is known.
[0003]
[Problems of the prior art]
However, these word processors are configured by integrating hardware and software for controlling the hardware. That is, it is not assumed that the hardware device is replaced with a different type. Therefore, for example, when the keyboard is replaced with another type of keyboard, there is a problem that normal operation (accurate audio output) is not guaranteed.
[0004]
This problem is caused by the following reason. The keyboard has character keys for inputting characters and special keys for extending character input. The character key is, for example, an alphabet key or a numeric key, and the special key is, for example, a shift key, a conversion key, a confirmation key, or the like.
Each character input from the keyboard is assigned a character code. Also, multiple characters are usually assigned to one character key, and when used in combination with special keys such as shift keys, multiple characters assigned to the same character key can be distinguished and input. ing. Although there are several standards for assigning multiple characters to the same key, they differ depending on the type of keyboard.
[0005]
In the past, processing was performed by directly determining which key was pressed, so accurate voice output could not be performed when switching to a different type of keyboard.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In view of such problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an input data audio output device that ensures normal operation (accurate audio output) even if the keyboard is replaced with a different type of keyboard.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the present invention, the data notified from the input device or the kana-kanji conversion processing unit to the application program based on a predetermined rule is monitored, the necessary data is extracted from the data, and the data is output by voice. Solve the problem.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a computer system for implementing the present invention. In the figure, 101 is a CPU, 102 is a main storage device, 103 is an external storage device, 104 is a display, 105 is a keyboard, 106 is a mouse, 107 is a floppy disk drive, 108 is a floppy disk, 109 is a PCM data reproducing device, Reference numeral 110 denotes a speaker.
[0009]
The CPU 101 executes a program on the main storage device 102. The external storage device 103 stores various programs and data in addition to the operating system. When the system is activated, an operating system stored in the external storage device 103 is loaded into the main storage device 102 and controls the subsequent program operations. The operator of the computer system operates the keyboard 105 and the mouse 106 while looking at the display 104. The PCM data reproducing device 109 is a device that converts the PCM data notified from the program into an analog electric signal and outputs it. The analog electrical signal output by the PCM data reproducing device 109 is output as sound by the speaker 110.
[0010]
A program that bears a part of the configuration requirements of the embodiment of the present invention is stored and distributed in a portable storage medium such as a floppy disk 108 or a CD-ROM (not shown). The program stored in the floppy disk 108 is once installed in the external storage device 103 and set in a usable state. In addition, these programs may be transferred from another computer system via a network and installed in the external storage device 103 using a communication control device (not shown).
[0011]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between a program operating on the computer system shown in FIG. 1, data handled by the program, and some hardware devices shown in FIG.
The program constituting this system includes a device driver 111, a message registration unit 112, a kana-kanji conversion processing unit 115, a message queue monitoring unit 117, an input data conversion unit 118, a reading unit 119, an audio data conversion unit 120, and a registration unit 121. .
[0012]
These programs perform processing while referring to and updating data such as the message queue 113, the calling function list 114, the input data conversion dictionary 122, the registration voice data 123, and the reading voice data 124.
Programs, application programs, and the like for carrying out the present invention are loaded from the external storage device 103 to the main storage device 102 as necessary under the operating system as an execution body called a process on this system and executed by the CPU 101. To work.
[0013]
Data transfer between processes is performed by a message registration unit in which a process that receives data registers a call function of the process in the call function list 114 in advance, and a process that transmits data registers the data as a message. 112, the message registration unit 112 that has received the request registers the message in the message queue 113 and calls the call function registered in the call function list 114, and the process of the called call function is started from the message queue 113. This is done by extracting the message and extracting the data from it.
[0014]
The message registration unit 112 receives a request for message registration from the high-speed driver 111 or the Kanji conversion processing unit 115, registers the requested message in the message queue 113, and calls the call functions in the order registered in the call function list 114. Is a part of the operating system.
[0015]
FIG. 3 shows the structure of the message queue 113. The message queue 113 is obtained by linking a plurality of messages with pointers. Each message consists of a message type, a parameter, and a pointer to the next message. The content of the parameter varies depending on the message type. A message requested to be registered by the device driver 111 or the kanji conversion processing unit 115 will be described in detail later.
[0016]
The call function list 114 stores the call function addresses of processes to be called when the message registration unit 112 registers a message in the message queue 113 in the order of calling.
The keyboard 105 generates a key code assigned to the key in response to key pressing by the operator.
[0017]
The device driver 111 receives the key code generated by the keyboard 105 as an input, generates a character code and a special key code according to the input mode and the like, and generates the character code and special key code generated for the message registration unit 112. This is a program that requests registration in the message queue.
