JPH07168833A - Area specifying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an area specifying device which lightens the burden on an operator by enabling an area wherein many individual words delimited with a special symbol are edited to be specified by a small number operations. CONSTITUTION:This area specifying device is provided with a cursor for specifying the position of an optional character in a character string displayed at a display part 4, a word area extracting means which extracts the area of a word including the character at the character position specified with the cursor, a special symbol deciding means which decides whether the word in the area extracted by the word area extracting means is a word including the special symbol relating characters or a word which does not include the special symbol, a special symbol character string area extracting means which extracts areas of respective character strings delimited with the special symbol when the special symbol deciding means decides that the special symbols is included, and a special symbol character string area specifying means which specifies the area of one character string among the areas of the respective character strings extracted by the special symbol character string area extracting means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a region designation device,
In particular, the present invention relates to an area designation device incorporated in a word processor and serving as one function of "area designation" on the word processor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, dictionary lookup on a word processor,
When performing editing processing such as moving, deleting, copying, etc., when the character of the document displayed on the CRT of the word processor is designated by the cursor and an instruction for carrying out the editing processing is subsequently inputted, the designated character There is a method in which a region of a word including this character is automatically extracted, and the editing process is performed for each word of the extracted region. However, in this case, for example, even when two words are connected by a special code such as a hyphen that associates characters with each other, it is extracted as one word. Then, there is an inconvenience that it is impossible to perform dictionary processing, moving, deleting, copying and the like for each individual word. Therefore, there is provided an area designation device capable of arbitrarily designating an area to be edited.

Conventionally, in this kind of area designating apparatus, the character at the beginning of the area is designated and operated as the area starting character, and then the character at the end of the area is designated and designated as the area ending character, and the area to be edited I was making a designation.

[0004]

However, there are many words containing special codes in a document, and each word separated by these special codes (hereinafter referred to as a hyphen character string) must be edited. In that case, for each of those hyphen character strings, the operation to specify the area start character and the operation to specify the area end character must be performed, which requires complicated operation, which causes a large burden on the operator. .

In view of the above situation, the present invention can reduce the operator's burden because the area can be specified with a small number of operations when a large number of individual words delimited by special codes, that is, hyphen character strings, are edited. It is an object of the present invention to provide an area designating device capable of performing the same.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the area designating device of the present invention comprises a cursor for designating a position of an arbitrary character in a character string displayed on a display unit, and the cursor. A word region extracting means for extracting a region of a word including a character at a designated character position; and a word in the region extracted by the word region extracting means, which is a word including a special code for associating a character with a character, or the special character A special code discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the word does not include a code, and a special code for extracting an area of each character string delimited by the special code when the special code discriminating means discriminates that the special code is included. A character string area extracting means; and a special code character string area specifying means for specifying an area of one character string among the areas of each character string extracted by the special code character string area extracting means. Special To.

[0007]

According to the above construction, the operator can move the cursor with
When the character of the desired word to be edited is designated from the character strings displayed on the display unit, the word area extracting means extracts the area of the word including the character at the character position designated by the cursor, and determines the special code. The means determines whether the word in the area extracted by the word area extracting means is a word including a special code that associates characters with each other or a word not including the special code, and extracts a special code character string area. When the means determines that the special code includes the special code, the area of each character string delimited by the special code is extracted. Then, the operator can use the special code character string area designating unit to specify a desired one character string area among the areas of the respective character strings extracted by the special code character string area extracting unit.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the area designating apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This area designating device is incorporated in a document creating device represented by a word processor, and its configuration is shown in FIG. This area designating device includes an input unit 1, a computer main body 2, a buffer 3, an output unit 4,
Consists of. The input section 1 is composed of a mode key for selecting a mode and a regular key used in each mode.
A word area extraction mode key 6 for setting a mode (hereinafter, referred to as word area extraction mode) for extracting an area of a word (hereinafter, referred to as a cursor designated word) including a character designated by the cursor 5; A mode (hereinafter, referred to as a hyphen character string extraction mode) for extracting each character string (hereinafter, referred to as a hyphen character string) delimited by the hyphen code "-" in a word including the hyphen code "-". The hyphen character string extraction mode key 7 and the normal key is used to input the character pointed by the forward direction key 8 and the backward direction key 9 and the cursor 5 for moving the cursor on the CRT of the output section as the designated character. And an execution key 1 for inputting an instruction to execute the processing in each mode described above.
It has 0.

The computer main body 2 comprises a main memory unit 11 and a central processing unit (CPU) 12. The main storage unit 11 stores the English document data 13, the position information data 15 of the cursor 5 on the CRT 14 provided in the output unit 4, the program 16 for extracting the area of the cursor designated word and the area of the hyphen character string. ing. The central processing unit 12 includes a first mode register 17 indicating that the word area extraction mode is selected, a second mode register 18 indicating that the hyphen character string extraction mode is selected, and a cursor designation word. It is provided with a register a, a register b, and a register c used when extracting each hyphen character string constituting this word from, and reads out and executes the program 16 according to an instruction from the input unit 1.

The buffer 3 is provided with a word area storage unit 21 for storing position information of a cursor designated word and a hyphen character string storage unit 22 for storing position information of each hyphen character string constituting the cursor designated word. There is. The output unit 4 includes the CRT 14 as described above,
An area of the English document according to the document data stored in the main storage unit 11, the cursor according to the position information data 15 of the cursor, the cursor designated word and the hyphen character string according to the position information stored in the buffer 3 is displayed on the CRT 1
The frame is displayed on the top of 4.

The document data 13 in the main memory 11 is C
The position of the RT 14 on the screen is represented by secondary coordinates, and the coordinates and the characters of the document are stored in a corresponding state. 2 shows the document data 13 stored in the main storage unit 11, and FIG. 3 shows a state in which the document data 13 shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the CRT 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the document data 13 has a table in which the left side is a coordinate field and the right side is an English character storage field, and the coordinates and the English characters accommodated in the same row are associated with each other. That is, the "T" in the first row of the English character storage column corresponds to the coordinate (0, 0) in the same row, and is placed at the beginning of the screen at the upper left corner on the CRT 14 in FIG. There is. Similarly, the "U" in the fifth row of the English character storage column corresponds to the coordinate (0, 4) in the same row, and two characters and one from the position of the "T" on the CRT14. It is placed across a space. The cursor position information data 15 is indicated by coordinates. FIG. 4 shows an example thereof. According to this coordinate data (0, 41), the cursor is located at the position in the document shown in FIG.

An example of the word area storage unit 21 and the hyphen character string storage unit 22 of the buffer is shown in FIG. The word area storage unit 21 is provided with storage locations divided into upper and lower stages, and in the upper stage, position information data (hereinafter, referred to as start character coordinates) of the first character of the cursor designated word is stored.
Position information data (hereinafter referred to as end character coordinates) of the character at the end of the word is stored in the lower row. The hyphen character string storage unit 22 is provided with a plurality of upper and lower storage locations, and the location information of each hyphen character string forming a cursor-designated word is stored in each storage location. The position information data of the first character of the hyphen character string is stored in the upper part of each storage location, and the position information data of the end character of the hyphen character string is stored in the lower part. In addition, each memory location is given an index number that increases from left to right. This number corresponds to the order in which a plurality of hyphen character strings forming the cursor-specified word are arranged. The position information of the hyphen character string at the beginning of the number is stored in the storage location of index number 1, and the position information of the hyphen character string that follows is stored in the storage location of index number 2. After that, similarly, the hyphen character string is stored in the memory location of the index number in the order in which it appears.

The program 16 for extracting the cursor designated word and the hyphen character string area includes a word area extracting program and a hyphen character string extracting program. The word area program recognizes a word (cursor designated word) including the character from the character pointed to by the cursor 5 by a well-known procedure and extracts the area, that is,
The delimiters located before and after the position of the cursor 5 are searched and found, and the character string between the found delimiters is recognized as one word. After that, this position information is read out and stored in the word area storage section 21 of the buffer 3. The term delimiter as used herein refers to a term indicating a space, a question mark, an exclamation mark, a terminator, a colon, a semicolon, or the like, which appears as a delimiter between words.

The hyphen character string extraction program adds a hyphen code "-" to the word area extracted by the word area program.
If the hyphen code "-" is found,
The area of each character string delimited by this is extracted, and the position information thereof is stored in the hyphen character string storage unit 22 of the buffer 3. The control operation of the central processing unit 12 will be described below with reference to the following example and flowchart. In this example, a word (cursor designated word) "peace-kee" including the character indicated by the cursor shown in FIG.
First, an area is designated for dictionary lookup of "ping", and then an area is designated for dictionary lookup of the hyphen character string "peace" before the hyphen code "-" in this word. The area of the hyphen character string "keeping" after "is re-specified for dictionary lookup. The flowcharts are shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, and FIG. 6 shows the control operation of the central processing unit 12. The main flowchart, FIGS. 7 and 8 show one processing step of the main flowchart shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the word area extracting process, and FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the hyphen character string extracting process. .

