JPH0125093B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an information retrieval device that writes and reads addresses corresponding to data in a plurality of languages in a language-specific manner.

Generally, when performing an information search, the same information may be searched repeatedly, but it is troublesome to repeat the search each time. For example, when looking up a word (English) in an English-Japanese dictionary, if you forget the meaning (Japanese) of the word you looked up once, you have to look up the same word again, which is extremely troublesome. For this reason, devices that electronically store and search multiple languages are provided with means for temporarily storing read information.

The present invention relates to an information retrieval device that is characterized in that it stores and reads out languages in this temporary read-out memory.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information retrieval device showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is the keyboard, which includes alphanumeric keys from A to Z, a language memory specification key to select English, French, German, and Spanish, a search key, and a key to temporarily write searched data to the data memory. Conversely, it has a read key and a clear key. The keyboard 1 has the keys wired in a matrix, receives a key scan signal from an input/output gate circuit 11, and outputs a key signal to the input/output gate circuit 11 when a key is pressed.

Four of the output lines of the input/output gate circuit 11 are also applied to each of the language memories 21-24 in addition to the keyboard 1, and are also used as outputs for designating any one of the language memories 21-24. The diodes D ₁ to _{D 4} prevent the effects of double hitting on the keyboard 1. Each language memory 21-2
4 is the memory corresponding to English, French, German, and Spanish, for example, each of 144K bits.
When configured with CMOS-ROM, it is possible to store 24,576 characters with 6 bits per character. Therefore, if one word is composed of about 10 characters, it is possible to memorize about 2,400 words. The addresses of each memory 21 to 24 are selected by a common address line 25 and output to a data line 26, and the address line 25 receives address signals A ₀ to A ₁₄ from an address register 27.
is supplied.

The output of the address register 27 is sent to the adder 28.
and the address memory 3, and the adder 28
The address is changed and advanced by , and is temporarily stored in the address memory 3. Further, the output of the address register 27 is given to the address memory 3, stored as data, and conversely read out from the address memory 3 to the address register 27 via the adder 28 when necessary. Further, the output from the language selection memory 29 is also stored in the address memory 3.

The address memory 3 is for storing, for example, 8 pieces of address data, and is composed of 17 bits, which is the 15 bits output from the address register 27 plus 2 bits. Each data in the address memory 3 is sequentially selected by the address counter 39, and the read/write signal (R/Write signal) from the control circuit 4 is
Reading or writing is performed by W).

The control circuit 4 constantly reads out and executes the program in the program memory 5, and normally drives the display circuit 63 via a key scan program that detects presses on the keyboard 1, an output gate circuit 61, and a column drive circuit 62. A display program is running. When a key is pressed, a program corresponding to the key is executed, information is searched, and the results are displayed.

The display circuit 63 has display digits for, for example, 10 characters, and each digit is composed of 5 columns and 7 rows.
It has an element that displays a special symbol below only a specific digit.

The language selection memory 29 described above is composed of a 2-bit register, and it stores which of the four languages is selected in four states from 00 to 11.If it is cleared in advance, it becomes 00, and for example, the English memory 21 is mainly used. selected.

Reference numerals 71 and 72 are first and second registers, which are 10-digit registers with 6 bits per digit. The first register 71 stores the code corresponding to the character input from the keyboard 1, and the stores codes corresponding to characters read from the language memories 21-24. first and second registers 71,
The contents of 72 are compared by subtractor 78. At the time of comparison, the contents of the second register 72 are subtracted from the first register 71 by the subtracter 73 for determination.

In this example, Alphabets A to Z is 00001.
It corresponds to 6 binary bits of ~011010, and A<
Since the relationship is B<...<Z, it is possible to search in alphabetical order by subtraction. For example, English
When inputting ABLE to find out other languages that are supported, if the English memory 21 is searched sequentially in the order of A, ABLE, ABOUT, ..., then A<ABLE,
Conversely, since ABLE < ABOUT, it is possible to perform a search by determining the size of the word's character code.

Note that if words are stored in alphabetical order in each of the language memories 21 to 24, correspondence cannot be established between the language memories. For this reason, in each language, an address code in alphabetical order is stored at the same time as the character code of the word, and the next word is retrieved by reading out the address code. For example, after the character code of the word ABLE, the character code of the next word ABOUT is stored together with the address code, so words can be searched in alphabetical order. Therefore, each word consists of 10 characters + 3 characters of address code. Furthermore, languages with the same meaning are stored at the same address location between each language memory, so if the English BAG address is 1234, the French BAG address is stored at the same address location.
SAC, TASCHE in German, BOLSA in Spanish
Both are stored at the same address, 1234. Therefore, the contents of any language memory can be instantly switched and read from any other language memory using the memory selection signal line 12. In other words, if each language is configured with a single memory LSI, the character code of the corresponding word can be read out simply by changing the chip select of each LSI.

Next, the operation shown in FIG. 1 will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, normally the contents of the first register 71 are the contents of the subtracter 7
3 to the control circuit 4 and display circuit 63
will be displayed. Subsequently, a key scan is performed, and a press on the keyboard 1 is detected from the control circuit 4 via the input/output gate circuit 11. If no key is pressed, the above operation is repeated.

If there is a key press, for example, character keys A to Z
In this case, the first register 7
The character code is stored in 1. Subsequently, when the language selection memory 29 selects English, the contents of the English memory 21 are successively read out to the second register 72, and the contents of the first and second registers 71 and 72 are compared in the subtracter 73. Ru. As a result of the comparison, if the content of the first register 71 is greater than the content of the second register 72, the address register 27 is subsequently set to "1".
Update each word and compare with the next word. however,
Before entering characters, enter the address register 27 in advance.
Since the first and second registers 71 and 72 are cleared, reading to the second register 72 is performed sequentially starting from the smallest address. Further, when the read contents of the second register 72 match the contents of the first register 71, the original display and key scanning operation is restored. If the contents of the second register 72 become large, there is no match, and an error occurs.

It would be better if the search time is shortened by comparing the input character codes for each character, but in that case, the contents of the first register 71 and the second register 72 do not necessarily match, and the contents of the second register 72 The read character code may be larger. In this way, if the second register 72 is larger, the contents of the address register 27 may be set to "-1" to return to the original display and key scan operation and wait for the next character input.

Address register 2 in case of search key press
7 is updated sequentially, and the contents of the English memory 21 in the next alphabetical order are read out to the first register 71 and displayed. If you wish to continue searching, you will need to press the search key again; however, you can lock the search key or set a flip-flop (not shown) to enable automatic search. You may continue the search based on the conditions.

When a desired word is set using the character key or search key, the user presses the language designation key to change the contents of the language selection memory 29 and select another language memory in order to view other languages corresponding to the word. By reading the contents into the first register 71 and displaying them, it is possible to know the words of the desired language.

After knowing the word of the desired language, press the clear key to search for the next word and move to the first and second registers 71, 72 and address register 27.
Clear. If you want to know the searched word again, you can search in the same way as above, but it is troublesome to search for the same word again.

For this reason, the searched words are temporarily stored. If you press the write key for that,
The address information of the address register 27 is written into the address memory 3. First, the contents of the address memory 3 are read in order to detect whether there is a writeable space in the address memory 3. If there is no content, the content of the address register 27 is written into the address memory 3 space. At the same time, selection information in the selection memory 29 is also written. If there is no space, the address counter 39 is updated to see if there is space in another memory location. If there is a space, it is written in the same way as above, otherwise it continues checking for spaces. If there is no space in the total address memory, it will not be possible to write, so an overload message will be displayed indicating that the write process cannot be performed.

Conversely, when reading the written contents, the read key is used. When the read key is pressed, the address counter 39 is first cleared and then read out, so that the first written address can be read out. When reading, the contents of the address memory 3 are given to the address register 27 and the control circuit 4, the address register 27 determines the address of the corresponding word, and the control circuit 4 stores in the language selection memory 29 which language memory it is. After that, it is read out to the first register 71 and displayed.

To read data sequentially, the address counter 39 can be updated by "1" by pressing the read key successively. Automatic sequential readout can be achieved by using a lock key as the readout key or by providing a flip-flop (not shown) that stores key presses.

Since it is displayed in the language in which it was written when it is read, you can quickly find out the characters (spelling) of the corresponding language compared to searching again.

In the above example, which language is selected is not displayed, but by reading out the contents of the selection memory 29 by the control circuit 4 and displaying it using special symbols, the language of the displayed word can be changed. I understand.

The address memory 3 mentioned above is usually composed of a semiconductor memory RAM, and since the memory contents are erased when the power is turned off, it is necessary to back up the memory with a battery as necessary.

As described above, the present invention also stores information for selecting the language memory when temporarily writing the common address of the language memory into the address memory, and by reading it out automatically displays the information in the corresponding language. You can easily find words and phrases that need to be searched repeatedly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information retrieval device showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart explaining the operation of FIG. 1. In the figure, 1 is a keyboard, 3 is an address memory, 4 is a control circuit, 21 to 24 are language memories, 27 is an address register, and 29 is a language selection memory.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of language memories in which a plurality of language data (words) are stored for each language, and a plurality of language memories in which data representing the same meaning is stored at the same address, respectively. A device for selectively outputting predetermined data from among the plurality of language memories based on an address indicating a specific area on the memory and language selection information for selecting one of the memories, wherein the address is stored. comprising an address register, a language selection memory in which the language selection information is stored, an address memory, a read key and a write key for instructing reading and writing to the address memory, and a control circuit for controlling each of the above parts, When the write key is input, the control circuit writes the address and language selection information stored in the address register and language selection memory into the address memory, and when the read key is input, An information retrieval device that reads and outputs words from the language memory based on the address and language selection information stored in the address memory.