In this embodiment, as a character code, a 1-byte ASCII code is used for alphanumeric characters and symbols, and a special key code is uniquely assigned a number from 1 to 255 (representable by 8 bits). The correspondence between special keys and special key codes is shown in FIG.
[0018]
FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show messages that the high-speed driver requests registration to the message registration unit. FIG. 5 is an example of a message notifying that a character code has been input, and is a message notifying that a character “A” has been input. The message type is “character input” and the parameter is the ASCII code 0x41 of the character “A”. FIG. 6 is an example of a message notifying that a special key has been pressed, and is a message notifying that a “shift key” that is one of the special keys has been pressed. The message type is “special key” and the parameter is the special key code 0x10 assigned to the shift key.
[0019]
A plurality of device drivers 111 are prepared corresponding to a plurality of types of keyboards 105 or are exchanged in synchronization with the exchange of the keyboard 105.
The kana-kanji conversion processing unit 115 is a process that operates on the system, and converts the input kana to kanji based on a message related to key input among messages registered in the message queue 113. An example of the operation of the kana-kanji conversion processing unit 115 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0020]
When activated, the kana-kanji conversion processing unit 115 first initializes a kana buffer (not shown), that is, clears the buffer (step S131). When the initialization of the buffer is completed, a message waiting state is entered (step S132). When the call function is called by the message registration unit, the process proceeds to the next step.
The message queue is searched to check whether there is a message related to key input (step S133). If it is determined in step S134 that a character input message is registered, the message is deleted from the message queue 113 (step S135), and a character code is added to the end of the kana buffer (step S136). The message registration unit 112 is requested to register an unconfirmed message using the unconfirmed Chinese character (in this case, null) and the contents of the kana buffer as a parameter (step S137).
[0021]
Next, when it is determined in step S138 that a message representing the keystroke of the conversion key is registered, the message is deleted from the message queue (step S139), and the reading is converted into kanji according to a predetermined algorithm (step S140). Then, the message registration unit 112 is requested to register the unconfirmed message using the kanji obtained by the conversion and the reading in the kana buffer as parameters (step S141).
[0022]
Next, when it is determined in step S142 that a message representing the keystroke of the confirmation key is registered, the message is deleted from the message queue (step S143), and the confirmed kanji and the reading in the kana buffer are parameterized. The message queue registration unit 112 is requested to register the confirmation message in the message queue 113 (step S144).
[0023]
The operation of the Kana-Kanji conversion processing unit 115 requests registration of a confirmation message when conversion is confirmed, and requests registration of an unconfirmed message when a change occurs in an unconfirmed character string (character string and reading being converted). As long as the points to be observed are observed, the operation is not limited to that described above.
The message queue monitoring unit 117 is a program that operates as a process on this system. The operation of the message queue monitoring unit 117 will be described with reference to FIG. When the call function of the message queue monitoring unit 117 is called from the message registration unit 112, the processing is started. Here, processing is divided depending on whether the kana-kanji conversion processing unit 115 is operating (step S152).
[0024]
The operation when the kana-kanji conversion processing unit 115 is not operating is as follows. A message related to key input in the message queue 113 is referred to (step S153), and if it is a message representing character code input, 0x00 is added to the beginning of the character code and expanded to 2 bytes. (Step S155), if the message represents the keystroke of a special key, a special key code with 0xFF (hexadecimal FF) added to the beginning and expanded to 2 bytes is used as a search key for subsequent processing. (Step S156). The search key obtained in this way is notified to the input data converter 118 in step S163.
[0025]
The operation when the kana-kanji conversion processing unit 115 is operating is as follows. If it is determined in step S157 that the message obtained by referring to the message queue 113 is a confirmed message, a confirmed kanji character in the parameters of the confirmed message is extracted and used as a read-out character string (step S158). If it is determined that the message obtained by referring to step S159 is an unconfirmed message, it is determined whether or not there is a Chinese character in the unconfirmed message (step S160). A kanji is extracted and used as a read-out character string (step S161).
[0026]
If there is no kanji, the last character of reading is extracted and used as a reading character string (step S162). In step S164, the character string speech data converter 120 is notified of the read character string obtained by the above processing.
Next, the input data conversion dictionary 122 will be described with reference to FIG. The input data conversion dictionary 122 is a file that stores a plurality of records including a search key, a reading character string, a voice data file name, and a data type. The search key is data that is a key for searching the input data conversion dictionary 122 and is composed of 2 bytes. The data type is data indicating which data is read out using a read-out character string or an audio data file. The reading character string is a character string read by the reading unit, and the voice data file name is a character string indicating a file name storing PCM data.
[0027]
The registration voice data 123 is a set of a plurality of files indicated by the voice data file names in the input data conversion dictionary 122.
The input data conversion unit 118 will be described with reference to FIG. The input data conversion unit 118 is a program that searches the input data conversion dictionary 122 using the search key notified from the message queue monitoring unit 117. First, the input data conversion unit 118 searches the input data conversion dictionary 122 using the search key notified from the message queue monitoring unit 117 (step S171).
[0028]
When the data type value of the record obtained by the search is 1, the read-out data is composed of the data type value (1 in this case) and the read-out character string (step S173), and the data type value Is 2, the read-out data is constituted by the data type value (in this case, 2) and the voice data file name (step S174). When the generation of the reading data is completed, the generated reading data is notified to the reading section 119 (step S175).
[0029]
The reading unit 119 will be described with reference to FIG. The reading unit 119 checks the data type of the reading data notified from the input data conversion unit 118 (step S181). If the value of the data type is 2, the reading character string in the reading data is converted into the character string voice data. 120 (step S182). If the value of the data type is 1, PCM data is read from the file indicated by the voice data file name in the read-out data (step S183) and notified to the voice data generation unit. (Step S184).
[0030]
The speech data for reading 124 will be described with reference to FIG. The speech data for reading 124 is a file in which a reading character string and PCM data are stored in association with each other.
The character string voice data conversion unit 120 searches the voice data 124 for reading using the read character string notified from the message queue monitoring unit 117 or the reading unit 119 as a key, and notifies the voice data generation unit 109 of the obtained PCM data. It is a program to do. Since the processing of the character string voice data conversion unit 120 performs the same processing as that of the existing text-to-speech device, detailed description thereof is omitted here.
[0031]
FIG. 13 is an example of an operation screen displayed on the display 104 by the registration unit 121. The operator operates this screen by using the keyboard 105 and the mouse 106, and for each key, whether or not to perform voice output at the time of input, and when performing voice output, whether to read a character string or PCM data. The user designates what is to be read, what is the read-out character string when reading the character string, what is the file name of the file storing the PCM data when playing back the PCM data, and the like. The registration unit 121 accepts the operator's designation and changes the contents of the record in the input data conversion dictionary corresponding to the designated key.
[0032]
Lastly, the reading of homonyms will be explained. For example, the readings of “private high school” and “city high school” are both “shiritsukokou”, but in order to output different voices for each of these character strings, Different PCM data may be registered in the entry “private high school” and the entry “city high school”.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, even when the input / output device is replaced with another device of a different type, it is possible to accurately output data input using the input / output device. In addition, since the unconfirmed Chinese character or the finalized Chinese character being read out during the Kana-Kanji conversion process is read out, it is possible to distinguish and output the homonyms.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between hardware, programs, and data of an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a structure of a message queue. FIG. 5 shows an example of a message for notifying a character input. FIG. 6 shows an example of a message for notifying a special keystroke. FIG. 7 shows an example of an operation flow of a kana-kanji conversion processing unit. 8] A diagram showing the operation flow of the message queue monitoring unit. [Fig. 9] A diagram showing an example of the structure and contents of the input data conversion dictionary. [Fig. 10] A diagram showing the processing flow of the input data conversion unit. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a processing flow. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a structure of speech data for reading. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by a registration unit.
101 CPU
102 Main storage device 103 External storage device 104 Display 105 Keyboard 106 Mouse 107 Floppy disk drive 108 Floppy disk 109 PCM data playback device 110 Speaker 111 Device driver 112 Message registration unit 113 Message queue 114 Call function list 115 Kana-Kanji conversion processing unit 116 Application Program 117 Message queue monitoring unit 118 Input data conversion unit 119 Reading unit 120 Character string voice data conversion unit 121 Registration unit 122 Input data conversion dictionary 123 Registration voice data 124 Reading voice data

Claims (2)

An input data voice output device that operates in a computer system including an input control unit that notifies an application program of data input from an input device as input data,
A notification data monitoring unit that monitors a message queue in which input data and data transmitted by a process are registered, and extracts input data representing character code input from input data notified to the application program from the input control unit When,
An input data audio output device comprising: an audio output unit that outputs audio data associated with the data extracted by the notification data monitoring unit. A computer-readable recording medium storing an input data voice output program that operates in a computer system having an input control unit that notifies an application program of data input from an input device as input data,
A notification data monitoring unit that monitors a message queue in which input data and data transmitted by a process are registered, and extracts input data representing character code input from input data notified to the application program from the input control unit When,
A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing audio data associated with data extracted by a notification data monitoring unit to function as an audio output unit that outputs the audio.

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