INPUT METHOD EDITOR

• US 20110316772A1
• Filed: 03/19/2009
• Published: 12/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Wu, Genqing, Huang, Tai-Yi, Zhang, Guangqiang, Wang, Mojun
• Granted Patent: US 8,704,761 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, in which an input method editor receives input in a first writing system and presents input candidates in the first writing system or a second writing system. In one implementation, a method is provided. The method includes receiving input in a first writing system; presenting the input in the first writing system in a first interface element of an interface as content input; automatically identifying one or more candidates in a second writing system based on the input in the first writing system; and presenting the one or more candidates in the second writing system in a second interface element that is separate from the first interface element.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving input in a first writing system;

presenting the input in the first writing system in a first interface element of an interface as content input, wherein the first interface element is a default interface element for presenting the input and a default entry command of the first interface element copies the input into a target location in the interface;

automatically identifying one or more candidates in a second writing system based on the input in the first writing system; and

presenting the one or more candidates in the second writing system in a second interface element that is separate from the first interface element, wherein a first candidate in the second writing system is copied into the target location subsequent to a corresponding selection of one of the one or more candidates in the second interface element.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the corresponding selection is a user selection of the first candidate.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more candidates in the second writing system comprise translations, transliterations, or phonetic representations of the input in the first writing system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a temporal length of the input, the temporal length representing a duration of actuation of an input device corresponding to the input;

comparing the temporal length of the input to a threshold value; and

identifying the input as representative of content input in the second writing based on the comparison.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first writing system is Pinyin and the second writing system is Hanzi.

6. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

detecting a current input to an interface;

calculating a temporal length of the current input, the temporal length representing a duration of actuation of an input device corresponding to the current input;

comparing the temporal length of the current input to a threshold value;

identifying the current input as content input in a first writing system if the temporal length is greater than or equal to the threshold value, or as representative of content input in a second writing system if the temporal length is less than the threshold value;

copying the current input into a target location in the interface, if the current input is identified as content input in the first writing system; and

identifying one or more candidates in the second writing system based on the current input in the first writing system, for display in the interface, if the current input is identified as representative of content input in the second writing system.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein identifying one or more candidates in the second writing system includes:

generating the one or more candidates in the second writing system based on the current input and previous input representative of content input in the second writing system.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the current input is received through a virtual input device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the first writing system is Pinyin and the second writing system is Hanzi.

10. A system, comprising:

a data processing apparatus; and

a data store, in which is stored;

a detection engine including an input module that detects input received through an interface of the data processing apparatus, wherein the input is in a first writing system; and

an input method editor that presents the input in the first writing system in a first interface element of the interface as content input, and automatically identifies one or more candidates in a second writing system, based on the input in the first writing system, for display in a second interface element that is separate from the first interface element.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first interface element is a default interface element for presenting the input and a default entry command of the first interface element copies the input into a target location in the interface, and a first candidate in the second writing system is copied into the target location subsequent to a corresponding selection of one of the one or more candidates in the second interface element.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the detection engine further includes a timing module that calculates a temporal length of the input, the temporal length representing a duration of actuation of an input device corresponding to the input.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the input module identifies the input as content input in the first writing system or representative of content input in the second writing system based on the temporal length of the input.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the first writing system is Pinyin and the second writing system is Hanzi.

15. A system comprising:

a data processing apparatus; and

a data store, in which is stored;

a detection engine including;

an input module that detects input received through an interface of the data processing apparatus, wherein the input is in a first writing system, and

a timing module that calculates a temporal length of the input, the temporal length representing a duration of actuation of an input device corresponding to the input; and

an input method editor that identifies the input as content input in a first writing system if the temporal length is greater than or equal to a threshold value, or as representative of content input in a second writing system if the temporal length is less than the threshold value, for display in a target location in the interface.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the data store further stores:

a language model that identifies one or more candidates in the second writing system based on the input in the first writing system, for display in the target location, if the input is identified as representative of content input in the second writing system.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the first writing system is Pinyin and the second writing system is Hanzi.