JP2010257403A - Input character converter - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to reduce a burden on a user when inputting a character string by predictive conversion.
An input character conversion device acquires a kana character string, displays a conversion candidate character string of the acquired kana character string on the display, and one of the conversion candidate character strings displayed on the display is displayed. When selected by a specific operation, a character string starting with the selected character string is displayed as a conversion candidate character string on the display, and one of the conversion candidate character strings displayed on the display is confirmed Is selected, the selected character string is set as a character string after conversion of the kana character string acquired by the kana character string acquisition means.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for inputting characters using a key.

  When creating an e-mail or the like on a portable terminal such as a cellular phone, characters are input by operating keys assigned “A line” to “Wa line” and numbers and symbols.

  Mobile devices are becoming smaller and the area where keys that can be operated by humans are limited, so multiple characters can be assigned to a single key to input more characters than the number of keys. It is possible. Therefore, the operation is complicated, for example, a key must be pressed a plurality of times in order to input a desired character.

  There is a so-called predictive conversion technique to compensate for the complexity of character input. In addition to displaying the conversion candidates of the reading kana character or kana character string (hereinafter referred to as “reading character string”) input to perform kana-kanji conversion, the reading that will follow the reading character string is displayed. This technique predicts a character string and displays it as a conversion candidate character string (hereinafter referred to as “conversion candidate”).

  For example, when “A” is input, a reading character string “ASU” starting with “A” is predicted as a predicted character string, and “Tomorrow” which is the converted Kanji character is displayed as a conversion candidate.

  Furthermore, in recent years, a technique for further narrowing down and displaying character strings displayed by this predictive conversion has been developed.

  For example, when the reading character string is long, the first few characters are input, and then a symbol indicating the character, for example, “#” is input for the number of the following characters, so that the user can convert the kana-kanji character after conversion. Conversion candidates of characters or character strings (hereinafter referred to as “character strings after conversion”) are narrowed down and displayed (see Patent Document 1, etc.).

  According to this technique, instead of inputting the subsequent character, it is only necessary to press the key once and enter “#”, and the conversion candidates are narrowed down and displayed. Is more likely to be displayed.

JP 2006-236201 A

  However, in this technique, the conversion candidates are narrowed down based on the first few characters of the reading character string and the length of the reading character string. Therefore, if the number of the first few characters is small, the length of the reading character string is reduced. In many cases, however, the number of conversion candidates is not so small even if it is a requirement for narrowing down.

  Therefore, in order to reduce the number of conversion candidates, it is necessary for the user to input more numbers of the first characters of the read character string, and it is often difficult to reduce the burden on the user.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the burden on the user when inputting a character string by predictive conversion.

  An input character conversion device according to one aspect of the present invention is an input character conversion device that has a display and converts a kana character string composed of one or more kana characters, and acquires a kana character string. An acquisition means; a first conversion candidate display means for displaying a conversion candidate character string obtained by the kana character string acquisition means on the display; and 1 of the conversion candidate character strings displayed on the display. And a second conversion candidate display means for displaying on the display a character string starting with the selected character string as a conversion candidate character string.

  The input character conversion device configured as described above can reduce the user's operational burden for displaying a desired character string.

It is a figure which shows the example of the screen at the time of the external appearance of a mobile telephone, and a character input process. It is a block diagram which shows the example of a functional structure of a mobile telephone. It is a figure which shows the example of a structure and content of a 1st conversion candidate table. It is a figure which shows the example of a structure and content of a 2nd conversion candidate table. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen transition. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen transition. It is a flowchart which shows a character input process. It is a figure which shows the example of the screen transition of a modification.

<Embodiment>
<Overview>
In the conventional character input by predictive conversion, a read character string following a read character string input by a user is predicted, and a conversion candidate is created by converting the predicted read character string into kana / kanji.

  The input character conversion device according to the embodiment predicts a character string following the conversion candidate selected by the user, in addition to predicting a character string that follows the character string input by the user and creating a conversion candidate. To create conversion candidates.

  That is, when the user has to input a long reading character string, input the first few characters of the reading character string, select the desired converted character string from the input reading character string conversion candidates, The selection of the character string subsequent to the selected character string after conversion is repeated. For example, if you want to enter “Doghouse”, enter “I”, select the conversion candidate “Dog” as the converted character string, and then select “Doghouse”, the conversion candidate for “Dog”. To do.

  That is, it is not necessary to perform complicated operations for inputting characters, but instead, it is possible to input a target character string after kana-kanji conversion by simply performing an operation of repeatedly selecting conversion candidates.

  Therefore, in the input device according to the embodiment, when inputting a long reading character string, conversion candidates can be narrowed down with fewer key operations, and the burden on the user can be reduced. Since it is possible to reduce the complexity by reducing the number of key operations for character input, it is possible to improve input speed and reduce errors in key operations.

  Hereinafter, a mobile phone will be described as an example of the input character conversion device.

<Function>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the appearance of a mobile phone according to the embodiment and a screen during character input processing.

  The cellular phone 1000 is a so-called foldable cellular phone, and FIG. 1 shows the opened cellular phone 1000 as viewed from the front.

  A cellular phone 1000 includes a first housing 1001, a second housing 1002, and a hinge 1003 that couples these.

  The first housing 1001 includes a display 2000.

  When the user inputs characters, the display 2000 displays three screens side by side. They are a character input screen 2010, a prediction conversion screen 2020, and a soft key display screen 2030.

  The character input screen 2010 is a screen for displaying a text such as an email created by the user, and is a screen for displaying a converted character string and a read character string.

  The prediction conversion screen 2020 is a screen that displays conversion candidates by prediction conversion of the read character string displayed on the character input screen 2010.

  The soft key display screen 2030 is a screen for displaying soft keys used in the character input process.

  The soft key “confirm” displayed on the soft key display screen 2030 is a key for confirming the conversion candidate of the read character string, and the soft key “sound lesson” is a key for displaying the sound lesson conversion candidate. The soft key “succeeding” is a key for displaying conversion candidates by further prediction conversion of the conversion candidates by the selected prediction conversion. The soft key “alphanumeric” is a key for converting a reading character string into alphabetic characters, numbers, or kana.

  The second housing 1002 includes operation keys. The operation keys are classified into a soft key corresponding key 10, a function key 20, and a character input key 30.

  Of the soft key corresponding keys 10, the key 11 corresponds to the soft key “OK”. In addition, the key 13, the key 14, and the key 16 correspond to the soft key “sound lesson”, the soft key “following”, and the soft key “alphanumeric”, respectively. The key 15 is not used in the character input process.

  Of the soft key corresponding keys 10, the key 12 is a key used to move the cursor displayed on the display 2000 up, down, left and right.

  Hereinafter, the key 13, the key 14, and the key 16 are referred to as a “sound lesson key 13”, a “following key 14”, and an “alphanumeric key 16”, respectively. The keys 11 and 12 are referred to as “confirmation key 11” and “movement key 12”, respectively.

  The key “call” of the function key 20 is a telephone call key, and the key “disconnect” is a telephone call disconnect key. These two keys are not used in the character input process. The key “Clear” is a key for erasing the converted character string or the read character string displayed on the character input screen 2010.

  The character input key 30 is a so-called numeric keypad, and is a key for inputting characters associated with each key. In FIG. 1, numbers are described for each key, but “A” to “W” are associated with the numbers. For example, “A” is assigned to the key “1”, and “K” is assigned to the key “2”.

  Next, functions of the mobile phone 1000 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the mobile phone 1000.

  The cellular phone 1000 includes an overall control unit 1100, an interface unit 1200, a character input control unit 1300, an input character display unit 1400, a conversion candidate character display unit 1500, a first conversion candidate acquisition unit 1600, a second conversion candidate acquisition unit 1700, a conversion It has a dictionary storage unit 1800, a conversion candidate table storage unit 1900, and a display 2000.

  The overall control unit 1100 has a function of performing general control processes necessary for the mobile phone such as a call, an incoming call, and creation of an e-mail, and transferring control to the character input control unit 1300 when performing the character input process.

  Next, the interface unit 1200 includes an operation key of the second housing 1002 and has a function of detecting an operation from the user, for example, a key press.

  The character input control unit 1300 has a function of issuing an instruction to each function unit described below to perform character input processing. For example, the input character display unit 1400 is requested to display a kana character by pressing the key and the like, and a display request is made to the input character display unit 1400. . If the pressed key or the like is an instruction to move the cursor, the input character display unit 1400 is instructed to move the cursor.

  The character input control unit 1300 has a function of storing the input reading character string in the work memory.

  The input character display unit 1400 has a function of displaying a converted character string, a read character string, a cursor, and the like on the character input screen 2010 of the display 2000. Further, it stores a character string to be displayed on the screen, and has a function of scrolling when the displayed character string does not fit on one page.

  Further, the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 has a function of displaying a conversion candidate, a cursor, and the like for prediction conversion on the prediction conversion screen 2020 of the display 2000. In addition, conversion candidates to be displayed on the screen are stored, and when the conversion candidates to be displayed do not fit on one page, a scrolling function is provided.

  The first conversion candidate acquisition unit 1600 has a function of acquiring conversion candidates for reading character strings. Specifically, conversion candidates are acquired from the dictionary data stored in the conversion dictionary storage unit 1800, a first conversion candidate table is created, and stored in the conversion candidate table storage unit 1900. If the conversion candidate of the same reading character string has been acquired before, the conversion candidate is acquired from the first conversion candidate table stored in the conversion candidate table storage unit 1900.

  The second conversion candidate acquisition unit 1700 has a function of acquiring a conversion candidate that matches forward with the selected conversion candidate. Specifically, a part of the conversion candidates of the first conversion candidate table stored in the conversion candidate table storage unit 1900 is extracted, a second conversion candidate table is created and stored in the conversion candidate table storage unit 1900. If a conversion candidate that matches the selected conversion candidate in the forward direction is not registered in the first conversion candidate table, the conversion candidate is acquired from the dictionary data stored in the conversion dictionary storage unit 1800.

  The conversion dictionary storage unit 1800 has a function of storing so-called kana-kanji conversion dictionary data in which a reading character string is associated with a character string after kana-kanji conversion.

  The conversion candidate table storage unit 1900 has a function of storing conversion candidate tables acquired by the first conversion candidate acquisition unit 1600 and the second conversion candidate acquisition unit 1700.

  The display 2000 includes a display panel such as a liquid crystal, and has a function of displaying a mail text, a conversion candidate, and the like on the display according to an instruction from the input character display unit 1400 or the conversion candidate character display unit 1500.

  All or part of the functions described above are realized by the CPU of the mobile phone 1000 executing a program recorded in the memory or the like of the mobile phone 1000.

<Data>
Next, data used in the mobile phone 1000 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Data described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 is data stored in the conversion candidate table storage unit 1900.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration and contents of the first conversion candidate table 1910.

  The first conversion candidate table 1910 is a conversion candidate table acquired by the conversion candidate acquisition unit 1700 from the dictionary data stored in the conversion dictionary storage unit 1800 based on the reading character string.

  The first conversion candidate table 1910 is stored in the conversion candidate table storage unit 1900 for each reading character string, and is newly created and stored when the user inputs a reading character string that is not stored.

  The first conversion candidate table 1910 has a candidate number 1911, a conversion candidate 1912, and a kana number 1913.

  The candidate number 1911 indicates the number of the conversion candidate record registered in the first conversion candidate table 1910. This number is smaller for the latest conversion candidate selected by the user. When the conversion candidate is determined, the determined conversion candidate is set as the conversion candidate 1912 with the candidate number 1911 “1”, and the conversion candidates set in the original conversion candidate 1912 are shifted one by one to the candidate number. A conversion candidate 1912 of 1911 “2” or less is set.

  A conversion candidate 1912 indicates a conversion candidate for a reading character string.

  The kana number 1913 indicates the number of conversion candidate readings indicated by the conversion candidate 1912.

  For example, the first conversion candidate table 1910 in FIG. 3 is a table of conversion candidates for the reading character string “Ai”.

  Next, FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration and contents of the second conversion candidate table 1920.

  The second conversion candidate table 1920 is a table of conversion candidates extracted from the first conversion candidate table 1910 based on the conversion candidates selected from the first conversion candidate table 1910. Specifically, a conversion candidate that matches forward with the selected conversion candidate is extracted.

  This table is deleted from the conversion candidate table storage unit 1900 when conversion candidates are determined.

  The second conversion candidate table 1920 has a candidate number 1921 and a conversion candidate 1922.

  The candidate number 1921 indicates the number of the conversion candidate record registered in the second conversion candidate table 1920.

  A conversion candidate 1922 indicates a conversion candidate extracted based on the selected conversion candidate.

<Operation procedure>
Here, an operation procedure of character input in the cellular phone 1000 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  5 and 6 are diagrams illustrating examples of screen transitions in the character input process.

  5 and 6 show transitions of display contents of the character input screen 2010 and the prediction conversion screen 2020 of the display 2000, and FIG. 6 is a continuation of FIG.

  5 and 6, a screen surrounded by a dotted line indicates that the control is transferred to this screen, that is, a screen on which a user operation is reflected. The reverse character indicates a character string focused by the cursor. A triangle on the movement key 12 indicates a portion pressed by the user, and the cursor is moved by pressing each portion. For example, pressing the right triangle moves the cursor to the right.

  First, when “Ai” is input on the character input screen 2010, conversion candidates are displayed on the prediction conversion screen 2020 (see transition screen 1).

  Here, the cursor is moved to the right by the movement key 12.

  “Ai →” is displayed on the character input screen 2010, and conversion candidates with three reading character strings starting with “Ai” are displayed on the prediction conversion screen 2020 (see transition screen 2-1). Here, “3 characters” of the reading character string means three characters that are the sum of the number of characters of the input reading character string “Ai” and the number of arrows “→”.

  Here, when the left key is moved with the movement key 12, the state of the transition screen 1 is restored.

  In the state of the transition screen 2-1, the cursor is moved further to the right by the movement key 12.

  “Ai →→” is displayed on the character input screen 2010, and conversion candidates with four reading character strings starting with “Ai” are displayed on the prediction conversion screen 2020 (see transition screen 2-2).

  Next, when the cursor is moved downward with the movement key 12 in the state of the transition screen 2-1, the cursor moves to the prediction conversion screen 2020. Here, the cursor is further moved down with the movement key 12 to bring the conversion candidate “ice” into a focused state, that is, a selected state (see transition screen 3-1).

  Here, when the confirm key 11 is pressed, the conversion candidate “ice” is confirmed (see the transition screen 3-2).

  When the subsequent key 14 is pressed in the state of the transition screen 3-1, a conversion candidate that matches the conversion candidate “ice” selected by the cursor in front is displayed on the prediction conversion screen 2020 (transition screen 4- 1).

  When the confirmation key 11 is pressed, the conversion candidate “ice cream” is confirmed (see transition screen 4-2), and when the subsequent key 14 is pressed, a conversion candidate that matches the conversion candidate “ice cream” is predicted. It is displayed on the conversion screen 2020 (see transition screen 5-1).

  When the confirmation key 11 is pressed in the state of the transition screen 5-1, the conversion candidate “ice cream parfait” is confirmed (see the transition screen 5-2).

  In this manner, by gradually narrowing down conversion candidates, it is possible to easily reach the target character string.

