METHODS FOR FACILITATING TEXT ENTRY

• US 20140047394A1
• Filed: 08/08/2012
• Published: 02/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cerence Operating Company (Cerence Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Kushler, Clifford A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,348,512 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/856
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

A system and method controlling the location of a text insertion cursor that marks a location where content is to be added to a content accumulator. The system automatically maintains one or more active cursor locations that mark where content has been sequentially added at one or more different positions in the content accumulator. The system receives a command to move the insertion cursor to a location of a previously created active cursor location. In one embodiment, active cursor locations are stored in a list and the insertion cursor can be moved to each active cursor location in the list. Therefore, if the user enters content in the content accumulator non-sequentially, the method may maintain one active cursor following each sequentially entered text string. Upon receiving an active cursor recalling command from the user, the method recalls an active cursor by relocating the content insertion cursor to the active cursor.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that cause a processor to perform a method for facilitating content entry by:

receiving user inputs specifying content elements for insertion into a content accumulator whose contents can be at least partially displayed on a display screen, the content accumulator having an insertion cursor that marks a location where a next content element will be inserted into the content accumulator;

receiving a command to move the insertion cursor to a new location in the content accumulator;

receiving a command to replace a content element near the insertion cursor with an alternate content element and modify the content accumulator accordingly;

creating an active cursor that records the position of a first content element inserted at a new location in the content accumulator each time a content element is added non-sequentially in the content accumulator following a command to move the insertion cursor;

updating an active cursor to record the position following the last content element inserted at the location of said active cursor in the content accumulator each time one or more content elements are added sequentially at the location of said active cursor;

receiving a command to relocate the insertion cursor to a location of a previously created active cursor; and

moving the insertion cursor to a location of a previously created active cursor.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to:

maintain the location of the insertion cursor at the end of the replaced content element following a command to replace a content element near the insertion cursor with an alternate content element;

modify any active cursor marking a location that is affected by a modification of the content accumulator.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein only two active cursors are stored in a memory and the instructions cause the processor to return the insertion cursor to a location of a previously created active cursor by alternately moving the location of the insertion cursor to the location of one of the two previously created active cursors.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor to:

store a number of active cursors in one or more lists;

sort the active cursors in one or more of the lists; and

move the insertion cursor to the location of an active cursor according to the order in which the active cursors are stored.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor to:

indicate the locations referenced by one or more of the stored active cursors on a display screen.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor to:

delete a stored active cursor.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor to:

distinguish two or more environments, wherein content elements are entered in one of said environments when a content accumulator belonging to that environment is selected as the current content accumulator;

for each environment, create one or more active cursors associated with the content accumulator of that environment; and

interpret at least one of said commands to relocate the insertion cursor as a command to move the cursor to one of said one or more previously created active cursors in an environment other than the current environment.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor to:

for each environment, include the most recent position of the text insertion cursor as one of said one or more active cursors; and

interpret at least one of said commands to relocate the insertion cursor as a command to move the cursor to the recorded location corresponding to said most recent position of the text insertion cursor in an environment other than the current environment.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor to:

receive a command to simultaneously display two or more distinct regions of the content accumulator; and

automatically select at least one of said two or more distinct regions as a region containing one of said active cursors.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor to:

receive a command to simultaneously display two or more distinct regions of one or more content accumulators, wherein at least one of said regions is contained in an environment other than the current environment; and

automatically select at least one of said two or more distinct regions as a region containing said most recent position of the text insertion cursor in said other environment.

11. A system for facilitating the entry of content, comprising:

a display screen;

a memory storing computer-executable instructions;

processor electronics that are configured to execute the instructions to;

receive user inputs specifying content elements for insertion into a content accumulator whose contents can be at least partially displayed on the display screen,

display an insertion cursor that marks the location where a next content element will be added to the content accumulator;

receive a command to move the insertion cursor to a new location in the content accumulator and relocate the insertion cursor to the corresponding location;

receive a command to replace a content element near the insertion cursor with an alternate content element and modify the content accumulator accordingly;

create an active cursor that records the position of a first content element inserted at a new location in the content accumulator each time a content element is added non-sequentially in the content accumulator following a command to move the insertion cursor;

update an active cursor to record the position following the last content element entered at the location of said active cursor in the content accumulator each time one or more content elements are added sequentially at the location of said active cursor;

receive a command to relocate the insertion cursor to a location of a previously created active cursor; and

move the insertion cursor to a location of a previously created active cursor.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor electronics to:

maintain the location of the insertion cursor at the end of the replaced content element following a command to replace a content element near the insertion cursor with an alternate content element; and

modify any active cursor marking a location that is affected by a modification of the content accumulator.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to:

store two active cursors; and

receive a command to alternately move the insertion cursor to a location of each of the stored two active cursors.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to:

store a number of active cursors in one or more lists;

sort the stored active cursors in one or more of the lists; and

move the insertion cursor to the location of an active cursor according to the order in which the active cursors are stored.

15. The system of claim 11, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to:

indicate the locations referenced by one or more of the stored active cursors on a display screen.

16. The system of claim 11, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to delete a stored active cursor.

17. The system of claim 11, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to:

distinguish two or more environments, wherein content elements are entered in one of said environments when a content accumulator belonging to that environment is selected as the current content accumulator;

for each environment, create one or more active cursors associated with the content accumulator of that environment; and

interpret at least one of said commands to relocate the insertion cursor as a command to move the cursor to one of said one or more previously created active cursors in an environment other than the current environment.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to:

for each environment, include the most recent position of the text insertion cursor as one of said one or more active cursors; and

interpret at least one of said commands to relocate the insertion cursor as a command to move the cursor to the recorded location corresponding to said most recent position of the text insertion cursor in an environment other than the current environment.

19. The system of claim 11, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to:

receive a command to simultaneously display two or more distinct regions of the content accumulator; and

automatically select at least one of said two or more distinct regions as a region containing one of said active cursors.

20. The system of claim 18, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor electronics to:

receive a command to simultaneously display two or more distinct regions of one or more content accumulators, wherein at least one of said regions is contained in an environment other than the current environment; and

automatically selecting at least one of said two or more distinct regions as a region containing said most recent position of the text insertion cursor in said other environment.