`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 29, 1998
`
`Sheet 1 of6
`
`5,815,142
`
`FIG. 2
`
`Page 00002
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`Page 00002
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`
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`U.S. Patent
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`Sep. 29, 1998
`
`Sheet2 0f6
`
`5,815,142
`
`
`
`
`Mobile Office 09/
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`
`FIG. 3
`
`FIG. 4
`
`Page 00003
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`Page 00003
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`
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 29, 1998
`
`Sheet 3 of6
`
`5,815,142
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`Page 00004
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 29, 1998
`
`Sheet 4 of 6
`
`5,815,142
`
`Main Menu 10/07/1993
`03:49:13
`
`[:| System Memory
`E] Card Memory
`
`Working with Messages
`
`Message Transfer:
`
`JOE SMITH
`
`Send and Receive
`
`Staff Meeting Minutes
`
`EHWW
`
`PETERE at BCRVM7
`Aloha Project
`
`Create New Mail
`
`Pager
`USA Today Headfines
`
`FIG. 6
`
`6C
`
`2
`52
`JOE SMITH J
`
`Staff Meeting Minutes
`
`Began 9:00 am.
`Bob Jones gave
`Treasury report
`highlighting last quarters
`earnings.
`Personnel requests were
`then read and all
`pertinent
`topics
`addressed.
`
`15 minute question and
`answer period with
`product manager
`followed after which the
`meeting was finalized
`at 9:45.
`
`JOE SMHH
`§55—1234
`BOB JONES
`555-4321
`
`mwmm
`
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`
`Page 00005
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`Page 00005
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 29, 1998
`
`Sheet 5 of6
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`5,815,142
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`Page 00006
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`Page 00006
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 29, 1998
`
`Sheet 6 of 6
`
`5,815,142
`
`MARKING TEXT dc DIAL
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`
`Page 00007
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`DIAL PHONE
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`
`CALL SCAN
`SCREEN SEVICE
`
`V CALUNG
`APPLICATION
`
`
`Page 00007
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`5,815,142
`
`1
`APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MARKING
`TEXT ON A DISPLAY SCREEN IN A
`PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE
`
`This application is a File Wrapper Continuation of U.S.
`patent application Ser. No. 08/279,639, filed Jul. 25, 1994
`now abandoned.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates to data processing system
`and more particularly to a personal data processing com-
`munications system that has a touch sensitive display screen.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention relates to a co-pending application entitled
`“Field Programming Apparatus and Method for Updating
`Programs in a Personal Communications Device”, having
`Ser. No. 08/ 279,638 filed on Jul. 25, 1994, and assigned to
`the same assignee of the instant application. The disclosure
`of the just noted application is incorporated by reference
`herein.
`
`As disclosed in the just noted application, a personal
`communications device SIMON, announced by the IBM
`Corporation in 1994, includes many features for facilitating
`personal communications. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the
`SIMON personal communications device 2 resembles, and
`is, a cellular telephone. Further, it is an electronic pager. In
`addition,
`it
`is capable of facsimile transmission and
`reception, as well as electronic mail sending and receiving.
`Moreover, a computer note pad, address book and calendar
`are all provided within system 2.
`As shown, system 2 has a speaker 4, an on and off switch
`6, volume adjust switches 8a and 8b, a touch sensitive screen
`10, a PCMCIA card receptacle slot 12, a PCMCIA card
`release switch 14, a battery pack 16, an input/output con-
`nector 18 and a microphone 20. Also provided with the
`system is a stylus 22, which may be used to interact with
`touch sensitive screen 10. It should be noted, however, that
`in place of stylus 22, a user can also use his finger. To act as
`a cellular device, an antenna 24 is extendable from the body
`of the device 2.
`
`Inasmuch as data is stored in the SIMON device (for
`example in the address book) and the device itself is capable
`of receiving different types of messages via fax and E-mail
`messages, to be useful, it becomes incumbent that the data
`can easily be retrieved by the user. This is particularly true
`in instances where telephone numbers are to be referenced
`from the display screen. A need therefore arises for a user to
`be able to efficiently extract and use relevant information
`from either the received messages or previously stored data
`directly from the display screen.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT
`INVENTION
`
`To be able to efficiently retrieve particular data being
`displayed, a user can mark the number or text that he desires
`by initiating a mark mode on the touch overlay membrane of
`the display. To initiate the mark mode, the user has to touch
`the screen so as to bring the cursor directly under the point
`of contact. Thereafter, the cursor becomes responsive to the
`touch on the display. If the user at this time touches the
`screen and then slides his finger (stylus), the cursor will
`follow the movement of the sliding contact point. To mark
`text (which includes letters, numbers and spaces), the user
`needs to point to the beginning of the text that he wants to
`
`2
`mark. Once the cursor is at the start of the desired text, the
`user would continue to touch the same position for a short
`period of time (which for this invention may for example be
`approximately 0.5 to 1.0 second). At the end of which time
`the system changes from a cursor sliding operation mode to
`a cursor mark mode. The device then sounds a beep to
`indicate that it has entered the mark mode.
`
`5
`
`Upon initiation of the mark mode, text over which the
`finger moves is marked and a character count thereof is
`stored. When the user reaches the end of the text he wishes
`
`10
`
`to mark, he releases his contact point with the display. At this
`time a beep having a second tone that is different from the
`first beep sounds from the device to indicate to the user that
`the marked text is accepted (i.e. the termination of the mark
`mode). A menu of operations, represented by either function
`keys or icons, now appears on the display. At or about the
`same time, the marked text is displayed in a pop-up window
`to enable the user to verify that the desired text has been
`marked correctly. Upon confirmation of the marked text, the
`user can press any one of the function keys or icons to begin
`an application that utilizes the marked text. When an acti-
`vated application is the call application and the marked text
`is a telephone number, a call
`is made to the telephone
`number through the communications interface incorporated
`within the device.
`
`It is therefore an objective of the present invention to
`provide a user an efficient method of marking desired text on
`a touch sensitive screen.
`
`It is another objective of the present invention to provide
`a user the ability to retrieve displayed information for use in
`any one of a number of applications.
`It is yet another objective of the present invention to
`provide a user the ability of marking text from received
`messages and previously stored data.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The above mentioned objectives and advantages of the
`invention will become more apparent and the invention itself
`will be best understood by reference to the following
`description of an embodiment of the invention taken in
`conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
`FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the personal communica-
`tions device of the instant invention;
`FIG. 2 is a plan view of the FIG. 1 device;
`FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the available display
`screens of the FIG. 1 device;
`FIG. 4 is another exemplar display screen of the FIG. 1
`device;
`FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of the different
`components of the FIG. 2 device which are relevant to the
`instant invention;
`FIG. 6 is a broad overview, via different display screens,
`illustrating an exemplar embodiment of the instant inven-
`tion;
`FIGS. 7A—7C illustrate the process of marking desired
`text on a display screen; and
`FIG. 8 is a flow chart identifying the different processing
`steps of the instant invention method.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`INVENTION
`
`With reference to FIG. 3, the display 10 of the personal
`communications device of the instant
`invention can be
`
`selected to have a phone screen, by the user pressing the
`
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`3
`phone icon 26 at the bottom of the screen, which enables the
`user to use device 2 as a cellular telephone. A more detailed
`discussion of the touch sensitive display is given in patent
`applications entitled “Personal Communicator Having
`Improved Contrast Control For A Liquid Crystal, Touch
`Sensitive Display” having Ser. No. 08/146,342 and “Per-
`sonal Communicator Having Improved Zoom and Pan
`Functions for Editing Information on Touch Sensitive Dis-
`play having Ser. No. 08/146,341”, both assigned to the same
`assignee of the instant invention and filed on Nov. 1, 1993.
`The respective disclosures of those applications are incor-
`porated herein by reference.
`When icon 28 is touched at the bottom of the screen, the
`mobile office screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed. As can be
`seen, there are a number of different applications which the
`data processing system of device 2 is capable of. For
`example, device 2 has its own calendar and note pad, as well
`as a filer and an address book. In addition, it is capable of
`E-mail operation via the icon entitled “Mail” and a facsimile
`operation via the icon entitled “Fax”.
`To enable the device to perform the variety of
`communications, different communications links besides the
`radio link provided by the cellular telephone are also inte-
`grated to device 2. These different types of communication
`links are described in the above referenced co-pending
`application.
`A more detailed discussion of the integrated communica-
`tions interface subsystem incorporated within device 2 is
`given in part, or all, in the following co-pending applica-
`tions: “Integrated FAX Send/Receive on Cellular and
`PSTN” having Ser. No. 08/279,644 filed Jul. 25, 1994,
`“Consistent User Interface for Cellular and PSTN Environ-
`
`ments” having Ser. No. 08/279,413 filed Jul. 25, 1994, and
`“Modem Ring Indicate Signal From Either PSTN or Cellular
`System”, having Ser. No. 08/279,659 filed Jul. 25, 1994. All
`of the just noted applications are assigned to the same
`assignee as the instant invention and their respective disclo-
`sures are incorporated by reference to the instant disclosure.
`FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of device 2 of the
`instant invention which illustrates components only relevant
`to the instant invention. (A more detailed illustration of the
`different components of device 2 may be gleaned from the
`first referenced copending application). As shown, connect
`to the system bus 30 of the instant invention system is a
`processing unit 32. A number of different types of memories
`such as RAM 34, EPROM 36 and additional memory 38 are
`also connected to system bus 30. Memory 38 may be in the
`form of a PCMCIA (personal computer memory card inter-
`national association) standard card inserted to receptacle slot
`12 of device 2. See FIG. 1. Memory 38 may include extra
`RAM or ROM for storing additional data to be used in the
`system. EPROM 36 has stored therein a number of appli-
`cations among which are the ones mentioned and referenced
`as icons in the mobile office screen of FIG. 4. RAM 34 is the
`
`working memory for CPU 32.
`Also connected to system bus 30 and being controlled by
`CPU 32 is a touch screen controller 40 whose function is
`
`influenced by a counter 42, which may actually be the
`system clock. Being controlled by touch screen controller 40
`is a tone generator 44. Further connected to touch screen
`controller 40 is a screen touch overlay 46 (referenced in the
`aforenoted applications filed on Nov. 1, 1993) that senses
`pressurized contact, i.e. contacts made on display 10. ALCD
`display 10, superimposed by touch overlay 46,
`is also
`connected to bus 30 to be controlled by CPU 32.
`Further connected to system bus 30 is an integrated
`cellular and PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)
`
`4
`interface 50 which, for the discussion of this invention,
`comprises a cellular link as exemplified by antenna 52, a
`conventional
`type of serial port, conventional
`telephone
`jacks and a modem for data/fax communication. A more
`detailed discussion of the various features of the communi-
`
`cations subsystem of device 2 is given in the first referenced
`co-pending application.
`The operation of the instant invention system is discussed
`with reference to FIG. 6, which shows an exemplar E-mail
`message received by the system. As shown, screen 6A of
`FIG. 6 displays the main menu representing the “Mail” icon
`shown in the mobil office screen of FIG. 4. Note that this
`
`screen is retrieved from system memory EPROM 36 and
`provides the user the option of viewing three different types
`of messages, namely the “Received Messages”, the “Ready
`to Send” messages and the “Saved Messages”. Screen 6B
`shows the three E-mail messages that have been received by
`device 2. To retrieve screen 6B from screen 6A, the function
`key entitled “Received Messages” was pressed by the user.
`When the user wants to view a particular message, he
`presses the block that outlines the message. For example,
`when the user presses the block with heading “Joe Smith”,
`the message relating to Joe Smith is displayed, such as for
`example in screen 6C. As shown, screen 6C is divided into
`two areas, namely a text area 62 and a function area 64. Text
`which includes numbers, letters and spaces are displayed in
`area 62, whereas a number of function keys and icons are
`displayed in area 64. Thus, by touching the back arrow icon,
`the display of device 2 would revert from screen 6C to
`screen 6B. In the same vein, if the telephone icon is pressed,
`the phone screen illustrated in FIG. 3 appears. Likewise, if
`the mobile office icon (shown to include an envelope in front
`of a pad) is pressed, the mobile office screen shown in FIG.
`4 would appear. The question mark icon, if pressed, provides
`for queries. The shown function and the arrow keys are
`believed to be self-explanatory.
`Because of the communications nature of device 2, to be
`able to mark a particular portion of the information dis-
`played on the text area would be useful. This ability to mark
`text is of particular import for E-mail and other types of
`written notes such as those in the “Note Pad”. It is moreover
`
`desirable to be able to key in particular text from messages
`without having to jot it down on paper. Prior to the instant
`invention, if a user wants to dial a phone number displayed
`on a screen, he would first need to jot down the number.
`Thereafter he has to return to the phone screen. It was only
`after then would the user be able to dial the number. This
`was found to be inefficient.
`
`For the instant invention, instead of having to copy the
`desired text, the user can directly mark the text on the screen
`for further application. The inventive method is discussed
`with reference to FIG. 7a—7c.
`
`As shown in FIG. 7a, appended to the bottom of Joe
`Smiths’ staff meeting minutes are the telephone numbers for
`both Joe Smith and Bob Jones, the person who gave the
`treasury report highlights. If the user wants to find out
`additional information in regard to the staff meeting, he
`would naturally want to call up either Joe Smith or Bob
`Jones. Suppose he wants to talk to Joe Smith. He can easily
`accomplish this by first positioning the cursor 66 on the
`screen to the start position of the text that he wants to mark,
`which in this instance is the phone number of Joe Smith.
`This he does by touching the screen and moving his finger
`(or stylus) to the first number of Joe Smiths’ telephone
`number, as at this time the system is in the cursor sliding
`mode and is programmed to follow the contact point on the
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`5,815,142
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`5
`screen. As shown in FIG. 7A, cursor 66 is positioned
`underneath the first “5” of Joe Smiths’ telephone number. At
`this time, the system remains in the cursor sliding mode, that
`is, the cursor is responsive to and continues to follow the
`movement of the user’s finger.
`Because the user wants to mark the telephone number for
`later use, he needs to initiate the “marking mode” of the
`system. This he does by holding his finger at the same
`location of the screen for a predetermined period of time.
`For the instant invention embodiment, this period of time is
`taken to be approximately 0.5 to 1.0 second. In the system,
`this time is provided by counter 42 (or the system clock) of
`FIG. 5. In other words, counter 42 acts as a timer which
`reports to touch screen controller 40, which in turn is
`receiving from the sensor overlay 46 an input that the screen
`is being touched by the user.
`Once it has been determined that the user’s finger has
`been held still at the same location of the screen for the
`
`requisite amount of time, screen controller 40 would activate
`tone generator 44 to sound a beep, which tells the user that
`the system has now entered into the marking mode.
`Upon hearing the marking mode beep, the user can move
`his finger on the screen to mark the desired text. It should be
`appreciated that contact should continuously be made by the
`user to the screen after the initiation of the mark mode in
`order for the mark mode to continue. Thus, as shown in FIG.
`7B, the user has moved cursor 66 to the last number “4” of
`Joe Smiths’ telephone number. As cursor 66 is moved along
`the desired text, the text over which the contact point is
`moved, or over which cursor 66 traverses, are accentuated,
`either highlighted or set in reverse video, as indicated by the
`dotted box outline 68.
`
`The marking mode continues as long as the user maintains
`his finger on the screen. Thus, the marked text can vary
`anywhere from one character to the entire text area 62. The
`marking mode is terminated when the user removes his
`finger from the screen. The end of the marking mode is
`signified by tone generator 44 generating a second beep that
`is different from the beep that signifies the initiation of the
`mark mode.
`
`is
`the end of the marking mode the marked text
`At
`displayed in a pop-up window 70 as shown in FIG. 7C. The
`pop-up screen provides the user with a confirmation that the
`correct text has been marked. In addition to pop-up screen
`70, a number of function keys also appear on the screen. The
`different function keys each provide an option to be taken
`with respect to the marked text. For example, if the user
`determines that the correct text has been marked, as for
`example the telephone number of Joe Smith, he can next
`instruct the system to dial that number by pressing the “Dial”
`function key 72. Alternatively, if he changes his mind, he
`can un-mark the text by touching function key 74.
`Furthermore, he can cancel the marked text by pressing the
`back arrow icon. Thus, for the instant invention, without
`having to jot down anything,
`the user can directly call
`someone by simply marking the desired telephone number
`and then pressing the “Dial” function key.
`In addition to marking telephone numbers, the present
`invention also is capable of marking other text. For example,
`if the user wants to find out the number of times Bob Jones
`
`has appeared on the text, he only needs to mark “Bob Jones”
`and then press the “Find” function key 76. The “Find”
`function can be extended to the various messages stored in
`the “Mail” directory as well as other files kept at the different
`directories, such as the “Note Pad” and the “Address Book”
`directories.
`
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`Even though the dialing of a phone number is discussed
`with reference to the marking of a telephone number, in a
`co-pending application entitled “Apparatus and Method
`Therefor of Intelligently Searching for Information in a
`Personal Communications Device”, having Ser. No. 08/279,
`640 filed Jul. 25, 1994 and assigned to the same assignee of
`the instant invention, the marked text does not have to be the
`telephone number. Briefly,
`in the just noted co-pending
`application, by marking an appropriate abbreviated search
`term, the telephone number of Joe Smith may be directly
`dialed without any direct reference to his telephone number.
`Moreover, the marked text may be used in a number of
`applications aside from the application in which the text is
`being viewed and marked. For example, the marked tele-
`phone number illustrated in FIGS. 7A—7C may be inserted
`to the address book, and particularly into the Joe Smith
`address. Or, for that matter, the marked text may be routed
`to the “To Do” directory file for future calling of Joe Smith,
`if the user deems it more appropriate to call Joe Smith at a
`later time.
`
`In any event, the marked number is sent to the integrated
`cellular and PSTN communications interface 50 to dial the
`call number.
`
`The operation of marking the text and then dialing it is
`given in the flow chart of FIG. 8. As shown, the operation
`starts with the scan screen service routine, which is one of
`the routines stored in EPROM 36 of the system, and is used
`by most, if not all, of the applications that run on the device.
`Putting it simply, scan screen service monitors the buttons
`(or the function keys) and the icons displayed on area 64 and
`the text displayed on area 62 of the screen. Whether or not
`one of the function keys or icons is pressed is determined in
`button press routine 802. Whether the text area, such as 62
`in FIG. 6, is pressed is determined in block 804. If the text
`area is pressed, the cursor is moved to the pressed position
`per block 806A. At the same time, a timer, which may be
`counter 42 or the system clock,
`is set at block 806B.
`Thereafter, a further determination is made in block 808 on
`whether or not the text area is pressed. If not, the process
`returns to block 802 to determine whether any of the
`function keys and/or icons have been pressed.
`If indeed the text area is pressed, a determination is made
`on whether there is a new cursor position per block 810. If
`there is a new cursor position, the processor determines the
`system as remaining in the cursor sliding mode and the
`process returns to blocks 806a and 806b to move the cursor
`to a new position and reset the timer. If it is determined that
`the cursor position has not been moved, i.e. the user has kept
`his finger on the same location of the screen,
`then a
`determination is made by the processor per block 812 on
`whether or not a predetermined time period has elapsed. If
`it has not, the system would again determine whether or not
`the text area continues to be touched per block 808 and
`whether the user has moved his finger per block 810.
`If it is determined that a predetermined period of time has
`passed with the cursor being maintained at
`the same
`location,
`the process proceeds to the marking mode by
`sounding a beep, generated by tone generator 44, per block
`814. The system continues to scan the touch sensitive
`display to determine whether the text area continues to be
`touched in block 816. If it is, the area of the screen from the
`point where the marking mode begins to the contact point is
`marked, by either accentuating the marked text or by reverse
`video of the same, in block 818. This process continues until
`the system senses that
`the text area no longer is being
`touched,
`i.e.
`the user ceases pressing the display screen.
`With the removal of the contact, a second beep is provided
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`7
`by tone generator 44 per block 820, to notify the user that the
`mark mode is now terminated.
`
`At the same time, the pointer designating the beginning of
`the marked text and the number of character counts, i.e. the
`text that was marked, are provided to a storage such as RAM
`34, for use in the different applications.
`As was mentioned previously, one of the applications is
`the calling application which is illustrated in FIG. 7C. With
`the beginning of the calling application, as the marked
`number is displayed in the pop-up window 70, yet another
`beep, which is different from the beeps output at blocks 814
`and 820, is provided by tone generator 44, per block 822a.
`The pop-up window 70 is deemed to be a confirmation in
`block 822b. A confirmation is next made by the system in
`block 824 on whether the marked text is correct. If it is, key
`72 is touched per block 826 to call the confirmed telephone
`number. If not, the marked text can be unmarked by the user
`touching the unmarked button 74 per block 828. Thereafter,
`the system returns to the call scan screen service per block
`830.
`
`Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many
`variations, modifications and changes in detail, it is intended
`that all matters described throughout this specification and
`shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as
`illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. Accordingly, it
`is intended that the invention be limited only by the spirit
`and scope of the appended claims.
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`15
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`20
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`25
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`We claim:
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`8
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`1. Amethod of marking information displayed on a touch
`sensitive display screen of a computer system, comprising
`the steps of:
`
`(a) touching said screen at a first location to establish a
`first position for a cursor displayed on said screen, the
`movement of said cursor being responsive to the move-
`ment of the touch on said screen;
`
`(b) initiating a mark mode whereby marking of informa-
`tion on said screen can begin by continuing touching
`said screen at said first location to maintain said cursor
`
`at said first position for a predetermined time;
`(c) movingly touching said screen away from said first
`location to move said cursor to mark desired informa-
`
`tion being displayed on said screen; and
`(d) stop touching said screen to terminate said mark
`mode;
`wherein said computer system further comprises a com-
`munications interface means, and wherein after termi-
`nation of said mark mode the method further compris-
`ing the step of:
`touching another portion of said screen to confirm that
`the marked information is correct so that said marked
`information is used to initiate a call to a call number.
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