Handheld Electronic Device and Associated Method Enabling Prioritization of Proposed Spelling Corrections
First Claim
1. A method of prioritizing for possible outputting on an electronic device a plurality of proposed spelling corrections of a word that has been determined to at least potentially be misspelled, each proposed spelling correction having a number of character differences from the word, the method comprising:
- determining for each of at least some of the proposed spelling corrections a composite edit distance by;
assigning to each character difference of at least some of the number of character differences at least a fractional portion of a predetermined edit distance, the at least fractional portion of the predetermined edit distance being;
less than the predetermined edit distance when the character difference is one of;
a difference in case, anda difference in diacritical content;
at least equal to the predetermined edit distance when the character difference comprises one of;
a letter additional to those in the word,a letter fewer than those in the word,a letter of the word replaced being with another letter of an alphabet, anda letter of the word being swapped with an adjacent letter of the word;
combining the at least fractional portions of the predetermined edit distance; and
arranging at least some of the proposed spelling corrections in relation to one another according to the composite edit distance.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved handheld electronic device and associated method enable spell checking in a reduced keyboard and disambiguation environment. The improved spell checking routine converts a misspelled word into a canonical version thereof and receives from a dictionary 42 proposed letter for possible acceptance by the spell checking routine. The spell checking routine advantageously maintains states of various spell check algorithms in order to ensure that no letter is accepted that would require an edit distance of more than one from the misspelled word. The improved spell checking routine advantageously reduces unnecessary processor operation by reducing the extent to which certain portions of the dictionary 42 are searched multiple times during a spell checking operation.
38 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of prioritizing for possible outputting on an electronic device a plurality of proposed spelling corrections of a word that has been determined to at least potentially be misspelled, each proposed spelling correction having a number of character differences from the word, the method comprising:
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determining for each of at least some of the proposed spelling corrections a composite edit distance by; assigning to each character difference of at least some of the number of character differences at least a fractional portion of a predetermined edit distance, the at least fractional portion of the predetermined edit distance being; less than the predetermined edit distance when the character difference is one of; a difference in case, and a difference in diacritical content; at least equal to the predetermined edit distance when the character difference comprises one of; a letter additional to those in the word, a letter fewer than those in the word, a letter of the word replaced being with another letter of an alphabet, and a letter of the word being swapped with an adjacent letter of the word; combining the at least fractional portions of the predetermined edit distance; and arranging at least some of the proposed spelling corrections in relation to one another according to the composite edit distance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A handheld electronic device structured to prioritize for possible outputting a plurality of proposed spelling corrections of a word that has been determined to at least potentially be misspelled, each proposed spelling correction having a number of character differences from the word, the handheld electronic device comprising:
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a processor apparatus comprising a processor and a memory; an input apparatus structured to provide input to the processor apparatus, the input apparatus comprising a keyboard that comprises a plurality of input members; an output apparatus structured to receive output signals from the processor apparatus; the memory having stored therein a number of routines which, when executed on the processor, cause the handheld electronic device to perform operations comprising; determining for each of at least some of the proposed spelling corrections a composite edit distance by; assigning to each character difference of at least some of the number of character differences at least a fractional portion of a predetermined edit distance, the at least fractional portion of the predetermined edit distance being; less than the predetermined edit distance when the character difference is one of; a difference in case, and a difference in diacritical content; at least equal to the predetermined edit distance when the character difference comprises one of; a letter additional to those in the word, a letter fewer than those in the word, a letter of the word replaced being with another letter of an alphabet, and a letter of the word being swapped with an adjacent letter of the word; combining the at least fractional portions of the predetermined edit distance; and arranging at least some of the proposed spelling corrections in relation to one another according to the composite edit distance. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification