JPH03103985A - Electronic book - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To constitute the electronic book so that only the contents of a sentence whose necessity is high can be read easily afterwards by constituting the device so that a reader drawns an underline in a necessary part in advance, while looking at a sentence on a screen of a display device, and only the sentence of the page in which this underline is drawn can be extracted and displayed afterwards. CONSTITUTION:By operating a cursor moving key 4D and a position defining key 4E, an underline display control means displays an underline in a prescribed position of information displayed on display devices 2, 3. Also, a position of its underline is stored in a storage means 14. On the other hand, when an information extracting key 4G is operated, a second display output control means reads out the position of the underline from the storage means 14, and information of only the page having its underline is read out successively from the storage medium 14 by a read-out device 6, and its information is displayed on the display device together with the underline. In such a way, only information having a high utility value, in which the underline is drawn is read quickly.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention is for storing the contents of books, newspapers, magazines, etc., such as characters, line drawings, photographs, etc., in an electronic, optical, or magnetic recording device. The present invention relates to a device for reading and displaying this information.

(Prior Art) Generally, books, newspapers, and magazines are widely distributed by printing characters, photographs, and line drawings on paper in an easy-to-read format. When printed on paper, it is very convenient because humans can see it directly with the naked eye, and printing technology can print a large number of copies in a short period of time, so books, newspapers, and magazines are used as a means of mass communication. plays an important role.

However, the use of paper requires enormous transportation and storage costs due to its large weight and volume at each stage of raw material procurement, transportation, and disposal after use. Paper is also being recycled as a resource, but currently it is only being reused as low-quality paper, so a huge amount of forest resources are being consumed to supply high-quality printable paper. .

In order to solve these problems, the use of electronic, optical, and magnetic recording media has been considered as a high-density recording method other than paper.

In other words, IC cards (electronic), compact disks (optical), floppy diskettes (magnetic), magnetic cards (magnetic), digital audio tapes (
Various recording media such as magnetic (magnetic) and laser cards (optical) are considered as means of recording type, photographs, and line drawings.

The information stored in these recording media can be read out and used by respective reading devices.

It's a combination.

(Leaving space below) For example, the following table 1. Relationship between recording media, readout devices, and capacity (one wooden page is 1000 characters = 2000 bytes) However, the current usage of recording media with this structure is is completely different from the traditional way of reading books, newspapers, and magazines.

In the case of compact disks and floppy disks, the main method is to read them using a personal computer. The readout device and display device are separated, and the content of the recording medium is searched and used mainly through complex key operations on the keyboard.
Devices are becoming larger and have a larger storage capacity. For this reason, it is a completely different format from reading books, newspapers, and magazines.

In the case of IC cards and magnetic cards, since they are recording media the size of a credit card, they are used for small-scale applications. IC cards can be used for purposes similar to credit cards, mainly because they are rewritable.Magnetic cards were developed for a single purpose, like credit cards and telephone cards, and have a relatively small amount of information. It is used as a recording medium. Also, a reading device for laser cards, which is larger than that for magnetic cards, has been individually developed and used.

In this way, although electronic, optical, and magnetic recording media have been developed individually for various uses, they have not yet been able to serve nearly the same functions as books, newspapers, and magazines as a substitute for paper. is the current situation.

In Table 1 above, the capacity of CDs, floppy desks, and laser cards is equivalent to that of books and newspapers and magazines currently available. However, CD-ROMs have too large a capacity and exceed the scale that current publishing companies can handle, making them likely to be economically unpopular. (It can only be used for things like encyclopedias.) Laser cards are compact but have large reading devices.

Therefore, the inventor proposes an electronic book that has almost the same function as books, newspapers, and magazines as a substitute for paper. The electronic book referred to here is a device that satisfies the following requirements.

(1) Sentences (including kanji) or figures can be displayed with the same display intensity as existing books.

(2) The contents of a book of several hundred pages or more are stored in a small disk (magnetic or optical) or an IC card, and then read out and displayed.

(3) As a portable device, it can be carried around like a book and read anywhere.

In order to make it a portable device, the following functions compared to a personal computer are eliminated.

In other words, it can be said that a new tool was created by eliminating the following functions.

(a) Print out the displayed contents.

(No printer) (b) Performing complex searches. (No keyboard) (Problem to be solved by the invention) However, the above-mentioned e-book needs to be further improved.

In other words, it is desirable to underline the contents of the displayed document in the same way as in a book, but simply underlining the document is no different from a book.

The electronic book of the present invention aims to solve the above problems.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention was constructed as follows.

That is, the present invention provides a reading device that reads out information such as characters stored in a storage medium for each page, a display device that displays information for one read page, and an instruction to display the next page. A next page instruction key and a previous page instruction key that instructs to return to displaying the previous page.By operating these keys, the reading device reads information from the storage medium and displays it on the display device as if turning the page. a first display output control means for controlling, a cursor movement key for moving a cursor to specify a specific position of information displayed on the display device, and a position determination key for determining the position of the cursor specified by the cursor movement key. , an underline display control means for displaying an underline at a predetermined position of information displayed on the display device by the operation of these two keys, a storage means for storing the position of the underline, and a storage means for storing information regarding the underline. An information extraction key that instructs extraction, and when the information extraction key is operated, the reading device reads out the position of the underline from the storage means, and reads information only for the page having the underline from the storage medium. (Function) In the present invention configured as described above, the next page support key and the previous When you operate a page support key, the first
The display output control means controls the reading device to read information from the storage medium and display it on the display device as if turning the pages of a book. Therefore, readers can read texts in the same way they read books.

Further, by operating the cursor movement key and the position determination key, the underline display control means displays an underline at a predetermined position of the information displayed on the display device. Then, the position of the underline is stored in the storage means.

On the other hand, when the information extraction key is operated, the second display output control means reads out the position of the underline from the storage means, and the reading device sequentially reads out the information of only the page having the underline from the storage medium. At the same time, the information is displayed on the display device.

Through such information processing, only the underlined information with high utility value can be read quickly.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the electronic book in an open state. Figure 2 shows
Shows the e-book in a closed state. FIG. 3 shows the e-book shown in FIG. 2 with a strap attached to make it easier to carry. FIG. 4 shows a sewing machine hinge provided so that the opening surface becomes flat in the open state as shown in FIG.

11 As shown in FIG. 1, the pair of left and right display devices 2 and 3 of the electronic book 1 are thin devices such as liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, or flat cathode ray tubes.

The display screen of the display device 2 is provided with a territory 2A for displaying pages of content to be displayed on the screen, and an area 2B for displaying the operating status of the electronic book 1 as described later. Further, the display screen of the display device 3 is provided with an area 3A for displaying pages of content to be displayed on the screen, and an area 3B for displaying titles of items related to the displayed content.

The key group 4A includes a next page instruction key 4A for instructing to display the next page, a previous page instruction key 4B for instructing to return to the previous page, and a table of contents instruction for instructing to display the table of contents of stored information. Key 4C, cursor movement key 4D to freely move the cursor to a specific position on the displayed page
, a cursor confirmation key ``4E'' that fixes the position of the cursor specified with the cursor movement key 4D, an automatic display instruction key 4F that instructs to automatically display the next page, and extracts information regarding the underline as described in 12 below. an information extraction key 4G that instructs to receive information from each part as will be described later;
It consists of a facsimile display output key 4I for instructing that facsimile reception information should be displayed and output as will be described later.

Incidentally, instead of the cursor movement key 4D, a vertical cursor movement key 4D1 and a horizontal cursor movement key 4D2 may be provided separately for moving the cursor in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively.

In this case, when the vertical cursor movement key 401 is pressed, the cursor moves downward from the top of the display screen, and when it reaches the bottom, it is reversed and moved upward. Similarly, when the cursor reaches the left and right ends of the display screen with respect to the horizontal direction movement key 4D2, it is reversed and returns to the original direction.

Therefore, by providing two keys 401 and 4D2 in this manner, it is possible to efficiently move to a specific position on the display screen, improving operability.

Further, since the keys 4F to 4I are not frequently used, these keys may be omitted and only frequently used keys may be placed in positions where they can be easily operated. In this case,
The functions of these keys are displayed in the area 2B or 3B of the display screen of the display device 2 or 3, or at the forefront (or at the end) of the contents displayed as a table of contents. Then, if you use the cursor movement key 4D and cursor confirmation key 4E to select one of the functions of each of the keys 4F to 4I, the functions of the keys 4F to 4I can be used even if they are not installed on the main body. effect can be achieved.

In this embodiment, the storage medium is a floppy disk, and a plurality of floppy disks can be stored in the floppy disk stock hole 5. Further, a floppy disk to be displayed is inserted into the floppy disk drive device 6. After insertion, the power switch 7 starts the display. When the e-book l4 is closed, the hook lO is locked with a gentle snapping sound, resulting in the state shown in Fig. 2. Further, in the open state as shown in FIG. 1, the display surface becomes horizontally flat due to the action of the sewing machine hinge 8 shown in FIG. Furthermore, it is possible to provide the strap 9 to the electronic puck l shown in FIG. 2 to bring it into the state shown in FIG. 3.

Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 5.

In this example, 8, 16 or 32 bit C
PUII is used.

Also, due to the action of the crystal oscillator l2, the clock generator 1
A pulse is generated from 3, and this pulse determines the execution cycle of the CPU II.

Furthermore, by operating the various keys 4A to 4I, key signals are taken into the CPU II via the I/O interface 15 and the bus 2l. Communication via the telephone line is via a modem (not shown) via converter l6 and serial I/O interface l7.

15 A memory l8 such as a readable/writable semiconductor memory temporarily stores information from a storage medium such as a floppy disk 14 as will be described later.

The ROM (read-only memory) 19 stores in advance a program for making the electronic book 1 function as described later. It also has a read on memory 20 for standard kanji fonts prepared in advance. These elements are then connected to the bus 2l.

Display devices 2 and 3 made of liquid crystal displays are connected to the bus 2l via a liquid crystal control IC 22 and drivers 23 and 23.

It should be noted that the display devices 2 and 3, which are liquid crystal displays, may display a double-page spread tree as shown in FIG. 1, or may display text on one side and a table of contents on the other side, if necessary.

An image display memory (for two screens) 25 for updating each display screen of the display devices 2 and 3 is connected to the liquid crystal control IC 22. Floppy 16 Floppy disk 1 inserted into disk drive 6
The contents of 4 are read by the floppy disk drive device 6 and processed by the floppy disk controller 26.

Next, the basic functions of the electronic pouch 1 configured as described above will be explained below.

When the table of contents instruction key 4C is operated after the power switch 7 is turned on, the CPU II instructs the floppy disk controller 26 to read the contents of the table of contents stored in the floppy disk 14. Then, the floppy disk drive device 6 reads the contents of the specified table of contents from the floppy diskette 14, and the read contents of the table of contents are transferred to the image display memory 25.
The contents of the table of contents are displayed on each display screen of the display devices 2 and 3 in the form of a character pattern.

This allows the operator (reader) to select a desired table of contents based on the displayed content, and the selection is made as follows.

That is, when the cursor movement key 4D is operated to move the cursor on the display screen to the desired table of contents position and stopped, and the table of contents instruction key 4C is operated again,
This selects the desired table of contents.

Then, the contents of the page corresponding to the selected table of contents are read from the floppy disk 14 and stored in the image display memory 2.
5, the contents of that page are displayed on the display screens of the display devices 2 and 3, so that the reader can read the displayed contents through the display screens.

Next, when the next page instruction key 4A is operated, the contents of the next page following the currently displayed page are read from the floppy disk l4, and the contents displayed on the display device 2 or 3 are read out from the floppy disk l4. Be changed. On the other hand, when the previous page instruction key 4B is operated, the contents of one page before the currently displayed page are read from the floppy disk l4, and the display contents of the display device 2 or 3 are changed.

Therefore, by operating the next page instruction key 4A and the previous page instruction key 4B, the contents of the floppy disk 14, which is a storage medium, are displayed on each display screen l8 of the display devices 2 and 3 as if turning over wooden pages. .

The above are the basic functions of the electronic pouch 1, but since it has six other functions, each of these functions will be explained in turn below.

(1) Operating state display function As shown in FIG. 6, this function is used when the contents of a specified page read from the floppy disk 14 are displayed on the display devices 2 and 3 (step Sl). key 4A~4
When there is an input from a specific key of H or a state change input (step S2), the operating state according to the input,
For example, "Reading text", "Writing bookmark", "
``Automatic turning, every ●● seconds'', ``Fast turning, every ●● seconds'', ``Underlining specified, J, etc.'' are displayed in the area 2B of the display screen of the display device 2. While this operating state is being displayed, various operations are performed according to the contents (steps S4 to S8).

Here, "reading text" indicates that information such as text is being read from the floppy disk 14, which is a storage medium, by manual input from the next page instruction 19 key 4A or the previous page instruction key 4B. .

``Writing bookmark'' indicates that, as will be described later, for example, when there is no key power for a predetermined period of time, the page number of the content is displayed and written to the floppy disk l4 at that time.

"During automatic turning, every ●● seconds" indicates how often a new page is displayed when the automatic display instruction key 4F is pressed and the contents of the display screen are automatically updated.

``Early every page'' means that if the next page instruction key 4B is pressed for more than a predetermined time, the mode becomes early (remote). In this advance remote mode, advance is performed for each preset page, so the status is displayed.

"Underline designation in progress" indicates that when an underline is designated and displayed using the cursor movement key 4D, etc., as described later.

20 (2) Bookmark writing function This function is similar to a bookmark that is inserted into a book that is being read to mark the eyes. That is, when the power switch 7 is turned off or when there is no key input from the keys 4A to 4I for a predetermined period of time, the page number related to the content currently displayed on the display devices 2 and 3 is stored on the floppy disk l4 as a storage medium. This is for writing.

To explain this with reference to FIG. 7, when the contents of a specified page read from the floppy disk 14 are displayed on the display devices 2 and 3 (step Sll). key 4A
When there is an input from ~4I (step 312), it is determined whether or not the power switch 7 is OFF (step S1
3).

When the power switch 7 is ON, a predetermined operation is performed according to the human power of the key (step Sl4).On the other hand, when the power switch 7 is OFF, the page number related to the content currently displayed on the display devices M2 and M3 is displayed. floppy disk l4
(Step S15). The main power source is turned off (step S16).

In addition, in step S12, if there is no input from keys 4A to 4, and this state of no key input continues, for example, for 5 minutes or more (step S17), the contents currently displayed on the display devices 2 and 3 will be After writing the page number to the floppy disk 14 (step 315). Disconnect main power.

Here, the main power supply is automatically cut off using an electronic circuit.

Next, when the power switch 7 is turned on again, the contents of the page number written on the floppy disk l4 are displayed on the display devices 2 and 3 again. Therefore, it has the same function as a bookmark used between books.

(3) Information reading function This function is executed in a short time when changing the display contents of the display devices 2 and 3, similar to when turning over a book.

To implement this, as shown in FIG. 8, the memory 18 is provided with areas l8-1 to 18-16 for storing a plurality of pages (for example, 16 pages) of information on the floppy disk 14.

When the display devices 2 and 3 start displaying, the specified two pages of information are read from the floppy disk l4, and
This information is written into areas l8-7 and l8-8 of memory l8, respectively. At the same time, area l8- of memorite 8
1 to 18-6 are written with 6 pages of information on the page before the 2nd page to be displayed, and the information of 6 pages of information on the previous page is written to 1 to 18-6.
In l8l6, 8 pages of information about the tributes after the 2nd page to be displayed are written.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, the contents of the designated page of the floppy disk 14 are displayed on the display devices 2 and 3. (Step 321). Then, while it is displayed, press key 4A.
When there is an input from 4I (step 322), it is determined whether or not this key is the next page instruction key 4A (step S23).

As a result, when the next page instruction key 4A is pressed, it is determined whether there is enough text data in the storage areas 18-9 to 18-16 of the memo 23 8 (step S24). , As a result, when there is not enough text data, in other words, the storage area l8-15, 18- of the memory l8 is
When the display of each of the 16 contents is completed, the information for the next 8 pages following that page is stored on a floppy disk l4.
Read from (step S25), storage area 18-1-
The information (text data) stored in 18-16 is shifted by 8 pages in the direction of arrow A (step 526). As a result, the information to be displayed next is stored in storage areas 18-7 to 18-18.
-8 and stored, and the new eight pages of information are stored in storage areas l8-9 to l8 to l6.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step 324, if there is enough text data, the process advances to step S27, and the next page to be displayed is saved.

By the way, when a negative determination is made in step S23, the process proceeds to step S28, where it is determined whether or not the manual key force is the previous page indication key 4B, and it is determined whether or not there is room for the previous page indication key 4B. (Step S29).

As a result of the judgment, if there is not enough room, in other words, if the display of the contents up to the storage areas 18-1 and 18-2 of the memory 18 has been completed by manual keystroke, the 8 pages preceding the displayed page are displayed. Read the information from the floppy disk l4 (step S30) and store the information in the storage areas 18-1 to 18-16.
8 in the direction of arrow B.
Shift by page (step 331).

As a result, the information previously stored in storage areas 18-1 to 18-8 is now stored in storage areas 189 to 18-18.
At the same time, eight new pages of information are stored in storage areas 18-1 to 18-8.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S29, if there is enough text data, the process advances to step 327, and the next page to be displayed is set.

(4) Information extraction and display function 25 This function allows the reader to underline the necessary parts while looking at the text on the screens of display devices 2 and 3, and then display only the text on the underlined page. This allows the content of the text to be extracted and displayed, making it easy to read the highly necessary text content.

In order to realize this, the floppy disk 14 is provided with 14-1, 14-2, etc. for storing text data in units of pages as shown in FIG.
Areas 14-1, 14-2, etc. that store underline information in part of the castles 14-1, 14-2, etc.
...and so on. This underline information includes the number of lines indicating the start and end points of the underline, and the character number within the line.

Next, the operation of drawing an underline will be explained.

First, use the cursor movement key 4D to move the cursor to the starting point of the underline of the content displayed on the screens of display devices 2 and 3, and when the cursor reaches the starting 26 point position, operate the key 4E. to confirm its position. Next, when the cursor movement key 4D is operated to move the curve toward the end point of the underline, the underline is displayed. Then, when the cursor reaches the end point position, by operating the key 4E, the end point position of the underline is determined.

By such key operations, the information regarding the underline is stored in each of the memory areas 14-1, 14-2, . . . , each page of the currently displayed floppy disk 14. -2A...... is stored.

Next, if you want to extract and display the text data of the underlined page using the floppy disk l4 in which text data and underline information are stored in this way, operate the information extraction key 4G. This can be achieved by doing this. This will be explained with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

First, in step S41, the page number P27 is set to "1" and the page turning direction M is set to rlJ indicating the direction to turn the next page, and then the data of the set page is read from the floppy disk l4 (step S42).

Then, it is determined whether or not there is data related to an underline in the data (step S43), and if there is such data, the contents of the page and the underline are simultaneously displayed on the display screens of the display devices 2 and 3. do. (Step S44).

Next, it is determined whether there is an input to the keys 4A to 4■ (step S45). When the key input is the next page instruction key 4A, M=1 is set and the page number P is increased by one page (
Steps 346 to 348), and the content of the increased page is read from the floppy diskette 14 (step S42).

On the other hand, when the key is the previous page instruction key 4B, M
= -1 is set, and the page number P decreases by one page (steps S49, S50, S48). The content of the reduced page is read from the floppy disk 14 or 28 (step S42), and when the key is the table of contents key 40 (step S51), the above control is ended.

Therefore, by operating these keys, only the text data of the underlined pages in the floppy disk 14 are sequentially extracted on the display devices 2 and 3, and this text data is sequentially displayed together with the underlines.

(5) External information reception function This function allows external information such as newspapers and magazines to be received using a telephone line etc., and when receiving it, it is saved in advance on a storage medium such as a floppy disk 14. External information can be received for the first time only when the received permission information is written and checked to see if there is reception permission information such as the number of effective receptions that is updated every time reception is performed.

To achieve this, the floppy disk l4 contains
As shown in FIG. 12, in addition to the area for storing the main text, there is an area 29 14-A for storing the validity period, and an area 14-B for storing the effective reception amount.
~An area 14-C for storing the number of receptions is provided.

Here, the year, month, and day are used as the valid period, and the number of pages or characters is used as the amount of right effect received.

Next, an example of controlling this function will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 13.

First, when the external information reception key 4H, which instructs to receive external information, is operated, the corresponding date is received (step S61).

Next, the reception permission information, such as the effective period, the amount of effective reception, and the number of effective receptions, are read from each of the castles 14A to 14C of the floppy disk 14, which is a storage medium (step S62).

Then, when the validity period is within the period and both the effective reception amount and the effective reception number are within the limits (steps S63 to 365), external information (text data) is received, and the received text data is transferred to a floppy disk. disk l4
stored in a predetermined area.

30 Next, when the storage of the external information to the floppy disk l4 is completed, the value of the effective reception amount is decreased by the amount corresponding to the reception amount, and the contents of the area 14-B of the floppy disk l4 are added to the remaining effective reception amount. At the same time, the number of receptions is decreased by 1, and the content of the castle 1 4-C is rewritten to the remaining number of valid receptions. Therefore, the contents of the castles 14-B and 14-C on the floppy disk 14 are updated every time external information is received and stored.

On the other hand, if negative determinations are made in steps 363, S64, and S65, external information cannot be stored on the floppy disk 14, and a warning to that effect is displayed (step 368).

Note that in the above case, steps S63, S64, and S6
It was made impossible to store external information on the floppy disk 14 unless all three conditions in 5 were satisfied, but if only one of these conditions was satisfied, the storage of external information on the floppy disk 14 was made impossible.
It may also be possible to store external information in the .

By providing this function, if a floppy disk 14 as shown in FIG. 1231 is sold, the purchaser will know that he has already paid for receiving external information at the time of purchase. Become. Therefore,
When receiving information, it is no longer necessary to check whether the recipient is registered or not, as in the past.

(6) Facsimile reception display function This function temporarily stores information to be received by facsimile in the floppy disk l4, which is a storage medium, and displays the information on the display devices 2 and 3 as necessary. .

In order to realize such a function, a switching device 3l for switching the signal route is provided at the end of the telephone line 30 as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the telephone line 30 and the electronic book 1 can be connected.

Next, this function will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when receiving a facsimile, the writable page P of the floppy disk 14, which is the storage medium 32, is read (step 371), and reception is started (
Step S72).

Next, the received contents are stored in the memory l8 until the contents of one page are received (steps S73, S74).
, and when the contents of one page are stored in the memory l8, one page of the contents is written to the floppy disk l4 (step S75).

Next, increase the value of P by one (step 376).
, if the reception is not completed (step S77), reception for the next page is continued. On the other hand, when the reception end signal is detected in step S77, the value of P is stored on the floppy disk 14.
is written in a predetermined area (step S78). Therefore, the next reception can be written from the Pth page.

Next, when the information thus received is to be displayed on the display devices 2 and 3, the key 4N for instructing that the received facsimile information should be output and displayed is operated, and the information is displayed.

Also, each time the key 4N is operated, the display devices 2 and 3
The received information is sequentially updated and displayed.

It is also possible to transfer the received information in the floppy disk l4 to a facsimile machine and obtain a hard copy using the facsimile machine.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the present invention, the text information stored in the storage medium is displayed on the display device like turning the pages of a book, and the reader can view the text on the screen of the display device. Underline the necessary parts, and then
It is now possible to extract and display only the text on the underlined page.

Therefore, in addition to being able to read the text in the same way as a conventional book, the reader is also able to easily read only the most necessary text content later.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the embodiment of the present invention in an open state;
The figure is a perspective view showing the closed state, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the state shown in FIG. 2 with a strap attached to make it easier to carry, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the hardware of the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart explaining the operating state display function;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart explaining the bookmark writing function, FIG. 8 is a diagram explaining an example of how memory is used to realize the information reading function, FIG. 9 is a flowchart explaining the information reading function, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart explaining the information reading function. FIG. 11 is a flowchart explaining the information extraction and display function; FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of floppy diskette storage for realizing the external information reception function. 13 is a flowchart explaining the external information receiving function, FIG. 14 is a flowchart explaining the facsimile reception display function, and FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram for realizing the facsimile reception display function. 4A...Next page instruction key, 4B...Previous page instruction key 4D
... Cursor movement key 4G ... Information extraction key 4H ... External information reception key 4I ... Facsimile display output key

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A reading device that reads out information such as characters stored in a storage medium divided into pages, a display device that displays one page of read information, and an instruction to display the next page. A next page instruction key and a previous page instruction key that instructs to return to displaying the previous page.By operating these keys, the reading device reads information from the storage medium and displays it on the display device as if turning the page. a first display output control means for controlling, a cursor movement key for moving a cursor to specify a specific position of information displayed on the display device, and a position determination key for determining the position of the cursor specified by the cursor movement key. an underline display control means for displaying an underline at a predetermined position of information displayed on the display device by the operation of these two keys; a storage means for storing the position of the underline; and a storage means for storing information regarding the underline. An information extraction key that instructs extraction, and when the information extraction key is operated, the reading device reads out the position of the underline from the storage means, and reads information only for the page having the underline from the storage medium. An electronic book comprising: second display output control means for sequentially reading and displaying the read data on a display device together with an underline.