METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR UPDATING DATABASE OF AUTOMATIC SPELLING CORRECTIONS

• US 20020010726A1
• Filed: 03/28/2000
• Published: 01/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DataCloud Technologies, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Ariel Shai Rogson
• Inventors: Rogson, Ariel Shai
• Granted Patent: US 6,918,086 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/533
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/232 Orthographic correction, e.g. spell checking or vowelisation

Abstract

Abstract of Disclosure

When the user enters a word in a document, the word is parsed. If the word is misspelled, a static update list is checked to see if the misspelled word has an automatic correction. If the word is not in the static update list and the user corrects the misspelling, the misspelled word and the correction are both captured in a list. If the user corrects the misspelling a sufficient number of times, the static update list can itself be dynamically updated to recognize the correction regularly entered by the user.

Claims

1. A method for updating a static update list of pairs of misspelled and correctly spelled words in a document with a spell checking program on a computer, the method comprising:

parsing a misspelled word as entered into the document;

verifying that the misspelled word is not spelled correctly;

receiving a corrected spelling of the misspelled word; and

updating the static update list of pairs of misspelled and correctly spelled words.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein updating the static update list includes tracking a measure of how useful it would be to add the misspelled word and the correctly spelled word to the static update list.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein tracking a measure includes incrementing a count of how many times the misspelled word has been parsed and the correctly spelled word received.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein updating the static update list includes adding the misspelled and correctly spelled words to the static update list if the count of how many times the misspelled word has been parsed and the correctly spelled word received exceeds a threshold.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein updating the static update list of pairs of misspelled and correctly spelled words includes storing the misspelled word and the correctly spelled word in a dynamic update list.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein updating the static update list of pairs of misspelled and correctly spelled words further includes updating the static update list of pairs of misspelled and correctly spelled words from the dynamic update list.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein verifying that the misspelled word is not spelled correctly includes finding that the misspelled word is not in the static update list of pairs of misspelled and correctly spelled words.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein receiving a corrected spelling includes:

removing the misspelled word from the document; and

entering the correctly spelled word into the document.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein removing the misspelled word and entering the correctly spelled word is done by a user.

10. A method according to claim 1, wherein updating the static update list of pairs of misspelled and correctly spelled words includes replacing an alternate correctly spelled word for the misspelled word in the static update list with the correctly spelled word.

11. A computer-readable medium containing a program to update a static update list of misspelled and correctly spelled words in a document with a spell checking program on a computer, the program comprising:

parsing software to parse a misspelled word as entered into the document;

verification software to verify that the misspelled word is not spelled correctly;

first reception software to receive a corrected spelling of the misspelled word; and

updating software to update the static update list of misspelled and correctly spelled words.

12. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 11, wherein the updating software includes replacement software to replace an alternate correctly spelled word for the misspelled word in the static update list with the correctly spelled word.

13. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 12 wherein the updating software further includes:

presentation software to present a user with a choice of the correctly spelled word and the alternate correctly spelled word as the correction for the misspelled word;

second reception software to receive from the user a selected correction word; and

substitution software to substitute the selected correction word for the alternate correctly spelled word in the static update list.

14. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 13 wherein:

the presentation software includes display software to display a dialog box on screen; and

the second reception software includes reception software to receive a selection in the dialog box from the user.

15. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 13 wherein:

the second reception software includes third reception software to receive from the user the rejection of both the correctly spelled word and the alternate correctly spelled word; and

the substitution software includes removal software to remove the misspelled word and both the correctly spelled word and the alternate correctly spelled word from the static update list.

16. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 11, wherein the verification software includes finding software to find that the misspelled word is not in the static update list of pairs of misspelled and correctly spelled words.

17. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 11, wherein the reception software includes:

removal software to remove the misspelled word from the document; and

entering software to enter the correctly spelled word into the document.

18. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 11, wherein the removal software and entering software are used by a user.

19. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 11, wherein the updating software includes tracking software to track a measure of how useful it would be to add the misspelled word and the correctly spelled word to the static update list.

20. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 19, wherein the tracking software includes incrementing software to increment a count of how many times the misspelled word has been parsed and the correctly spelled word received.

21. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 20, wherein the updating software includes adding software to add the misspelled and correctly spelled words to the static update list if the count of how many times the misspelled word has been parsed and the correctly spelled word received exceeds a threshold.

22. A computer-readable medium containing a program according to claim 11, wherein the updating software includes storage software to store the misspelled word and the correctly spelled word in a dynamic update list.

23. An apparatus for correcting misspelled words in a document, the apparatus comprising:

a computer and document editor program;

a spell-checking program running on the computer in conjunction with the document editor program;

a static update list of pairs of first misspelled and known correctly spelled words;

a dynamic update list of pairs of second misspelled words and possibly correctly spelled words; and

a measure for each pair in the dynamic update list indicating whether it is worth adding at least one of the second misspelled words and at least one of the possibly correctly spelled words to the static update list.

24. An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the measures of the dynamic update list are counters.

25. An apparatus according to claim 24, the apparatus further comprising an incrementer incrementing the counters of the dynamic update list.

26. An apparatus according to claim 23, the apparatus further comprising a first update unit for updating the static update list from the dynamic update list.

27. An apparatus according to claim 23, the apparatus further comprising a second update unit for updating the dynamic update list from the document editor program.

28. A data structure in a computer memory device for storing a dynamic update list of correctly spelled words as replacements for misspelled words, the data structure comprising:

a series of entries, wherein each entry includes;

29. A data structure according to claim 28, wherein the measure indicating whether it is worth adding the misspelled word and the correctly spelled word to a static update list includes a counter storing the number of times the correctly spelled word replaced the misspelled word.

30. A data structure according to claim 28, wherein the entries are organized to optimize searching, insertion, and deletion.