JP5186080B2 - Portable terminal - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable terminal equipped with an electronic mail function, and more particularly to a character input support technique for creating a reply mail for a received mail.

Currently, mobile terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistance) are equipped with an e-mail function as standard.
When creating the body of an e-mail using this e-mail function, for example, in a general mobile phone, each user can select each key by selectively pressing dozens of keys such as a numeric keypad. The hiragana assigned to is input, and the input hiragana is sometimes converted into kanji to create a Japanese sentence that contains kana and kanji.

However, character input using a numeric keypad or the like provided on a mobile phone is difficult to input as compared with character input using a keyboard provided on a general personal computer due to the number of times the key is pressed.
Therefore, many mobile phones display a list of characters that have been input from the reading of the input characters, and display the character strings that include the readings in descending order of ranking in a predetermined method. It has a character input support function that predicts columns.

As the predetermined method, for example, there is a method of ranking in the order of the most frequently input times or the order of recently input.
Further, in Patent Document 1 below, the body information described in the received mail is parsed, word information is extracted and stored, and when the reply mail for the received mail is created, the stored word information is stored. An invention of an information processing apparatus that uses a higher priority than word information stored in a kana-kanji conversion dictionary is disclosed.

As a result, when creating a reply email, if the user wants to input the same character string that was written in the received email, that character string is preferentially entered, thus dramatically reducing the user's input operations. There is an effect that can be.
JP 2001-209638 A

However, usually, in reply mail, not only the character string itself described in the received mail but also a related character string is often input even if it is not described in the received mail.
For example, the character string “Osaka” may be described in the received mail, and “Umeda” may be described in the reply mail as a response to the content of the received mail.

  According to the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, if a character string “Woopar Cooper” is described in the received mail in addition to “Osaka”, “Woopar Cooper” has priority over the word information in the Kana-Kanji conversion dictionary. Is stored as the word information to be input to the user, and when the user inputs “U” in the creation of the body of the reply mail, “Woopar Cooper” is input. Eventually, the user inputs hiragana as “u”, “me”, “da”, and then performs an operation to convert kanji.

  Therefore, the present invention displays a character string that is likely to be input from the contents of the received mail as a selection candidate as much as possible even when the character string is not described in the received mail when creating a reply mail. An object of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal and a selection candidate display method used for the portable terminal.

  In order to achieve the above object, a portable terminal according to the present invention has an e-mail function, and stores a selection candidate rank of character strings to be displayed on a screen as a selection candidate character string at the time of character input. A second storage means for classifying and storing a plurality of related character strings; a receiving means for receiving a reply mail creation instruction for the received mail; and a reply mail creation instruction when receiving a reply mail creation instruction, Extraction means for analyzing a sentence described and extracting a character string; and determination means for determining whether the extracted character string matches any of the character strings stored in the second storage means When the determination result is affirmative, a change means for changing the selection candidate order stored in the first storage means by raising the selection candidate order of all character strings belonging to the same classification as the matched character string When Characterized in that it comprises a selection candidate display means for displaying the selected candidate character string on the screen according to the selected candidate ranking after the change.

  The selection candidate display method according to the present invention is a selection candidate display method used for a portable terminal equipped with an e-mail function and a storage unit, and the storage unit stores a selection candidate character string at the time of character input. The selection order of the character strings to be displayed on the screen and a plurality of related character strings are classified and stored, and when a reply mail creation instruction is received for the received mail, the sentence written in the received mail is analyzed. The character string is extracted, and it is determined whether or not the extracted character string matches any of the character strings stored in the storage means, and if the determination result is affirmative The selection candidate rank of all the character strings belonging to the same classification as the character string that has been moved up is changed, the selection candidate rank stored in the storage means is changed, and the selection candidate character strings are displayed on the screen according to the changed selection candidate rank. And wherein the door.

  Here, the “character string” refers to a word having a meaning consisting of one or more characters (including hiragana, katakana, kanji, alphanumeric characters, pictograms, other foreign characters, etc.) and symbols.

Generally, when creating a reply mail for a received mail, the response to the contents described in the received mail is the main written contents of the reply mail, so the character string described in the received mail Even if the exact same character string is not used, there is a high possibility that a character string related to the character string described in the received mail is used.
For example, if “Osaka” is described in the received mail, it is considered that there is a high possibility that a character string such as “Kita”, “Umeda”, “Minami” will be used in the reply mail.

The portable terminal configured as described above stores, for example, related character strings such as “Osaka”, “Kita”, “Umeda”, and “Minami” in the second storage means as belonging to the same category. .
When the accepting unit accepts an instruction to create a reply mail for the received mail, the extracting unit analyzes a sentence described in the received mail and extracts a character string, and the determining unit Then, it is determined whether or not the extracted character string matches any of the character strings stored in the second storage means.

For example, if “Osaka” is described in the received mail, it matches “Osaka” stored in the second storage means.
As a result, the changing means moves up the ranking of character strings such as “Osaka”, “Kita”, “Umeda”, “Minami” and the like stored as belonging to the same classification, and changes the selection candidate ranking, The selection candidate display means displays a selection candidate character string on the screen according to the changed selection candidate order.

Thereby, for example, when the user inputs “U” in creating a reply mail, it is possible to increase the possibility of displaying “Umeda” on the screen as a character string selection candidate including “U” in the reading.
That is, if the mobile terminal or the selection candidate display method configured as described above is used, it is highly likely that a character string that is not described in the received mail will be input from the contents of the received mail when creating a reply mail. Possible character strings can be displayed on the screen as selection candidates as much as possible.

The first storage means stores a selection candidate rank of each character string with a predetermined rank height as an upper limit,
When the determination result is affirmative, the changing unit raises the selection candidate ranks of all character strings belonging to the same classification as the matched character strings to be higher than the predetermined rank, and the first storage unit The selection candidate order stored by may be changed.

With this configuration, a character string having the same classification as the character string described in the received mail can be more preferentially displayed on the screen as a selection candidate.
The accepting means further accepts an instruction to send the reply mail, and when the accepting means accepts the sending instruction, the changing means lowers the rank of the character string that has been raised, and The selection candidate order stored in the first storage means may be changed, and the change means, when the accepting means accepts the transmission instruction, changes the order of the character strings that have been carried forward to the original order You may return to.

With this configuration, after sending a reply mail, the rank of the character string that was temporarily raised is lowered or returned to the original order, so that a new mail that has nothing to do with this reply mail can be created. The creation of a reply mail for other received mails can be prevented from having an effect of raising the ranking.
In addition, the portable terminal further includes search means for searching for the same name mail that is the same received mail as the sender name or subject of the received mail when the instruction is received by the receiving means. When the same name mail is detected by the search means, the means further analyzes a sentence described in the same name mail and extracts a character string, and the determination means performs the determination on the extracted character string. It may be done.

  In general, when creating a reply mail for a received mail, it is conceivable that the subject is exchanged many times without changing the title. Therefore, when composing a reply mail to the received mail, search for the same name mail that has the same sender name or the same subject as the received mail, and the above-mentioned character string also matches the same name mail. By making a determination, it is possible to display on the screen as many selection candidates as possible a character string that is likely to be input in the creation of this reply mail from the contents of the received mail and the same name mail exchanged so far. .

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an appearance of the mobile phone 1.
In the figure, a display unit 2 for displaying a screen, and an operation unit 3 for receiving various instructions from a user (a portion surrounded by a dotted line). A memory card 4 that can be mounted in a memory card reader 8 described later is shown.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile phone 1.
The mobile phone 1 includes a display unit 2, an operation unit 3, a communication unit 5, a control unit 6, a storage unit 7, and a memory card reading unit 8.
The configuration of the mobile phone 1 as hardware is basically the same as that of a conventional mobile phone.

The display unit 2 is configured by a liquid crystal display or the like, and has a function of displaying a screen under the control of the control unit 6.
The operation unit 3 has various buttons such as a numeric keypad from 0 to 9 provided in a general mobile phone, an on-hook button, an off-hook / power on / off button, and the like, and various types of buttons are pressed by the user by pressing the various buttons. It has a function to accept instructions.

The communication unit 5 performs modulation / demodulation processing, amplification processing, A processing on a carrier wave signal received by an antenna (not shown), a compressed signal such as voice or video transmitted from the control unit 6 and a data signal such as e-mail. It has a function of performing a series of processes related to transmission and reception, such as / D and D / A conversion processing.
The control unit 6 includes a microprocessor, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and the like, and realizes various functions by controlling each functional unit according to various programs stored in the storage unit 7.

For example, an electronic mail function is realized.
The electronic mail function is a general term for various functions related to electronic mail, such as creation of electronic mail, transmission / reception of electronic mail, and browsing of transmitted / received electronic mail.
The storage unit 7 stores various programs and various data such as a selection candidate learning program 9, a reply mail creation selection candidate display program 10, a dictionary program 11, selection candidate ranking data 12, classification list data 13, character data 14, and the like. Yes.

The operations of the selection candidate learning program 9, the reply mail creation selection candidate display program 10 and the dictionary program 11, the contents of the selection candidate ranking data 12, the classification list data 13, and the character data 14 will be described later. In addition, description of programs and data for realizing various functions of a general mobile phone having an electronic mail function is omitted.
The memory card reading unit 8 has a function of writing data to the memory card 4 attached to the mobile phone 1 and reading data from the memory card 4.
<Data>
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the selection candidate rank data 12 stored in the storage unit 7.

The selection candidate rank data 12 corresponds to a dictionary code indicating a character string databased and managed by the dictionary program 11 extracted as a selection candidate, and a selection candidate rank that is a rank of a character string to be displayed as a selection candidate. It is the attached table data.
In the figure, for easy understanding, the character string indicated by the dictionary code and its reading are shown together.

For example, the character string indicated by the dictionary code A1 is “Love”, the reading is “Ai”, and the selection candidate order is “2”.
Extraction of the selection candidate character string and determination of the selection candidate order are realized by the control unit 6 executing the selection candidate learning program 9.
The dictionary program 11 is a program in which character strings commonly used as Japanese, their readings, and dictionary codes are associated with each other in a database. Each character constituting the character string is represented by a character code.

The character data 14 is table data in which character codes indicating various characters and symbols are associated with graphic data of characters displayed on the screen.
When displaying the character string managed by the dictionary program 11 on the display unit 2, the control unit 6 executes the dictionary program 11, and the character code indicated by each character code associated with the dictionary code of the character string is displayed. A process of extracting graphic data from the character data 14 is performed, and a process of displaying the graphic data as characters on the screen of the display unit 2 is performed using each extracted graphic data. The process for displaying the characters on the screen is the same as the conventional process.

The selection candidate learning program 9 extracts a character string that is databased and managed by the dictionary program 11 from character strings input from the user via the operation unit 3, and inputs the number of times the character string is input. This is a program for performing a process of determining the selection candidate rank of the character string according to the date and time, and associating and storing it as selection candidate rank data 12.
The selection candidate ranking is indicated by numbers from 1 to 11, with 1 being the lowest ranking and 11 being the highest ranking. And the highest rank given according to the inputted number of times and the inputted date and time is 10. The conditions for ranking the highest 11 will be described later.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of the classification list data 13.
The classification list data 13 is table data in which classification codes and dictionary codes are associated with each other.
In the figure, for easy understanding, it is represented by a character string indicated by the dictionary code.
For example, character strings such as “Osaka”, “Umeda”, “Kita”, “Minami”, and “Namba” are associated with the classification 01.

The classification list data 13 can be downloaded directly from a server operated by a provider that provides a service related to the mobile phone, using the communication function of the mobile phone 1. Also, it is downloaded from the server with a personal computer connected to the network, recorded on the memory card 4 from the personal computer, and the memory card 4 is attached to the cellular phone 1 and read by the memory card reading unit 8 to obtain. You can also.
<Operation>
Here, a selection candidate display process performed when the mobile phone 1 receives a reply mail creation instruction for a received mail from the user will be described.

The selection candidate display process is realized by the control unit 6 executing the reply mail creation selection candidate display program 10 stored in the storage unit 7.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart used for explaining the flow of the selection candidate display process.
First, when the mobile phone 1 receives an instruction to create a reply mail for the received mail by a user input operation on the operation unit 3 (step S1: YES), the mobile phone 1 activates and selects the reply mail creation selection candidate display program 10. In accordance with the reply mail creation selection candidate display program 10, the unit 6 performs a syntax analysis process for extracting a character string described in the body of the received mail (step S2).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart used to explain the flow of syntax analysis processing. Since the parsing process is a technique similar to the conventional technique, it will be briefly described.
First, the control unit 6 determines whether or not the position of the search character in the received mail text is the end of the text (step S21). If it is not the end of the text (step S21: YES), the search character is set as the head position. The dictionary program 11 searches for a character string stored in a database (step S22). As a result, if there is a matching character string (step S23: YES), the character string is extracted (step S24), the next character is set to the head position (step S25), and the process returns to step S21. If there is no matching character string (step S23: NO), the next character is set to the head position (step S25), and the process proceeds to step S21.

If the search character is the last of the text in step S21 (step S21: YES), the control unit 6 proceeds to the process of step S3.
Subsequently, the control unit 6 compares whether or not the character string extracted in the syntax analysis processing in step S2 is included in the classification list data 13 stored in the storage unit 7 (step S3). As a result, if there is a character string that matches the character string included in the classification list data 13 (step S4: YES), the selection candidate ranks of all character strings belonging to the same classification as the matched character string are raised and selected. A process of changing the candidate rank data is performed (step S5), and the process proceeds to step S6.

If there is no character string that matches the character string included in the classification list data 13 in step S4 (step S4: NO), the controller 6 proceeds to the next step S6.
When an input character is selected by the user's operation on the operation unit 3 (step S6: YES), the control unit 6 refers to the selection candidate ranking data 12 and includes a character string including “read” of the input character at the head. Among them, a predetermined number of items with higher selection candidate ranks are displayed in a list on the display unit 2 (step S7).

Subsequently, when one of the selection decision from the selection candidates displayed in a list or the selection decision of a character string input by the user is made by the user's operation on the operation unit 3 (step S8: YES), the control unit 6 The selected character string is recognized as the input character string and displayed as the input character string on the display unit 2 (step S9).
Subsequently, when a reply mail transmission instruction is received by the user's operation on the operation unit 3 (step S10: YES), the control unit 6 performs a process of returning the order of the character strings obtained by raising the selection candidate order to the original order. Perform (step S11), and end.

If no input character is selected in step S6 (step S6: NO), the controller 6 proceeds to the process of step S10.
If no selection is determined in step S8 (step S8: NO), the control unit 6 proceeds to the process in step S6.
In step S10, if a reply mail transmission instruction is not accepted (step S10: NO), the control unit 6 proceeds to the process of step S6.
<Specific operation example>
Here, a specific operation of the selection candidate display process performed by the mobile phone 1 will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displaying the contents of the received mail displayed on the display unit 2 of the mobile phone 1.
On the screen 20, the text of the received mail, “Tomorrow, Osaka is fine (heart pictogram) Obata”, the reply button 201 that is an icon for receiving a reply instruction from the user, and the received mail displayed by the user An erasing button 202 which is an icon for receiving an instruction to erase the image is displayed.

When the user performs an operation for selecting the reply button 201 on the operation unit 3 while the screen 20 is displayed on the display unit 2, the control unit 6 starts the reply mail creation selection candidate display program 10. The received mail is parsed.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a character string extracted as a result of parsing the received mail body shown in FIG. 7 and whether each extracted character string matches the classification list data.

  The extracted character strings are “Tomorrow”, “Osaka”, “Sunny”, “(Heart pictogram)”, and “Obata”. As a result of determining whether or not each of these character strings matches a character string belonging to any of the classifications of the classification list data 13 shown in FIG. 4, “tomorrow” does not match, and “Osaka” indicates classification 01 , “Sunny” matches Class 03, “(Heart Pictogram)” matches Class 05, and “Obata” matches Class 02.

