Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-05
2002-04-09
Alam, Hosain T. (Department: 2172)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000, C707S793000, C707S793000, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06370518
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the display of information on small display screens, and in particular to a method and apparatus for retrieving and displaying records on a small display screen.
2. Description of Related Art
A structured information database is usually represented by a long list of ordered data or records. More often, it is represented by a list of indexes, each indexing one of the records. In order to locate a certain record identified by an index from the database, a string of characters representing at least a portion of the index must be supplied. A lookup process based on a matching scheme is then followed to retrieve all records identified by the string of characters. In many applications, the string of characters is supplied through a full-size functional keyboard, such as a computer keyboard, and then those records with indexes that match the string of characters are retrieved and presented to a user. Thereafter, the user can decide whether to refine or alter the input string of characters to improve the lookup process.
In certain applications such as automatic telephone response systems, however, there are no functional keyboards. A common input interface for a telephone uses a numeric-based keypad such as shown in FIG.
1
. The keypad comprises twelve keys or buttons representing “0 to 9”, “*” and “#” keys. To facilitate the input of characters, each numeric key is commonly assigned to represent certain alphabetical characters as follows:
“1” key is assigned for a special use;
“2” key is for “A”, “B” or “C”
“3” key is for “D”, “E” or “F”;
“4” key is for “G”, “H” or “I”;
“5” key is for “J”, “K” or “L”;
“6” key is for “M”, “N” or “O”;
“7” key is for “P”, “Q”, “R” or “S”;
“8” key is for “T”, “U” or “V” and;
“9” key is for “W”, “X”, “Y” or “Z”.
The “*” key and “#” key are also assigned for other special uses.
Conventionally, there are a few different ways to specify a particular character by pressing the numeric keys. For instance, press “2” for “A”, “22” for “B”, “222” for “C”, or “7777” for “S”, followed by a character-break flag after each character entry. Typically, the “#” key entry or a pause is used as the character-break flag in some applications. Another way to specify a character using the numeric keys is the use of the ticker symbols, namely, exactly two numeric keys for each character. The first key indicates a group of characters in which a desired character is in. The second key points out the position of the character in the group. For example, press “2” and “1” keys for “A”, “2” and “2” for “B”, “2” and “3” for “C” or “7” and “4” for “S”.
FIG. 2A
illustrates a display screen
200
conventionally used to retrieve and display a record from a database. Screen
200
typically provides an entry area
202
in which a user can type in an index or query at cursor position
204
.
FIG. 2B
shows that a query “bakers”
206
has been typed in the entry area
202
to retrieve all records having the string “bakers”. After a predefined keystroke which initiates the search,
FIG. 2C
shows a full record
208
having a string that matches with the query for “bakers”
206
. This method, which for example is commonly seen in libraries, requires a multiple-character query input and is well suited to a system with a full-size input interface such as a computer keyboard. Often, the more detailed the query that is provided, the better the matched records that are retrieved and displayed.
Many portable devices, however, are equipped with only a reduced-size input interface such as phone keypad or some displayed soft keys. Using a phone keypad to type in a detailed query can be laborious and impractical. For example, to retrieve the full record indexed by “bakers” in
FIGS. 2A
to
2
C, the first key-in method would require a keystroke sequence of “22#2#55#33#777#7777#” and the second method would require a keystroke sequence of “222152327374”, both demanding over ten keystrokes in the phone keypad. For devices, such as a cellular phone or a two-way page, equipped with a small screen, the above conventional query methods are often workable but neither convenient nor efficient.
There is therefore a need for an improved input query technique that is well suited for devices with small screens and a limited input interface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above described problems and needs and has particular applications to portable devices with a small screen and limited input interface. The portable devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile computing devices, cellular phones, palm-sized computer devices, personal digital assistant devices and Internet-capable appliance remote controllers. According to the invention, users are able to interact with the screen and input interface of these mobile devices to obtain pertinent information with a reduced number of keystrokes or button selections.
The present invention pertains to an improved query input technique in which a user supplies a relatively few character-based query entries and is able to retrieve and display at least as portion of a record from a structured database. For every character the user enters, a progressively reduced list of indexes that start with the entered characters is displayed. When a desired index identifying the record is among those indexes being displayed, the user may cease the character entry and scroll a zoom window upon the desired index to explore the full record. Various visual feedback indicators can also be displayed for the benefit of the user. Consequently, the user can access and display pertinent information of a certain record from a database quickly and efficiently with a reduced number of keystrokes.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a user supplies a few character-based queries to retrieve and display a record from a structured database. For every alphabetical character the user enters from a numerical keypad, a progressively reduced list of indexes that start with the entered characters is displayed. When a desired index identifying the record is among those indexes being displayed, the user may cease the character entry and scroll a zoom window upon the desired index to explore the full record. According to another aspect of the present invention, the zoom window maintains a display of an index and at least one field of a record. Consequently, the user can access and display pertinent information of a certain record from a database quickly and efficiently with minimum keystrokes.
According to one embodiment, the present invention is a method for displaying a record from a structured database on a display screen of an electronic device having a reduced-size input interface. The structured database includes a plurality of records, and the records include at least one field and are indexed by indexes comprising n characters. The method includes the acts of: displaying on the display screen a portion of indexes from the structured database; receiving successively n symbols from the input interface, the n symbols sequentially and respectively corresponding to the n characters of a desired index of the indexes for the records of the structured database, each of the symbols representing a group of characters one of which corresponds to the associated n
th
character of the desired index; and displaying on the display screen a reduced portion of the indexes, including the desired index, from the structured database, the reduced portion displays those of the indexes where each of the n characters in the indexes is respectively matched by one of the characters of the group of characters represented by the each of the symbols.
According to another embodiment, the present invention is a method for displaying a record from a structured database on a screen, the record including at least one field and indexed by a desired index comprising a string of characters, the method includes the acts of: displaying on
Laursen Andrew L.
Payne Craig
Rossmann Alain S.
Wulff Jonathan M.
Alam Hosain T.
Beyer Weaver & Thomas LLP
Ly Anh
Openwave Systems Inc.
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