  That is, when a short reading character string is input to obtain a conversion candidate for a long reading character string, conventionally, the target character string has to be found from a large number of conversion candidates. For example, a large number of conversion candidates are extracted simply by inputting a short reading character string “Ai”. When there are a large number of conversion candidates, it is not possible to fit on one page of the prediction conversion screen 2020, and it is necessary to switch pages. Furthermore, it may not be displayed on the prediction conversion screen 2020 as a conversion candidate due to memory limitations.

  Therefore, the target “ice cream parfait” must be obtained by continuing to move the cursor or by re-entering the reading character string. This not only increases the burden due to the large number of operations, but also causes a key operation error. If a mistake occurs, a new operation for correcting the mistake is further required.

  In the input character conversion apparatus according to the embodiment, a “successor key” is newly provided to narrow down conversion candidates that coincide with the conversion candidate selected by the cursor. By doing this, it is possible to obtain a target character string simply by moving the cursor, selecting a conversion candidate, and pressing the subsequent key 14 repeatedly.

<Operation>
Hereinafter, the operation of the mobile phone 1000 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing character input processing of the mobile phone 1000.

  A case where the user of the mobile phone 1000 inputs the mail text will be described as an example.

  When the interface unit 1200 detects a user operation such as pressing an operation key, the interface unit 1200 notifies the overall control unit 1100 of the operation.

  Receiving the notification, the overall control unit 1100 determines that the notified user operation is an instruction for mail creation, performs initial processing for mail creation, and then requests the character input control unit 1300 to perform character input processing. .

  Upon receiving the request, the character input control unit 1300 waits for the user's character input operation.

  The interface unit 1200 detects a user's character input operation and notifies the character input control unit 1300 of the detected operation.

  Upon receiving the notification, the character input control unit 1300 determines the kana character input from the notified user operation (step S100), and passes the determined kana character as a read character string to the input character display unit 1400 to request display. To do.

  The input character display unit 1400 that has received the request displays the requested kana character on the character input screen 2010 of the display 2000 as a read character string (step S110).

  The character input control unit 1300 that has requested the input character display unit 1400 to display the kana character passes the requested kana character as a read character string to the first conversion candidate acquisition unit 1600 and requests creation of the first conversion candidate table 1910. .

  When making a request, if the reading character string is already stored in the working memory, the character input control unit 1300 sends the reading character string to which the determined kana character is added to the first conversion candidate acquisition unit 1600 and makes a request. .

  For example, when “I” is input, if the reading character string “A” is already stored in the working memory, “I” is added and stored, and “Ai” is read as the reading character string for the first conversion. The data is passed to the candidate acquisition unit 1600. The character input control unit 1300 deletes the stored read character string when the conversion candidate is determined.

  Upon receiving the request, the first conversion candidate acquisition unit 1600 checks whether or not the first conversion candidate table 1910 of the read character string passed from the character input control unit 1300 is already stored in the conversion candidate table storage unit 1900.

  If already stored, the stored first conversion candidate table 1910 is transferred to the character input control unit 1300.

  When not stored, the conversion candidate of the reading character string passed from the input character display unit 1400 is acquired from the dictionary data stored in the conversion dictionary storage unit 1800, and the first conversion candidate table 1910 is created.

  For example, when a reading character string “Ai” is input, a word whose reading starts with “Ai” is acquired from the dictionary data, and the first conversion candidate table 1910 shown in FIG. 3 is created.

  The first conversion candidate acquisition unit 1600 stores the created first conversion candidate table 1910 in the conversion candidate table storage unit 1900 and passes it to the character input control unit 1300. Alternatively, if it has already been created and stored, the stored first conversion candidate table 1910 is passed.

  The character input control unit 1300 that has received the first conversion candidate table 1910 reads out the conversion candidates 1912 of all the registered records, and passes them to the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 in the order of candidate numbers 1911 to request display. .

  Upon receiving the request, the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 displays the requested conversion candidates on the predictive conversion screen 2020 of the display 2000 in the order of transfer (see step S120, transition screen 1 in FIG. 5).

  In this state, the character input control unit 1300 that has received the user operation notification from the interface unit 1200, when the notified user operation is the character input key 30 (step S130: character input key), inputs the reading character string. Therefore, the processing of step S100 to step S120 is performed.

  The character input control unit 1300 is an instruction to change the number of characters in the reading character string when the user operation notified from the interface unit 1200 is the right or left pressing of the movement key 12 (step S130: left / right movement key). Judge.

  The character input control unit 1300 that has determined that the instruction is to change the number of characters in the reading character string requests the input character display unit 1400 to display “→” when the right side of the movement key 12 is pressed. Upon receiving the request, the input character display unit 1400 displays “→”.

  When the left side of the movement key 12 is pressed, the input character display unit 1400 is requested to delete “→”. Upon receiving the request, the input character display unit 1400 deletes one character “→” (step S140). If “→” is not displayed, nothing is deleted.

  The character input control unit 1300 that has requested the input character display unit 1400 to display or delete “→” performs first conversion of the read character string, the number of characters in the read character string, and the number of characters specified by adding the number of “→”. The data is transferred to the candidate acquisition unit 1600, and a request is made to create the first conversion candidate table 1910.

  For example, when “Ai →” is displayed on the character input screen 2010, the reading character string “Ai” and the designated number of characters “3” are passed to the first conversion candidate acquisition unit 1600.

  Upon receiving the request, the first conversion candidate acquisition unit 1600 refers to the first conversion candidate table 1910 for the read character string passed from the input character display unit 1400, and converts the record whose kana number 1913 is the same as the specified number of characters. Candidate 1612 is read, a list of conversion candidates for the specified number of characters is created, and passed to character input control unit 1300.

  The character input control unit 1300 to which the conversion candidate list of the designated number of characters has been passed passes the conversion candidate list to the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 and requests display.

  The requested conversion candidate character display unit 1500 displays the requested conversion candidate on the prediction conversion screen 2020 of the display 2000 (see step S150, transition screen 2-1 and transition screen 2-2 in FIG. 5).

  In response to the user operation notification from the interface unit 1200, the character input control unit 1300 selects a conversion candidate when the notified user operation is a lower press of the movement key 12 (step S130: down movement key). Judge that it is an instruction.

  The character input control unit 1300 that has been determined to be an instruction to select a conversion candidate requests the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 to display a cursor.

  Upon receiving the request, the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 displays a cursor so that the first conversion candidate displayed on the prediction conversion screen 2020 is focused.

  Here, the user moves the cursor by pressing the upper or lower side of the movement key 12, and moves the cursor to the intended conversion candidate.

  The character input control unit 1300 that has received the user operation notification from the interface unit 1200 that has detected the pressing of the movement key 12 requests the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 to move the cursor. Upon receiving the request, the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 moves the cursor so as to focus the displayed conversion candidates in order (see step S160, transition screen 3-1 in FIG. 5).

  In this state, the character input control unit 1300 that has received the user operation notification from the interface unit 1200 determines that the notified user operation is an instruction indicating the end of the character input process (step S170: end instruction). Then, the control unit 1100 is notified of the end. Receiving the notification, the overall control unit 1100 finishes creating the mail.

  When the user operation notified from the interface unit 1200 is a press of the confirmation key 11 (step S170: Confirm), the character input control unit 1300 determines that the instruction is to confirm the conversion candidate.

  The character input control unit 1300 that has determined that it is an instruction to determine the conversion candidate inquires the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 about the conversion candidate currently focused on by the cursor.

  Upon receiving the inquiry, the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 returns the conversion candidate at the cursor position to the character input control unit 1300.

  Upon receiving the conversion candidate, the character input control unit 1300 sends the received conversion candidate as a converted character string to the input character display unit 1400 to request display.

  Upon receiving the request, the input character display unit 1400 displays the passed converted character string instead of the currently displayed reading character string (see step S200, transition screen 3-2 in FIG. 5).

  The character input control unit 1300 that requested the display deletes the read character string stored in the work memory. Further, the order of records registered in the first conversion candidate table 1910 is changed. Specifically, the conversion candidate determined is changed to become the change candidate 1912 of the record with the candidate number “1”.

  In addition, when the user operation notified from the interface unit 1200 is a press of the subsequent key 14 (step S170: subsequent), the character input control unit 1300 determines that it is an instruction to narrow down conversion candidates.

  The character input control unit 1300 that has determined that it is an instruction to narrow down the conversion candidates inquires of the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 about the currently selected conversion candidate, that is, the conversion candidate focused by the cursor.

  Upon receiving the inquiry, the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 returns the conversion candidate at the cursor position to the character input control unit 1300.

  Receiving the conversion candidate, the character input control unit 1300 passes the received conversion candidate to the second conversion candidate acquisition unit 1700 and requests creation of the second conversion candidate table 1920.

  Upon receiving the request, the second conversion candidate acquisition unit 1700 selects, from the conversion candidates registered in the conversion candidate 1912 of the first conversion candidate table 1910, a conversion candidate that matches the received conversion candidate and matches the second conversion candidate table. 1920 is created (step S180).

  For example, when the subsequent key is pressed when the conversion candidate “ice” is focused with the cursor, the second conversion candidate table 1920 shown in FIG. 4 is created from the first conversion candidate table 1910 shown in FIG. That is, a conversion candidate that matches forward with “ice” is extracted.

  The second conversion candidate acquisition unit 1700 stores the created second conversion candidate table 1920 in the conversion candidate table storage unit 1900 and passes it to the character input control unit 1300.

  The character input control unit 1300 to which the second conversion candidate table 1920 is passed reads out the conversion candidates 1922 of all the records and passes them to the conversion candidate character display unit 1500 to request display.

  The requested conversion candidate character display unit 1500 displays the requested conversion candidate on the prediction conversion screen 2020 of the display 2000 and displays a cursor so that the first conversion candidate displayed on the prediction conversion screen 2020 is focused. (Step S190). Thereafter, the cursor is moved to focus the conversion candidate (see transition screen 4-1 in FIG. 6).

  In this state, when the interface unit 1200 detects that the enter key 11 is pressed, the process of step S200 is performed (see the transition screen 4-2 in FIG. 6). Further, when it is detected that the subsequent key 14 is pressed, the processing in steps S180 to S190 is performed (see transition screen 5-1 and transition screen 5-2 in FIG. 6).

<Modification>
In the embodiment, when the subsequent key 14 is pressed, the second conversion candidate table 1920 is extracted from the first conversion candidate table 1910 and created.

  The modification differs in that the second conversion candidate table 1920 is not extracted from the first conversion candidate table 1910 and is generated, but is newly generated from dictionary data.

  At this time, the conversion candidate that matches the conversion candidate selected when the subsequent key 14 is pressed is extracted in the same manner as in the embodiment.

  However, when extracting from the first conversion candidate table 1910, a conversion candidate in which both the reading character string and the converted character string coincide with each other is extracted. However, when extracting from the dictionary data, only the converted character string is extracted. Is different in that a conversion candidate with a forward matching is extracted. That is, conversion candidates with different readings are also extracted.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen transition of the character input process according to the modification. FIG. 8 shows an example in which the reading character string “A” is input.

  On the transition screen 3-1 in FIG. 8, “Love” is focused by the cursor as the converted character string. The reading character string at this time is “A” as shown in the transition screen 2-1.

  When the subsequent key 14 is pressed here, a transition screen 4-1 is displayed. The conversion candidates displayed on the prediction conversion screen 2020 at this time are not limited to those whose reading starts with “A”. For example, “Ehime” starts with “E”. Also, “love girl” starts with “ma”.

  By doing this, if you remember a letter but forgot to read it, enter the reading of the first known letter, display the first letter as a conversion candidate, and press the subsequent key at that stage There is an effect that the intended character string after conversion can be displayed.

  For example, if you forget to read “Love Girl” and enter “Ai”, the conversion candidate “Ai” is displayed, where “Love” is focused and the subsequent key 14 is pressed. When pressed, “Daughter” can be displayed as a conversion candidate.

  In addition, when the user knows the reading but requires a large number of key operations to input, there is also an effect that the intended converted character string can be displayed by inputting the reading with few key operations.

  For example, when “red cross” is input, the reading of “red cross” is “sekijuji”. Therefore, if you want to display “red”, press the key to which the row is assigned four times to enter “se”, and press the key to which the row is assigned twice to “ki”. Enter. However, when inputting “a” and “ka”, it is only necessary to press the key to which the line is assigned once and the key to which the line is assigned once. If “Red” is selected and the subsequent key is pressed, “Red Cross” is displayed.

<Supplement>
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not restricted to the said form, You may make it as follows.
(1) In the embodiment, the mobile phone has been described as an example of the input character conversion device, but another device may be used. Not only a portable device but also a stationary device may be used.
(2) In the mobile phone 1000, all or some of the components shown in FIG. 2 and the like may be realized by an integrated circuit of one chip or a plurality of chips.
(3) The mobile phone 1000 may be realized by all or part of the components shown in FIG. 2 or the like by a computer program, or may be implemented in any other form.

  In the case of a computer program, a program written on any recording medium such as a memory card or CD-ROM may be read and executed by a computer, or a program may be downloaded and executed via a network. Also good.

10 Soft-corresponding key 20 Function key 30 Character input key 1000 Mobile phone 1001 First case 1002 Second case 1003 Hinge 1100 Overall control unit 1200 Interface unit 1300 Character input control unit 1400 Input character control unit 1500 Conversion candidate character display unit 1600 First conversion candidate acquisition unit 1700 Second conversion candidate acquisition unit 1800 Conversion dictionary storage unit 1900 Conversion candidate table storage unit 2000 Display

Claims (5)

An input character conversion device that has a display and converts a kana character string composed of one or more kana characters,
A kana character string obtaining means for obtaining a kana character string;
First conversion candidate display means for displaying on the display a character string of a kana character string conversion candidate acquired by the kana character string acquisition means;
When one of the conversion candidate character strings displayed on the display is selected by a specific operation, a second conversion that displays a character string starting with the selected character string on the display as a conversion candidate character string An input character conversion device comprising candidate display means. The input character conversion device includes:
When one of the conversion candidate character strings displayed on the display is selected by a confirming operation, the selected character string is converted into a kana character string obtained by the kana character string obtaining means. The input character conversion device according to claim 1, further comprising kana conversion means for converting the character string. The second conversion candidate display means is a character string starting with the selected character string, and a character string starting with reading of the kana character string acquired by the kana character string acquisition means is used as the conversion candidate character string. The input character conversion device according to claim 1, which is displayed on a display. A conversion method used in an input character conversion device that has a display and converts a kana character string composed of one or more kana characters,
A kana character string acquisition step for acquiring a kana character string;
A first conversion candidate display step for displaying a conversion candidate character string acquired in the kana character string acquisition step on the display;
When one of the conversion candidate character strings displayed on the display is selected by a specific operation, a second conversion that displays a character string starting with the selected character string on the display as a conversion candidate character string A conversion method comprising: a candidate display step. A computer program for causing an input character conversion device having a display to convert a kana character string composed of one or more kana characters,
The kana character string acquisition process for acquiring the kana character string is executed,
Executing a first conversion candidate display process for displaying the conversion target character string of the kana character string acquired in the kana character string acquisition process on the display;
When one of the conversion candidate character strings displayed on the display is selected by a specific operation, a second conversion that displays a character string starting with the selected character string on the display as a conversion candidate character string A computer program that executes candidate display processing.

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