HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING FACILITATED INPUT AND ASSOCIATED METHOD
First Claim
1. A method of enabling data entry into a handheld electronic device, said data entry including a plurality of data elements, said method comprising:
- providing a database having data representing a plurality of geographic regions wherein each geographic region has a corresponding postal code format;
displaying a geographic region field, said geographic region field structured to receive input;
displaying a postal code field, said postal code field structured to receive input;
detecting a first input in said geographic region field;
identifying a geographic region based on said first input;
automatically selecting, based on said database, the postal code format corresponding to the geographic region;
detecting a second input in said postal code field; and
processing said detected second input according to said selected corresponding postal code format to obtain a second of said data elements, said second of said data elements conforming to said selected postal code format.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved handheld electronic device and an improved method facilitate the entry of data when the data is to be of a particular arrangement of alphabetic (A) and/or numeric (N) and/or other characters. In the depicted exemplary embodiment, the handheld electronic device includes a user interface that facilitates the entry of postal codes, zip codes, and the like that vary from country to country by processing key inputs according to a data format that has been selected on the basis of its correspondence with a country. In the example of address data, the handheld electronic device detects the entry of country-specific data, such as the name of the country or one of its geographic regions, and selects a corresponding data format for processing keystrokes during entry of postal codes, zip codes, or other codes.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of enabling data entry into a handheld electronic device, said data entry including a plurality of data elements, said method comprising:
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providing a database having data representing a plurality of geographic regions wherein each geographic region has a corresponding postal code format; displaying a geographic region field, said geographic region field structured to receive input; displaying a postal code field, said postal code field structured to receive input; detecting a first input in said geographic region field; identifying a geographic region based on said first input; automatically selecting, based on said database, the postal code format corresponding to the geographic region; detecting a second input in said postal code field; and processing said detected second input according to said selected corresponding postal code format to obtain a second of said data elements, said second of said data elements conforming to said selected postal code format. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A handheld electronic device structured to enable data entry, said data entry including a plurality of data elements, said handheld electronic device comprising:
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a keyboard including a plurality of keys; a display; a processor including a memory, a database and a routine; said database having data representing a plurality of geographic regions wherein each geographic region has a corresponding postal code format; said routine being adapted to respond to input signals from said keys and to generate output signals to said display; said routine being adapted to display a geographic region field and a postal code field, said geographic region field structured to receive input, and said postal code structured to receive input; said routine being adapted to detect a first input in said geographic region field and to process said first input to identify a geographic region based on said first input; said routine being further adapted to automatically select, based on said database, the postal code format corresponding to the geographic region; said routine being adapted to generate a first of said output signals to said display in response to detecting said first input; said routine being adapted to generate a first of said output signals to said display in response to detecting said first input; said routine being adapted to detect a second input from said keys; and responsive to said detected second input, said routine being adapted to process said detected second input according to said corresponding postal code format to obtain a second of said data elements and to generate a second of said output signals to said display. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification