JPH01193916A - Electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit an operator to automatically grasp an input mode when he intends to input characters even if he does not consciously view the display of the input mode by displaying the cursors of different sizes on a display device when the input modes differ. CONSTITUTION:A KANA (Japanese syllabary) mode and a ROMAJI (a method for writing Japanese in Roman characters) mode can be switched by the operation of a space key. As the input character font of a character generator 14, a full size font is stored for KANA, and a half size font for alphabets. In the KANA input mode, a full size cursor is always displayed in the display device 2, and a half size cursor is always displayed in the display device 2 in the ROMAJI input mode. Thus, a special display device is eliminated from preparing for displaying the input mode, or an original display range in the display device for character display is prevented from becoming small, and the operator can unconsciously grasp the input mode, whereby malfunction reduces.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an electronic device such as an electronic kanji dictionary that can switch between a kana input mode and a romaji input mode.

(Talking) There is no need to refer to the prior art patent publication No. 56-34889.
Conventionally, in word processors and personal computers, kana and alphabet letters are written on the key tops, character keys that serve as both kana keys and alphabet keys are arranged on the keyboard, and by operating the alphanumeric designation keys, you can enter Roman alphabet input mode, and then the kana designation key. Switching to kana input mode by operating the button was performed within the - shell.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention Conventionally, there have been devices that can switch the input mode between kana and romaji, but this input mode is displayed either by displaying characters on the display or by using the keyboard. This was done by lighting up lamps, etc. For this reason, in small electronic devices with small displays, there are problems in that the original display range is narrow, or a display must be specially provided to display the input mode.

Furthermore, since the input mode is conventionally displayed in one corner of the display or on the keyboard, it is not possible to give a strong impression to the operator as to which mode the input mode is.

(2) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides an electronic device that displays a cursor at a character input position on a display and is capable of switching between a kana input mode and a romaji input mode, in response to switching of the input mode. The above problem is solved by providing means for changing the cursor size.

(e) Effect In the present invention, different sized cursors, such as a half-width cursor and a full-width cursor, can be displayed on the display for different input modes, so the operator does not have to consciously look at the input mode display. However, when you try to enter characters, you will automatically be able to see the input mode.

(f) Embodiment FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the external appearance of an electronic kanji dictionary as an embodiment of the present invention. Part (1)
The Kana key and alphabet keys are written on the key top, as well as multiple character keys that double as alphabet keys, Space key, Delete key, Execute key, Up scroll key (↑ key), Down scroll key (↓ key). ) and other function keys are arranged.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of this embodiment, in which (3) is a processing section, (4) and (5) are a keyboard section (
A hiragana key table and an alphabet key table for converting the key codes from 1) into hiragana codes and alphabet codes, respectively; (6) is an input buffer for storing the code-converted keys; (7)
(8) and (9) are the hiragana romaji display flag HR and the katakana romaji display flag K.
A register for storing R, (10) and (11) a reading buffer and a kanji buffer for storing readings and kanji retrieved from the dictionary section (7), respectively, and (12) a register for mutual conversion between Roman characters and katakana. (13) is a hiragana-katakana conversion unit that converts hiragana to katakana; (14) is a character generator that stores character fonts corresponding to various character codes;
15) is a display buffer that stores the character font to be displayed, and <16> is a display buffer that stores the contents of the display buffer (15) on the display (
2), (17) is a register for the cursor pointer CPOINT that indicates the cursor display position on the display (2), (18) is the CPOI
Place the half-width or full-width cursor at the NT position and move it to the processing section (3
) is a cursor display control unit that controls the display based on commands from the cursor display controller.

In this embodiment, as will be described later, the kana input mode and the Roman half-tenka mode can be switched by operating the space key, and the character generator (14) uses a full-width font for input characters, and a full-width font for the character generator (14). The half-width font is memorized.

The present embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to flowcharts and display examples.

First, when the power is turned on, the input buffer (6) is cleared as shown in Figure 1, the Hiragana Roma Hanten Ka flag HR is 10'', and the cursor pointer CPOINT is ``10''.
IJ is set, and a full-width cursor (19) is displayed on the leftmost end of the display (2), as shown in FIG. When a character key, such as a Japanese key, is operated in this state, the flag HR is set to "rO", so the hiragana key table (4) is selected as the key table for code conversion, and the input key code is changed to hiragana code. It is converted and input into the input buffer (6), and is also converted into a character font by the character generator (14) and written into the display buffer (15), so that the display as shown in FIG. The hiragana character "A" input on the device (2) is displayed. The cursor pointer CPOINT is incremented by "2", which corresponds to a full-width character, and a full-width cursor (19) is displayed at that position. Specifically, the cursor is displayed by the cursor display control section (18) in response to a command from the processing section (3).
This is achieved by reading the pattern data for one full-width or half-width character at the POINT position, inverting this data, and rewriting the inverted data.When the flag HR=0, the full-width specification is specified by the processing unit (3). When HR=1, half-width designation is made.

In this way, in the hiragana input mode, the full-width cursor (19) is always displayed on the display (2).

