Automatically adding proper names to a database

• US 20020143828A1
• Filed: 03/27/2001
• Published: 10/03/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Reynar, Jeff, Ghaisas, Devika, Montero, Jose Luis
• Granted Patent: US 7,032,174 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/295 Named entity recognition
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

The correct spelling of resolved email names is automatically stored in a custom dictionary. Thereafter, a spell checker will recognize the name during the spell checking process, because the name is stored in the custom dictionary and the name will not be incorrectly marked as a spelling error. When an email editor resolves an entered email name, the email editor checks an address book or email name cache to determine whether there is an email address and/or an email display name corresponding to the name. The display name will be used to replace the email name that the user entered into the TO field. Once an email name has been resolved and the display name is provided in the TO field, the email editor will make the name available for adding to a custom dictionary. Once the display name string has been added to the custom dictionary, the email editor and any other client of the custom dictionary (e.g., a word processor) will recognize the name as being properly spelled and the name will not be incorrectly identified as a misspelled word. Additionally, the display name string can be added to any other repository of text strings, such as an auto-completion database and a smart-tags database.

Claims

1. A method for recognizing the correct spelling of a word, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an indication that a word has been entered;

automatically storing the word in a word list, in response to the indication;

comparing the word to the word list;

indicating that the word is a correctly spelled word, in response to finding a match between the word and the word list; and

indicating that the word is an incorrectly spelled word, in response to failing to find a match between the word and the word list.

2. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the word is a proper name.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the word is an email name.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of resolving the email name, wherein the indication is a message that the email name has been resolved.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of resolving the email name comprises the steps of:

comparing the email name to an email name list;

finding a matching name in the email name list, the matching name sharing at least one characteristic with the email name; and

determining a display name associated with the matching name.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of determining an email address associated with the matching name.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of receiving an indication that a word has been entered, further comprises the step of determining that the email name has been entered into a TO field of an email note.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of automatically adding the word to a word list comprises the step of storing the display name in the word list.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the word list is a dictionary.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of storing the display name in an auto-completion database.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of storing the display name in a smart-tags database.

14. The spell checker of claim 13, wherein the indication that a new word is available is generated by an email application program.

15. The spell checker of claim 14, wherein the email application enters the displayed name in the TO field, in response to receiving and resolving a new email name.

16. The spell checker of claim 15, wherein the new word is the displayed name.

17. The spell checker of claim 13, further comprising a word checking component operative to compare the entered word to the word list.

18. The spell checker of claim 17, wherein the word checking component is further operative to indicate that the entered word is misspelled, in response to a failure to find a matching word in the word list.

19. The spell checker of claim 17, wherein the word checking component is further operative to indicate that the entered word is correctly spelled, in response finding a matching word in the word list.

20. The spell checker of claim 17, wherein the entered word is entered into the body of an email note.

21. The spell checker of claim 17, wherein the entered word is entered into a word processor document.

22. The spell checker of claim 13, wherein the automatic word addition module is further operative to add the new word to an auto-completion database.

23. The spell checker of claim 13, wherein the automatic word addition module is further operative to add the new word to a smart-tags database.

25. The email application program of claim 24, wherein the other module is a spell checker.

26. The email application program of claim 25, wherein the spell checker extracts the displayed name from the email name cache and adds the displayed name to a dictionary, in response to receiving the new resolved name message.

27. The email application program of claim 24, wherein the other module is an auto-completion module.

28. The email application program of claim 27, wherein the auto-completion module extracts the displayed name from the email name cache and adds the displayed name to an auto-completion database, in response to receiving the new resolved name message.

29. The email application program of claim 24, wherein the other module is a smart-tags module.

30. The email application program of claim 29, wherein the smart-tags module extracts the displayed name from the email name cache and adds the displayed name to a smart-tags database, in response to receiving the new resolved name message.

13. A spell checker for determining whether an entered word is misspelled, comprising:

a custom dictionary containing a word list;

a message monitor for receiving an indication that a new word is available; and

an automatic word addition module operative to add the new word to the word list, in response to the message monitor receiving an indication that the new word is available;

wherein the indication that the new word is available is generated in response to the entry of a displayed name in a TO field of an email note.

24. An email application program for sending and receiving email notes, comprising:

an email name resolving module operative to determine a displayed name in response to receiving an entered email name;

a new email name reporting module operative to broadcast a new resolved name message, in response to resolving a new email name; and

an email name cache for storing the displayed name, wherein the displayed name is available for extraction from the email name cache by another module.