First, the word area extraction mode key 6 of the input unit 1 is operated to set the mode to the word area extraction mode instead of the normal processing mode for word processing (S100). Then, first, the word area extraction program is read and the area of the cursor designated word is extracted according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 (S200 to S202). To extract this area, first, the coordinates that are the cursor position information data 15 in the main storage unit 11 are read, and these coordinates are used as the reference coordinates.
The character at the coordinate one before this coordinate is read from the document data 13 in the main storage unit 11, and this is compared with each delimiter to determine whether they match. If they do not match, the previous character is read from the document data 13,
Collation is performed in the same manner as described above to determine whether they match. This process is repeated until they match, and if they match, 1 of the character
The next coordinate is stored in the upper part of the word area storage 21 (S200). In the present case, the reference coordinates are (0, 41) shown in FIG. 4, and when reading and proceeding from this coordinate forward, it is clear from FIG. 2 that the coordinate data (0, 37). The character corresponding to indicates a space, which matches the delimiter. Therefore, this coordinate data (0,
The coordinate data (0, 38) immediately after 37) is stored in the upper part of the word area storage unit.

Next, the coordinates after the reference coordinates are read and collated in the same manner as described above, and if they match, the coordinates immediately before the coordinates of the character are stored in the lower part of the word area storage unit 21 (S201). In this case, as is clear from FIG. 2, the character corresponding to the coordinate (0,51) indicates a blank space and matches the delimiter, so the coordinate (0,50) immediately before this coordinate is the word region. It is stored in the lower part of the storage unit 21. FIG. 9 shows the state of the word area storage unit 21 storing the above coordinates. After that, the output unit 4 displays a framed frame indicating the area designation on the CRT 14 according to the coordinates stored in the word area storage unit 21. In the present case,
As shown in FIG. 11, "peace-keep" in the document
"ing" will be framed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the procedure changes depending on whether the mode selected in S100 is a hyphen character string extraction mode or a word area extraction mode. When the hyphen character string extraction mode is selected, a hyphen character string is extracted, and the extracted hyphen character string is used to perform dictionary edit, move, delete, copy, and other editing processing.
It is executed according to the procedure of S109. On the other hand, when the word area extraction mode is selected, the above-described editing processing is performed for each area of the previously specified cursor-specified word (S).
110), after that, the hyphen character string extraction mode is selected and executed according to the procedure of S103 to S109 described above, or the word area extraction mode is ended (S112). In this case, since the word area extraction mode is selected in S100, first, as described above, "pea
"ce-keeping" is designated as one area, and dictionary lookup can be performed in this area. After performing this dictionary lookup, operate the hyphen character string mode key to change the mode from the word area extraction mode to the hyphen. Change to string mode.

Then, as described above, S103 to S103
It is processed according to 109. That is, first, the hyphen character string extraction program is read, and the hyphen character string is processed according to the flowchart of FIG. First, it is determined whether the hyphen code "-" is included in the word designated by the cursor. If there is no hyphen code "-", 0 is stored in the register c as a word not including the hyphen code "-", and the processing is terminated. . S if there is a match
Proceed to 302. The search for the presence or absence of the hyphen code "-" is performed by first reading the start character coordinate and the end character coordinate of the word area storage section 21 of the buffer 3, and within the range from the start character coordinate to the end character coordinate. Is read from the document data 3, and a hyphen code "-" is collated for each reading to determine whether or not they match.
In this case, the range of coordinates to be collated is (0, 3) from FIG.
As is clear from FIG. 2 in 8) to (0, 50), the hyphen code "-" exists at the coordinate (0, 43). Therefore, the procedure proceeds to S302, where 1 is first stored in the register c as a word including the hyphen code "-", and later, S303 to S
At 309, the position information of each hyphen character string is searched and stored in the hyphen character string storage unit of the buffer 3. That is, first, 0 is stored in the register a as an initial value (S30
3). Next, it is stored in the register a, 1 is added to the numerical value, and stored again in the register a (S304). Then, the starting character coordinates and the ending character coordinates are read from the word area storage section 21 of the buffer 3, and the characters corresponding to the coordinates one by one from the starting character coordinates to the ending character coordinates are read in the document data 13 of the main storage unit 11. Is read out, and a hyphen code "-" is collated for each reading (S305).
The matching is repeated until a match is made within the range up to the end character coordinate. If they match (S306), the coordinates are stored in the register b. Then, the numerical value of the register a is read out, and the coordinate immediately before the matched character is stored in the lower part of the storage location of the hyphen character string storage unit 22 having the same index number as the starting character. The coordinates are stored in the upper row (S307). In this case, since the process is the first process, the register a is 1, and the coordinates are stored in the storage location of index number 1.

Next, 1 is added to the numerical value of the register a and stored. Then, the register b is read, and 1 of this coordinate is read.
The character of the second coordinate is used as a starting character for reading and collating the character in the same manner as the above-mentioned start character coordinate (S308),
Similarly to the above, the characters corresponding to the coordinates are read from the coordinates toward the end character coordinates one by one from the main storage unit 11 and collated with the hyphen code "-". If there is a match in the range up to the end character coordinate, the previous coordinate of the matched character is stored in the register b as described above, and the register a is read out to the lower part of the index number of the numerical value. The coordinates before the matched coordinates are stored, and the coordinates used as the starting character are stored in the upper row. After that, until there is no character matching the hyphen code "-" in the range up to the end character coordinate, the above-mentioned register a is changed, the read-out of the register b is changed, and the coordinate is stored in the shift character storage location (S304-). S308). next,
If there is no character that matches the hyphen code "-" within the range to the end character coordinates, the register a is read and the end character coordinates are stored in the lower part of the memory location of the index number of the same numerical value stored in this register a. Yes (S309).
The starting character coordinates in this case are stored in the upper row, and thereafter, this processing is finished assuming that all hyphen character strings have been extracted.

In the present case, the start character coordinate and the end character coordinate are (0,38) to (0,50) as shown in FIG. 9, and the first (0,38) starts (0,39), (0,
40) ... And each character is read and collated with a hyphen code "-". As is clear from FIG. 2, there is a hyphen code "-" that matches the coordinate data (0,43). The coordinate (0, 43) is stored in the register b, and the coordinate (0, 42) immediately before the matched coordinate is stored in the lower row of the storage location of the index number 1, and the start character coordinate is stored in the upper row. It stores (0, 38). Next, the register b is read to search whether or not there is a hyphen code "-" after this coordinate, but as is apparent from FIG. 2, the hyphen code "-" does not exist. Therefore,
The ending character coordinate (0, 49) is stored in the lower part of the storage location of index number 2, and the starting character coordinate (0, 49) in this case is stored.
44) is stored in the upper row, and the processing ends. FIG. 10 shows a state in which coordinates are stored in the hyphen character string storage unit.

Next, as shown in S105 of FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not the area-specified cursor-designated word includes a hyphen code "-". This reads the register c of the central processing unit 12, and if it is 0, it is determined that the hyphen is not included, and if it is 1, it is determined that the hyphen code is included. If it is determined that it is not included, “No word that can be divided” is displayed and this hyphen character string extraction mode is terminated, and it is determined that it is included S
Then, the process proceeds to S106. In this case, register c has 1
Is stored, and the process proceeds to S106.

In S106, when the instruction to select the character string before or after the hyphen code "-" is accepted, the output unit 4 follows the instruction and selects the hyphen character string storage unit 22.
The coordinates stored in the storage location of the index number 1 are read out and displayed on the CRT 14 as a frame (S
107). In this case, the backward key 9 of the input unit 1 is operated. Then, the output unit 4 draws a frame between the coordinates stored in the storage location of the index number 2 and indicates that the area between the coordinates is designated. FIG. 12 shows the state of the CRT 14 when the backward key is operated. Furthermore, if an instruction to change the hyphen character string is received (S10
8), the coordinates of the storage location of the index number according to the received direction are displayed on the CRT 14 (S10).
7). Thereafter, this process is repeated until the end instruction is accepted (S109). In this case, the forward key 8 of the input unit 1 is operated. Then, a frame is drawn between the coordinates stored in the memory location of index number 1. The editing process can be performed in this designated area. FIG. 13 shows the state of the CRT 14 when the forward key is operated. As described above, in this embodiment, the character string before or after the hyphen code "-" can be freely designated only by operating the forward key 8 or the backward key 9.

Although English is taken as the document, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be, for example, German, French, Spanish, Russian or Japanese. Further, when taking up a language in which words are not separated by delimiters such as spaces such as Japanese, by dividing the language into words in advance, this Japanese document is It can be treated like an English document.

[0024]

As described above, when the area designating apparatus of the present invention is used, when the area designation must be performed for each word delimited by the special code, the number of operations can be suppressed to a small number. It is possible to reduce the burden on the user's operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an area designating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows document data.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the document data shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on a CRT.

FIG. 4 shows cursor position information data.

FIG. 5 shows the stored contents of a buffer.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a control operation of a central processing unit.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of word region extraction processing.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of hyphen character string extraction processing.

FIG. 9 shows a word area storage unit of a buffer.

FIG. 10 shows a state in which coordinates of document data are stored in a hyphen character string storage unit.

FIG. 11 shows a state of a CRT.

FIG. 12 shows a state of a CRT.

FIG. 13 shows a state of a CRT.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Input Section 2 Computer Main Body 3 Buffer 4 Output Section 11 Main Memory Section 12 Central Processing Section

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cursor for designating an arbitrary character position in a character string displayed on a display unit, and a word region extracting means for extracting a region of a word including a character at a character position designated by the cursor. A word in the area extracted by the word area extracting means, a special code determining means for determining whether the word includes a special code that associates a character with a character or a word that does not include the special code; When the code determination means determines that the special code is included, the special code character string area extraction means for extracting the area of each character string delimited by the special code, and the special code character string area extraction means An area designating apparatus comprising: a special code character string area designating unit for designating one character string area out of each character string area. 2. The special code is a hyphen.
Area designation device described in.