However, in the state where CPOI NT = 1, when the space key is operated, the flag HR is reversed from "O" to "rl", so the half-width cursor (20) is displayed at the CPOINT position on the display (2). , When the above-mentioned character key diagram key is operated in this state, the alphabet key table (5) is selected by the flag HR=1, so the key code is converted to an alphabet code and stored in the input buffer 6). In addition, C on the display (2)
The alphabet "Q" entered at the POINT position is displayed. In this case, CPOINT is incremented by "1", which corresponds to half-width, so as shown in Figure 8 (
As shown in (b), in the Roman alphabet input mode, the display (2)
) is always displayed with a half-width cursor (20). As mentioned above, the character generator (14) stores full-width fonts for hiragana characters and half-width fonts for alphabetical characters, so the cursor size is changed as shown in Figure 8 (a) and (b). The characters will be displayed accordingly.

Also, if you press the space key again when the half-width cursor (20) is displayed on the leftmost side in the Roman alphabet input mode, the flag HR will be reversed from "1yo" to "OJ" and the input mode will change to the hiragana input mode. Returns and the cursor is resized from half-width to full-width.

By the way, in 5TEP-A of the flowchart of FIG. 1, in detail, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
, it includes a routine to determine whether the previous input was also "N", and when two consecutive inputs of "rN" are input, the subsequent rN is converted to "1-". The process of displaying the image is being performed. In other words, when inputting ``n'' in Roman letters, the N key is operated twice in succession, and the Roman letters are displayed as rH. For example, “Hey,
To enter in romaji, enter ``A J ``N''``N'' ``■
', and the display is as shown in Figure 8 (c).
AN-I J. As a result, the vowel after "n"
``I'' is clarified, and ``Ani'' is romanized as ``A J''.
Display when keying in N J 'I J (8th
It is made so that it can be distinguished from Figure (d)).

In this embodiment, as described above, it is possible to input kana and romaji, but in addition, in order to make learning possible not only for Japanese people but also for foreigners, the pronunciation (ruby) of the searched kanji can be input in katakana and romaji. It has the function of selectively displaying any of them, and the setting of this display mode can be executed independently of the above-mentioned designation of the input mode.

That is, as shown in the flowchart in Figure 5, when the shift key and Z key are operated simultaneously, a menu screen (Figure 6 (a)) for setting the display mode of the reading of search results is displayed, and the down scroll key is pressed. By operating the katakana Roman character display flag KR to r□, the display mode can be designated as the Roman character mode, and by operating the up scroll key, the display flag KR can be set to rl to designate the Katakana mode. Incidentally, when the power is turned on, KR=O is fully set, and in the Roman alphabet mode, the menu screen changes as shown in FIG. 6 (b).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing content when searching for a heading. After inputting the reading in the kana input mode or romaji input mode, when the execution key is operated, the processing part (3
) converts the characters in the input buffer (6) to katakana,
Search the dictionary section (7) using this katakana reading. When hiragana is input into the input buffer (6), the conversion is executed by starting the hiragana-katakana conversion unit (13),
When all the Roman characters have been input, the Roman character/Katakana converter (12) is activated and executed.

Next, the processing unit (3) reads the reading (heading) that matches or is similar to the input reading and its corresponding kanji from the dictionary unit (7) through the above search, and stores each reading in the reading buffer <10>.
and is stored in the kanji buffer (11), and then the display flag KR is determined. In this judgment, KR-“O,
In other words, if it is in Katakana display mode, Kanji Buffaku 11
) is appended with the katakana pronunciation in the pronunciation buffer (10) as ruby and displayed as shown in FIG. 9(a). In the flag determination, if KR = "l", that is, in the Roman character display mode, the Katakana reading in the reading buffer (10) is converted to the Roman character reading in the Roman character/Katakana converter (12), and the ), the roman characters are displayed as ruby characters.However, in the romaji/katakana conversion section 12), the katakana ``nyo'' is converted to ``N-'', and ``easy '', the Roman alphabet ruby ``AN-1'' is displayed as shown in FIG. Needless to say, reading buffer (10)
Since character codes are stored in the kanji buffer (11) and the kanji buffer (11), these character codes are stored in the character generator (14) for display in the same way as the input buffer (6).
is converted into a character font and written to the display buffer (15).

In the above, an example of a heading search was given, but the pronunciation of the search results can be similarly displayed in Roman letters even when searching by radical or number of strokes.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, there is no need to prepare a special display to display the input mode, or the original display range of the display for character display is not narrowed. Since the cursor itself at the character input position changes its size depending on the input mode, the operator can grasp the input mode without being consciously aware of it, thus reducing the number of erroneous operations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the contents of input mode display processing in an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the external appearance of the embodiment.
Fig. 4 is a brooch route showing the code conversion process for converting a key code into a Roman alphabet code in the embodiment, Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the display mode setting process in the embodiment, and Fig. 6 is the display in the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the search processing contents of the embodiment, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the display state when inputting characters, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the display state of search results. be. <1)...keyboard part, (2)...display unit,
3)...Processing unit, (4)...Hiragana key table, (5)...Alphabet key table,
(6)...Input buffer, (7)...Dictionary section,
(8) (9) (17)...Register, (12)
...Romaji/Katakana conversion section, (13)...Hiragana/Katakana conversion section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an electronic device that displays a cursor at a character input position on a display and is capable of switching between a kana input mode and a romaji input mode, a means is provided for changing the cursor size in response to switching of the input mode. An electronic device characterized by: