Detailed Description
In the present invention, various display apparatuses can be used as the display device. Such devices are, for example, CRT displays, liquid crystal displays, and EL displays.
The character string in the text displayed on the display device may be composed of any of various character codes including symbols and symbol codes.
The text may be an email received from an external medium.
The attribute set to the character string may be, for example, data indicating what kind of data the character string relates to, such as an address, a name, a telephone number, a date, a time, a scheduled content, and the like. The attribute may be represented by an identification code such as three or four bits.
In the present invention, transmitting means capturing e-mail text received from outside, e.g. as application data, into an application running on the same device as the method of the present invention is performed.
In this way, the location where the character string is transferred may be a storage area for planning data in a planning application for planning management running on the same device.
In the above-described structure, the determination of the character string, the specification of the attribute, and the transmission of the character string may be repeatedly performed a plurality of times, the determination of the character string, the specification of the attribute of the character string, and then the transmission of the determined plurality of character strings to the place corresponding to the specified attribute may be performed by one single operation. So that a plurality of character strings can be transmitted at once.
More specifically, when an electronic mail relating to an appointment is received, sentences representing the place, time, and the like of the appointment can be sequentially selected and then transmitted as planning data and the like once in the planning management application.
And automatically executing a specific key, performing the determination of the character string by determining all texts displayed on the display device, specifying an attribute for all texts and transmitting all texts to a place, specifying the character string attribute and the transmission of the character string. With this structure, the text can be automatically transferred to the same place.
More specifically, when an electronic mail relating to an appointment is received, without selecting text information representing, for example, the place of the appointment or setting an attribute to the text information, all sentences can be automatically transmitted and recorded as plan data or the like in a plan management application by only one operation.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for generating application data. The device comprises: determining means for determining a character string composed of at least one character to be transmitted from the text displayed on the display means; attribute specifying means for specifying an attribute of the determined character string; and transmitting means for transmitting the determined character string to a place corresponding to the specified attribute thereof.
The present invention further provides a computer-readable recording medium containing a program for operating a computer to execute the above-described process for generating application data.
Examples of suitable storage media are CD-ROM, floppy disks and IC cards. However, it may be a storage device shared with other devices, such as an internal memory of a CPU, a hard disk, a file server through a communication function.
The invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of example.
In the following description, the present invention is explained by means of an example in which a received electronic mail (e-mail) is captured as planning data. However, these examples are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The present invention can readily effect the transfer of data to other applications by making such modifications, for example, by capturing e-mail as a memo application and plan data as an address book application.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall appearance of an application generating apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention.
In fig. 1, the device of the present invention comprises a host housing 1 and a flip 3.
The casing 1 has: an input/output section 2, the input/output section 2 being composed of a display section and a transparent outer layer combined with each other, an infrared communication section not shown, a pen stand not shown, and the like. The casing 1 contains a power supply section for supplying power to a section requiring power supply, such as the input/output section 2, a control circuit for controlling the input/output section 2 and the infrared communication section, an interface, and the like.
The input/output section 2 will be described later with reference to fig. 2.
The flip 3 is hinged to the rear of the housing 1. The flip 3 can be turned over to cover the input/output section 2 and functions to protect the input/output section 2 when the apparatus is carried.
On one side of the housing 1, a power switch 8 is provided for turning on/off power supplied to the host computer.
Fig. 2 is an exploded view showing the input/output section 2.
The input/output section 2 is an integral body composed of a thin liquid crystal display 2-1 of a matrix system capable of displaying characters and a transparent sheet 2-2 large enough to cover the liquid crystal display 2-1.
The rear side of the liquid crystal display 2-1 is provided with a backlight EL panel or the like as required.
The transparent outer layer 2-2 is formed by two transparent thin layers, each provided with a transparent electrode on the inner wall. Regularly protruding spacers are printed on the thin layer to prevent the electrodes from contacting each other in the normal state. When a finger or pen for pointing touches the transparent outer layer 2-2, the transparent electrodes are in contact with each other. Thus, a specified position is detected.
By aligning the content displayed on the liquid crystal display 2-1 with the pointing position information, the position on the liquid crystal display 2-1 designated by the user can be detected.
Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the entire configuration of the application data generating apparatus.
The application data generating apparatus of the present invention is constituted by: a liquid crystal display 2-1, a transparent outer layer 2-2, an outer layer controller 4, a liquid crystal circuit 5, a common circuit 6, a segment circuit 7, a host power switch 8, a central controller 9, an RTC 10, a ROM11, a RAM 12 and a program medium 13.
The outer layer controller 4 is for acquiring coordinate information from the transparent outer layer 2-2. The outer layer controller 4 is connected to transparent electrodes attached to the two transparent thin layers of the transparent outer layer 2-2. The outer layer controller 4 detects the position coordinates indicated by the finger or the pen according to the contact of the transparent electrode.
The liquid crystal circuit 5 stores dot positions where the liquid crystal is turned on into a bitmap and supplies signals to the common circuit 6 and the segment circuit 7 as necessary.
The central controller 9 controls input and output data of various commands.
The RTC 10 clocks and outputs the current year, month, day and time according to the clock signal.
The ROM11 has a program storage area for storing a program for controlling the operation of the central controller 9. This program storage area stores programs of various applications 11-1 and programs that cause the central controller 9 to function as a capture control section 11-2, a selected text control section 11-3, a new text generation section 11-4, a monitor control section 11-5, a text attribute setting control section 11-6. Further, the area stores a user program 11-7 used by the user as required by the use. These procedures will be described in detail later.
There are many areas in the RAM 12, such as various text memories 12-1, capture processing memory 12-2, and text buffer memory 12-3. These memory portions will also be described in detail later.
The program medium 13 records a program to be stored in the ROM 11. In the device of the invention, the program required for causing the device to function is read from the program medium 13 by means of program reading means not shown and written into the program memory ROM11 as executable program code translated in advance.
The program medium 13 is an information storage medium configured to be separable from a host computer. Suitable examples are CD-ROMs, floppy disks and IC cards. As for other information storage media, there are also available memory shared with other devices such as an internal memory of a CPU, a hard disk, and a file server via a communication means.
The program medium 13 stores an executable program that is read into the central controller 9, a source program that is capable of generating the executable program, and an intermediate program.
In fig. 3, lines a, b, c, d and e are control lines which come from the external controller 4, the host power switch 8, the RAM 12, the RTC 10 and the ROM11, respectively.
This structure is used to explain a process of selecting a specific character string or specific character strings from existing texts and setting their attributes, and transferring the specific character strings one by one or by one single operation to places corresponding to their attributes as new texts. An explanation will be given specifically by means of an example of transmitting a received e-mail as planning application planning data.
Fig. 4 shows a functional block diagram of the application data generating apparatus. Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing a data transfer process in the apparatus. With reference to these drawings, an explanation is given further with reference to screen display states indicated by legends 5 to 12.
In fig. 4, a memory occupying approximately one byte of space, such as a cycle counter, is not shown. These memories are assumed to be implemented by one register of the central controller 9, and a detailed explanation is omitted here.
First, a received email screen is shown in fig. 5.
In this state, if the user presses the stylus pen on the transparent outer layer 2-2 at a position corresponding to the "catch" button of the liquid crystal display 2-1 (the button at the upper right in fig. 5), the flowchart shown in fig. 14 starts.
In step 5001 of the flowchart, a text (received e-mail in this example) in the various text memories 12-1 is transferred to the capture processing memory 12-2 through the capture control section 11-2, and then a data capture screen (fig. 6) is displayed. The screen used to interpret text selection (fig. 7) is an enlarged portion of the data capture screen, and in fig. 7, the number of circles and arrows added to the actual display screen are merely for ease of explanation.
In step 5002, when the user presses the pen on the transparent outer layer 2-2, the transparent outer layer 2-2 is turned into a state of accepting an input processing interrupt. The input control section 4-1 reads the coordinates of the position on the transparent outer layer 2-2 where the user presses the pen as the start coordinates (represented by (r) in fig. 7). The selected text control section 11-3 observes the movement of the user pen and reads out the coordinates of the user lift pen position as the termination coordinates.
In fig. 7, this process corresponds to pressing the pen from the first pen position, then keeping the pen pressed, moving the pen in the direction of the arrow pointing to the second pen position, and then lifting the pen.
The selected text control section 11-3 reads the character string displayed from the start coordinate to the end coordinate from the capture processing memory 12-2 and copies the character string into the text portion of the text memory of the text buffer memory 12-3. By this operation, "day 8 and 1 month" is selected and the selected area is displayed with a dot-dash line, for example, as shown in the property display screen in fig. 8.
In step 5003, a property display screen (the pop-up screen portion in fig. 8) is displayed next to the selected region. In this example, for "day 8/1 month", the attribute "date" may be set by the user pressing the pen on "date" displayed on the pop-up screen (indicated by an arrow in fig. 8). The attribute is inputted into an attribute section of a text memory in a text buffer memory 12-3 by a text attribute setting control section 11-6.
In step 5004, when the user presses the pen on the transparent outer layer 2-2, the transparent outer layer 2-2 is turned into a state of accepting an input processing interrupt.
In step 5005, the input control section 4-1 reads the coordinates of the pen-down position on the transparent outer layer 2-2.
In step 5006, if the position coordinates are relative to the "transfer" button (the button located at the upper right in fig. 8), the process proceeds to step 5007. Otherwise, the process returns to step 5002 and the loop is executed.
In this manner, by repeating steps 5002 to 5006, many combinations of character strings and attributes can be selected and set. For example, the pen is pressed to position c and lifted at position c in fig. 7, and then the attribute "time" is selected on the pop-up screen in fig. 8. Next, press the pen down at position # and lift up at position # and then select the attribute "content" on the pop-up screen.
In step 5007, a transfer data check screen (fig. 9) is displayed.
The entry displayed at this time is the combination of the character strings and their attributes selected and set at step 5002 and step 5003.
Then, by the user pressing a pen on the transparent outer layer 2-2, the transparent outer layer 2-2 is converted into a state of accepting an interruption of the input processing, and the input control section 4-1 reads the coordinates of the pen-pressing position on the transparent outer layer 2-2.
If the position coordinates are relative to the "next" button (shaded button in fig. 9), a transfer destination designation screen (fig. 10) is displayed. The button displayed on the transfer destination designation screen relates to an application controlled by the new text generation section 11-4.
Then, by the user pressing a pen on the transparent outer layer 2-2, the transparent outer layer 2-2 is turned into a state of accepting an input processing interrupt. The input control section 4-1 reads the coordinates of the pen-down position on the transparent outer layer 2-2.
If the position coordinates are relative to the "plan" button (shaded button in fig. 10), the new text generation section 11-4 stores the contents in the text memory of the text buffer memory 12-3 as a new text in the various text memories 12-1. After the transfer is completed, a transfer completion screen is displayed (fig. 11).
This process has been explained by way of example, where the attributes are clearly displayed in the existing text. However, even in the text shown in fig. 12, for example, a character string to be captured can be selected, its attribute can be set with a pen, and thus the character string can be input into a new text.
In this way, by setting the correspondence between the character strings and the attributes thereof, a series of processes of transferring one or more specific character strings in the existing text to the new text can be performed by one single operation or one-by-one operation.
The received e-mail is transferred as schedule data using, for example, a portable information processing terminal or an electronic organizer. Such as an address, a name, a telephone number, a communication address, a date, a time, a content, and the like are stored as data items in a plan management application employed in a portable information processing terminal or an electronic organizer. When an e-mail is received, it is possible to specify a certain area of the received data and set an attribute (for example, an address, a name, or the like in this example) for the data of the specified area. Then, by instructing the transfer, a specific part of the data in the received e-mail can be captured into items designated as the attributes of the planning data, such as "address", "name", and the like.
A process of setting a single attribute for all sentences in the existing text and transferring all sentences to the positions of the corresponding attributes as a new text only by one specific operation will be explained below. For example, all sentences in a received e-mail are transferred into the project "content" of the planning data.
Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing a block data transfer process of the apparatus of the present invention. Now, explanation is given with reference to this flowchart and fig. 4 and fig. 5 to fig. 13 showing the legend of the screen display state.
In the explanation process, in the flowchart, an insubstantial process such as an exception process is treated as an alternative process.
FIG. 5 shows a screen reading a received e-mail.
In this state, the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15 begins if the user presses the pen at the "catch" button (upper button in FIG. 5) on the transparent outer layer 2-2 relative to the liquid crystal display 2-1.
In step 5501 of the flowchart, a text (in this case, a received e-mail) in the various text storages 12-1 is transferred to the capture processing storage 12-2 through the capture control section 11-2, and then a data capture screen (fig. 6) is displayed.
At step 5502, transparent skin 2-2 is transitioned to a state of accepting an input processing interrupt by the user pressing a pen on transparent skin 2-2.
In step 5503, the input control section 4-1 reads the coordinates of the pen-down position on the transparent outer layer 2-2.
In step 5504, if the coordinates of the pen down position on the transparent outer layer 2-2 correspond to the "transmit" button (this button is located at the top right of FIG. 6), the process goes to step 5505. Otherwise, other processes are performed.
In step 5505, a block transfer check screen is displayed (fig. 13). In this example, the attribute is set to "content" by the text attribute setting control section 11-6.
Then, by the user pressing a pen on the transparent outer layer 2-2, the transparent outer layer 2-2 is turned into a state of accepting an input processing interrupt. The input control section 4-1 reads the coordinates of the pen-down position on the transparent outer layer 2-2.
If the pen-down position on the transparent outer layer 2-2 coincides with the "OK" button (as the shadow button of FIG. 13), the contents of the capture process memory 12-2 are copied to the text portion of the text memory in the text buffer memory 12-3, and the attribute "Contents" is written into the attribute portion of the text memory in the text buffer memory 12-3. Then, a transfer destination designation screen is displayed (fig. 10).
Each button displayed on the transfer destination designation screen is associated with an application controlled by the new text generation section 11-4.
Then, by the user pressing a pen on the transparent outer layer 2-2, the transparent outer layer 2-2 is turned into a state of accepting an input processing interrupt. The input control section 4-1 reads the coordinates of the pen-down position on the transparent outer layer 2-2,
if the pen-down position on the transparent outer layer 2-2 corresponds to the "plan" button (shaded button in fig. 10), the contents of the text memory in the text buffer memory 12-3 are transferred through the new text generation section 11-4 and recorded as a new text in the various text memories 12-1. After the transfer is completed, a transfer completion screen is displayed (fig. 11).
In this way, all sentences in the existing text can be specified to the same attribute and transferred to a place of the same attribute with one block as one new text only by a specific operation.
For example, a user applies a schedule management application installed on a portable information processing terminal or an electronic organizer capable of receiving e-mail and recording items such as address, name, telephone number, communication address, date, time, and content as data items of the schedule management application. When the user receives an e-mail, the user can transfer all data of the received e-mail in one block to the "content" item of the schedule data by the designated block transfer.
As described above, according to the present invention, even for a text such as a received E-mail which is not created by the user, the attribute of the character string in the text can be specified and a new text having the specified attribute can be generated. Therefore, a new text can be efficiently generated.
Further, the present invention is effective in generating new text from existing text. Therefore, when a user is creating a new text, the user does not have to consider the future use of the text even though the new text may be used as an existing text in the future.
Further, if the entire text is classified into the same attribute, such as a memo, it is not necessary to specify the attribute of the character string. Thus, efficient operation can be ensured in generating a new text from an existing text.
According to the present invention, even a text which is not created by a user, such as a received e-mail, can be efficiently used to generate a new text by specifying the attributes of character strings in the text and generating a new text specifying the attributes.