Next, the control unit 6 performs a process of raising the selection candidate rank of character strings belonging to the same classification as the extracted character string.
The result is shown in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the selection candidate rank data 12 after the process of raising the selection candidate rank of the character string belonging to the same classification as the extracted character string is performed.

In FIG. 3, the character string “Umeda” of the dictionary code C23 has the selection candidate rank “3”, but belongs to the category 01 to which the extracted character string belongs, so the selection candidate rank is “11”. It is raised (instruction line 121).
Similarly, the character string “(^ 0 ^)” of the dictionary code K321 has the selection candidate rank “4”, but belongs to the classification 05 to which the extracted character string belongs. 11 ”(instruction line 122).

Next, a specific example of the reply mail creation operation will be described.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing transition of screens used for explaining a reply mail creation operation.
In the figure, screens 21 to 24 displayed on the display unit 2 of the mobile phone 1 are shown, and the screens are changed in this order.
First, the screen 21 is displayed so that the user can input “Umeda” as a response to the text “Tomorrow, Osaka is fine (heart pictogram) Obata” which is the text of the received mail. Shows a screen at the stage where the character “u” is entered.

When the user inputs the character “u” to the operation unit 3, the control unit 6 follows the reply mail creation selection candidate display program 10, and the character string that includes the reading “u” has the highest selection candidate rank 3. Are displayed as selection candidates.
According to the selection candidate ranking data 12 shown in FIG. 9, the selection candidate ranking of the character string “Umeda” reading “Umeda” is “11” and the selection candidate ranking of the reading character string “ume” “Ume”. In “10”, the selection candidate rank of the character string “Umeshu” reading “Umeshu” is “7”, and the selection candidate rank of the character string “landfill” reading “Umetake” is “5”. . Therefore, the control unit 6 causes the display unit 2 to display these character strings as selection candidates in the order of “Umeda”, “Plum”, and “Umeshu”.

Subsequently, when the user performs an operation for selecting the character string “Umeda” from the selection candidates on the operation unit 3, “Umeda” is input in the character input field as shown in the screen 22.
Thereafter, when the user operates the operation unit 3 to input “Let's play with”, and performs an operation to input the character “e” as shown in the screen 23, the control unit 6 displays in FIG. With reference to the selection candidate ranking data 12 shown, three of the character strings that include the reading “e” are displayed as selection candidates.

That is, the character string “(^ o ^)” associated with the reading “Egao”, which has been raised from “4” to “11” by the above-described ranking advancement process, and “Ega” The character string “Egawa” reading “Wa” and the character string “smile” reading “Egao” are displayed on the display unit 2 as selection candidates in this order.
When the user performs an operation for selecting the character string “(^ o ^)” on the mobile phone 1, “(^ o ^)” is input in the character input field as shown in the screen 24.

As described above, when the above-described mobile phone 1 is used, it is considered that even when a character string that is not described in the received mail is generated, the possibility of being input from the contents of the received mail is increased in the creation of the reply mail. Character strings can be displayed on the screen as selection candidates as much as possible.
<Supplement>
Although the mobile phone 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The following contents are also included in the present invention.
(1) In the embodiment described above, when a reply mail creation instruction for a received mail is received from a user, the body text described in the received mail is parsed and compared with the classification list data 13. Although the character string was extracted, the mobile terminal according to the present invention is not limited to the received mail, but the same sender as the received mail or the received mail with the same title as the received mail (hereinafter referred to as “the same name mail”). ”), And a parsing process is also performed on the detected body of the same-name mail, and a character string to be compared with the classification list data 13 may be specified and extracted.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing steps to be added to the selection candidate display process shown in FIG.
A mobile terminal that performs a selection candidate display process in which the above-described search process (step S31) is added between step S1 and step S2 of the selection candidate display process shown in FIG. 5 is also included in the present invention.
(2) In the above-described embodiment, in the classification list data 13, the classification code and the dictionary code are associated with each other to express the relationship such as which character string belongs to which classification. In addition, a classification code may be added as attribute information to manage the classification to which the character string belongs by the dictionary program 11.
(3) In the above-described embodiment, when the character string extracted from the received mail matches the character string described in the classification list data 13, the selection candidate ranks of all the character strings belonging to the same classification are ranked highest. However, it is also possible to perform a process of raising the rank by a predetermined number from the current rank of each character string. In addition, after the reply mail is transmitted, the process of returning the ranking raised to the original rank is performed, but the process of lowering the rank by a predetermined number may be performed.
(4) The present invention can be applied to so-called portable terminals such as PDAs in addition to cellular phones.

  The present invention can be applied to a portable terminal equipped with an electronic mail function.

1 is a diagram showing an external appearance of a mobile phone 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mobile phone 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the selection candidate order data 12. FIG. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the classification | category list data. It is a flowchart used in order to explain the flow of selection candidate display processing. It is a flowchart used in order to demonstrate the flow of a parsing process. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen which displayed the content of the received mail displayed on the display part of the mobile telephone. It is a figure which shows whether each extracted character string matched with classification | category list data. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the selection candidate order data 12 after performing the process which raises the selection candidate order of the character string which belongs to the same classification | category as the extracted character string. It is a figure which shows the transition of the screen used in order to demonstrate the production | generation operation | movement of a reply mail. It is a figure which shows the process step added to the selection candidate display process shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cellular phone 2 Display part 3 Operation part 4 Memory card 5 Communication part 6 Control part 7 Storage part 8 Memory card reading part 9 Selection candidate learning program 10 Selection candidate program 11 for reply mail creation Dictionary program 12 Selection candidate order data 13 Classification list Data 14 Character data

Claims (5)

A mobile terminal with an email function,
First storage means for storing selection candidate ranks of character strings to be displayed on the screen as selection candidate character strings at the time of character input;
Second storage means for classifying and storing a plurality of related character strings;
A receiving means for receiving a reply mail creation instruction for the received mail;
An extracting means for analyzing a sentence described in the received mail and extracting a character string when receiving a reply mail creation instruction;
Determination means for determining whether or not the extracted character string matches any of the character strings stored in the second storage means;
When the determination result is affirmative, a change unit that raises the selection candidate rank of all character strings belonging to the same classification as the matched character string and changes the selection candidate rank stored in the first storage unit;
Selection candidate display means for displaying a selection candidate character string on the screen according to the selection candidate ranking after the change,
The first storage means stores a selection candidate rank of each character string with an upper limit of a predetermined rank,
When the determination result is affirmative, the changing means raises the selection candidate rank of all character strings belonging to the same classification as the matched character string to the highest rank by raising the selection candidate rank higher than the predetermined rank. The portable terminal device, wherein the selection candidate order stored in the first storage means is changed. The accepting means further accepts an instruction to send the reply mail,
When the receiving means receives the transmission instruction, the changing means lowers the rank of the character string that has been moved up, and changes the selection candidate rank stored in the first storage means. The mobile terminal according to claim 1. The portable terminal according to claim 2, wherein the changing unit returns the rank of the character string that has been moved up to the original rank when the receiving unit receives the transmission instruction. The portable terminal further includes:
When receiving the instruction by the receiving means, comprising a search means for searching for the same name mail that is the same received mail as the sender name or title of the received mail,
The extraction means further extracts a character string by analyzing the sentence described in the same name mail when the same name mail is detected by the search means,
The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit performs the determination on the extracted character string. A selection candidate display method used in a portable terminal equipped with an e-mail function and a storage means,
In the storage means, selection candidate ranks of character strings to be displayed on the screen as selection candidate character strings at the time of character input, and a plurality of related character strings are classified and stored,
The selection candidate rank is stored in the storage means with an upper limit of a predetermined rank height,
When receiving the reply mail creation instruction for the received mail, it analyzes the sentence described in the received mail and extracts the character string,
Determining whether the extracted character string matches any of the character strings stored in the storage means,
When the determination result is affirmative, the selection stored in the storage means so as to raise the selection candidate rank of all character strings belonging to the same classification as the matched character string higher than the predetermined rank to the highest rank Change the candidate ranking,
A selection candidate display method characterized by displaying a selection candidate character string on the screen according to the selection candidate order after the change.

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