HANDWRITING TEMPLATES

• US 20090161959A1
• Filed: 12/21/2007
• Published: 06/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: GARSIDE, ADRIAN JAMES, MARKIEWICZ, JAN-KRISTIAN, KOTIPALI, KRISHNA
• Granted Patent: US 8,064,702 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/187
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1423 the instrument generating sequences of position coordinates corresponding to handwriting preprocessing or recognising digital ink G06V30/32

Abstract

Apparatuses, methods, and computer-storage media provide character string templates to facilitate receiving non-prose handwriting input from a user and converting that input to text to create character strings capable of being provided to application and/or displayed to the user. Templates may be provided manually or automatically, and may or may not be associated with an application text box. A template generally contains pre-populated segments and open segments for receiving handwriting.

Claims

1. One or more computer-storage media embodying computer-useable instructions for performing a method for using a template to facilitate processing non-prose handwriting input from a user, the method comprising:

providing a template for creating a character string, the template including at least one open segment for receiving handwriting input and at least one pre-populated text segment;

receiving handwriting input in the at least one open segment;

converting the handwriting input to text to generate the character string, the character string including the at least one pre-populated text segment and the text; and

displaying the character string.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the character string comprises at least one of a uniform resource locator (URL), an e-mail address, and a filename.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the character string to an application, wherein the application uses the character string.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one pre-populated text segment comprises a list of meaningful replacement candidates.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein providing a template comprises providing a template in an area selected by a user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one open segment grows automatically to accommodate the handwriting input.

7. One or more computer-storage media embodying computer-useable instructions for performing a method for using a template to facilitate processing non-prose handwriting input from a user, the method comprising:

automatically selecting at least one template for receiving handwriting input in response to a user setting focus on an application text box, the template including at least one open segment for receiving handwriting input and at least one pre-populated text segment;

automatically providing the at least one template;

receiving handwriting input in the at least one open segment;

converting the handwriting input to text to generate a character string, the character string including the at least one pre-populated text segment and the text; and

providing the character string to the application text box.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein automatically selecting the at least one template comprises:

determining a type of the application text box; and

selecting the at least one template based on the type of the application text box.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one template is automatically selected based on user-selected text, and the at least one template is pre-populated with at least a portion of the user-selected text.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining whether the user-selected text comprises an e-mail address.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein if the user-selected text comprises an e-mail address, selecting a template for generating an e-mail address.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining whether the user-selected text comprises a uniform resource locator (URL).

13. The method of claim 12, wherein if the user-selected text comprises a uniform resource locator, selecting a template for generating a URL.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a computing system having a display;

wherein said computing system is operable to

provide at least one template for creating a character string, the at least one template comprising at least one pre-populated text segment and at least one open segment for receiving handwriting input;

receive handwriting input into the at least one open segment;

convert the handwriting input to text to generate a character string, the character string including the text and the at least one pre-populated text segment; and

display the character string.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the character string comprises an uninterrupted series of at least two characters.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least two characters comprises at least one alpha-numeric character.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least two characters comprises at least one character that is not alpha-numeric.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one pre-populated text segment comprises a list of meaningful replacement candidates.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the list of meaningful replacement candidates is operable to receive additional alternatives as input from a user.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the list of meaningful replacement candidates comprises at least one of a simple flat list or a complex list.