12) United States Patent
`Pawne et al.
`
`USOO6370518B1
`10) Patent No.:
`US 6,370,518 B1
`9
`45) Date of Patent:
`Apr. 9, 2002
`9
`
`9
`
`(54) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
`DISPLAYING ARECORD FROMA
`STRUCTURED DATABASE WITH MINIMUM
`KEYSTROKES
`(75) Inventors: Craig Payne, Park City, UT (US);
`Andrew L. Laursen, San Mateo, CA
`(US); Jonathan M. Wulff, Los Gatos,
`CA (US); Alain S. Rossmann, Palo
`Alto, CA (US)
`(73) Assignee: Openwave Systems Inc., Redwood
`City, CA (US)
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/166,822
`(22) Filed:
`Oct. 5, 1998
`(51) Int. Cl. ................................................ G06F 17/30
`(52) U.S. Cl. ....................... 707/1; 707/2; 707/3; 707/4;
`707/5; 345/764
`58) Field of S
`h
`707/1 4,345,123
`(58) Field o ST 357.350.440,764 615. 379,229.
`s
`s
`s
`s
`34 1. 23. 455757.
`s
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`5,384.579 A * 1/1995 Nakasuji et al. ............ 345/123
`5,446,882 A * 8/1995 Capps et al. .........
`... 707/104
`5,586,196 A * 12/1996 Sussman .......
`... 382/114
`5,594.897 A * 1/1997 Goffman ..................... 707/102
`
`5,745,716 A * 4/1998 Tchao et al. ................ 345/350
`5,809,415 A 9/1998 Rossmann
`i.e. A : 8.
`l
`707/104
`2Y------ a
`an el al. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
`5,844,561. A 12/1998 Tanimoto et al. ........... 345/357
`i
`A : E. Rao et al. ................... 345/440
`2- a--a-2
`f1999 Rossmann ................... 341/22
`6,016,142 A * 1/2000 Chang et al. ............... 345/334
`6,018,577 A
`1/2000 Roach, Jr. ................... 379,229
`6,073,036 A * 6/2000 Heikkinen et al. .......... 455/575
`6,288,718 B1
`9/2001 Laursen et al. ................ 707/1
`* cited by examiner
`Primary Examiner-Hosain T. Alam
`Assistant Examiner Anhy
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Beyer Weaver & Thomas,
`LLP
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`An improved query input technique is disclosed in which a
`user Supplies a few character-based queries and is able to
`retrieve
`s display at least as E. ". record from a
`structured database. For every character the user enters, a
`progressively reduced list of indexes that Start with the
`entered characters is displayed. When a desired indeX iden
`tifying the record is among those indexes being displayed,
`the user may cease the character entry and Scroll a Zoom
`window upon the desired index to explore the full record.
`Vari
`isual feedback indi
`lso be displayed f
`arOuS VISual feedback IndicatorS can also be dSolawed Or
`the benefit of the user. Consequently, the user can access and
`display pertinent information of a certain record from a
`database quickly and efficiently with a reduced number
`keystrokes.
`
`39 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets
`
`
`
`316
`
`7/175
`Abramowitz, Jeff
`Baker, Jennifer
`Bakers, Cash & .
`Work 650-487-3300
`Bamford, Roger
`Bartlett, Steve ...
`Basart, Ed
`Carter, John
`
`311
`
`1
`
`Comcast, Exhibit-1209
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
`
`Apr. 9, 2002
`Apr. 9, 2002
`
`Sheet 1 of 7
`Sheet 1 of 7
`
`US 6,370,518 B1
`US 6,370,518 B1
`
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`
`
`Fig. 1
`Fig.
`17
`
`2
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Apr. 9, 2002
`
`Sheet 2 of 7
`
`US 6,370,518 B1
`
`Please type the index
`string, then enter.
`
`
`
`2OO
`
`
`
`Please type the index
`string, then enter.
`
`
`
`20
`
`Search for:
`
`Fig. 2A(Prior Art)
`
`202
`206
`
`
`
`Search for:
`bakers
`Fig. 2B(Prior Art)
`
`
`
`
`
`Bakers, Cash & ...
`Work 650-487-33OO
`Home 408-340-3786
`E-Mail n/a
`
`208
`
`Fig. 2C(Prior Art)
`
`3
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`

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`U.S. Patent
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`Apr. 9, 2002
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`Sheet 3 of 7
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`US 6,370,518 B1
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`318
`319
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`
`
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`
`
`
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`316
`
`Abramowitz, Jeff
`Work 408-764-5974
`Adams, Roger
`Alden, Roland
`Aldous, Steve
`Alley, Lynn
`Alsworth, Vivia & ...
`Archibald, John
`Armstrong, Kenji
`Armstrong, Tony
`Fig. 3A
`
`340 315 316
`
`V 15/175
`ck
`Abramowitz, Jeff
`Work 408-864-5984
`Adams, Roger
`Alden, Roland
`Aldous, Steve
`Alley, Lynn
`Alsworth, Vivia & ...
`Archibald, John
`Armstrong, Kenji
`Armstrong, Tony
`Fig. 3C
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`316
`
`V 15/175
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`314
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`311
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`310
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`31 O
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`
`
`Work 408-764-5974
`Adams, Roger
`Alden, Roland
`Aldous, Steve
`Alley, Lynn
`Alsworth, Vivia & ...
`Archibald, John
`Armstrong, Kenji
`Armstrong, Tony
`Fig. 3B
`
`317
`
`316
`
`
`
`
`
`311
`
`
`
`310
`
`
`
`31 O
`
`Abramowitz, Jeff
`Work 408-864-5984
`Baker, Jennifer
`Bakers, Cash & ...
`Bamford, Roger
`Bartlett, Steve ...
`Basart, Ed
`Carter, John
`
`Fig. 3D
`
`4
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Apr. 9, 2002
`
`Sheet 4 of 7
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`US 6,370,518 B1
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`316
`
`
`
`7/175
`Abramowitz, Jeff
`Baker, Jennifer
`
`Work 650-487-3300
`Bamford, Roger
`Bartlett, Steve ...
`Basart, Ed
`Carter, John
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`311
`
`Bakers, Cash & ...
`Work 650-487-33OO
`Home 408-345-8576
`Email bakerSQup.com
`Add 123 Main Street
`Mt. View, CA
`95.345
`
`Fig. 3F
`316
`
`Baker, Jennifer
`Work 650-320-7689
`Bakers, Cash & ...
`
`340
`
`311
`
`311
`
`31 O
`
`Fig. 3G
`
`Fig. 3H
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`5
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`Apr. 9, 2002
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`Sheet 5 of 7
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`400
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`4O2
`404
`4O6
`408
`410
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`
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`
`
`Smith, John
`Work 123-456-7890
`Home O12-345-6789
`E-mail johnGup.com
`Add 123 Main Street
`Your Town, CA
`12345
`
`Fig. 4
`
`
`
`550
`
`560
`
`6
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`

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`U.S. Patent
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`Apr. 9, 2002
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`Sheet 6 of 7
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`US 6,370,518 B1
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`600
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`602
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`604
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`
`
`Input
`Interface
`
`Screen
`Driver
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`
`
`630
`
`t
`Micro
`Controller
`
`
`
`
`
`Fig. 6
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`610
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`614
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`616
`612
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`Structured
`Information
`Database
`
`Process
`Application
`Module
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`7
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Apr. 9, 2002
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`Sheet 7 of 7
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`US 6,370,518 B1
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`7OO
`
`710
`
`Scroll Zoom
`window to a
`desired index
`
`
`
`Initial Display
`and Set n = 0
`
`Target
`Observed ?
`
`nth
`Character
`keystroke
`
`
`
`Lookup process
`and display
`
`
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`
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`No Match
`
`Fig. 7
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`760
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`770
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`790
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`

`

`1
`METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
`DISPLAYING ARECORD FROMA
`STRUCTURED DATABASE WITH MINIMUM
`KEYSTROKES
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates generally to the display of
`information on Small display Screens, and in particular to a
`method and apparatus for retrieving and displaying records
`on a Small display Screen.
`2. Description of Related Art
`A structured information database is usually represented
`by a long list of ordered data or records. More often, it is
`represented by a list of indexes, each indexing one of the
`records. In order to locate a certain record identified by an
`indeX from the database, a String of characters representing
`at least a portion of the index must be Supplied. A lookup
`proceSS based on a matching Scheme is then followed to
`retrieve all records identified by the String of characters. In
`many applications, the String of characters is Supplied
`through a full-size functional keyboard, Such as a computer
`keyboard, and then those records with indexes that match the
`String of characters are retrieved and presented to a user.
`Thereafter, the user can decide whether to refine or alter the
`input String of characters to improve the lookup process.
`In certain applications Such as automatic telephone
`response Systems, however, there are no functional key
`boards. A common input interface for a telephone uses a
`numeric-based keypad Such as shown in FIG.1. The keypad
`comprises twelve keys or buttons representing “0 to 9”, “*”
`and “if keys. To facilitate the input of characters, each
`numeric key is commonly assigned to represent certain
`alphabetical characters as follows:
`“1” key is assigned for a special use;
`“2” key is for “A”, “B” or “C”
`“3” key is for “D”, “E” or “F”;
`“4” key is for “G”, “H” or “I”;
`“5” key is for “J”, “K” or “L”;
`“6” key is for “M”, “N” or “O”;
`“7” key is for “P”, “Q”, “R” or “S”;
`“8” key is for “T”, “U” or “V” and;
`“9” key is for “W, “X”, “Y” or “Z”.
`The “*” key and “if” key are also assigned for other special
`SCS.
`Conventionally, there are a few different ways to Specify
`a particular character by pressing the numeric keys. For
`instance, press “2” for “A”, “22” for “B”, “222” for “C”, or
`“7777” for “S”, followed by a character-break flag after each
`character entry. Typically, the “if” key entry or a pause is
`used as the character-break flag in Some applications.
`Another way to Specify a character using the numeric keys
`is the use of the ticker Symbols, namely, exactly two numeric
`keys for each character. The first key indicates a group of
`characters in which a desired character is in. The Second key
`points out the position of the character in the group. For
`example, press “2” and “1” keys for “A”, “2” and “2” for
`“B”, “2 and “3” for “C” or “7” and “4” for “S”.
`FIG. 2A illustrates a display screen 200 conventionally
`used to retrieve and display a record from a database. Screen
`200 typically provides an entry area 202 in which a user can
`type in an index or query at cursor position 204. FIG. 2B
`shows that a query “bakers' 206 has been typed in the entry
`area 202 to retrieve all records having the string “bakers”.
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`After a predefined keystroke which initiates the search, FIG.
`2C shows a full record 208 having a string that matches with
`the query for “bakers' 206. This method, which for example
`is commonly Seen in libraries, requires a multiple-character
`query input and is well Suited to a System with a full-size
`input interface Such as a computer keyboard. Often, the
`more detailed the query that is provided, the better the
`matched records that are retrieved and displayed.
`Many portable devices, however, are equipped with only
`a reduced-Size input interface Such as phone keypad or Some
`displayed Soft keys. Using a phone keypad to type in a
`detailed query can be laborious and impractical. For
`example, to retrieve the full record indexed by “bakers” in
`FIGS. 2A to 2C, the first key-in method would require a
`keystroke sequence of “22#2#55#33#777#7777#” and the
`Second method would require a keystroke Sequence of
`“222 152327374, both demanding over ten keystrokes in
`the phone keypad. For devices, Such as a cellular phone or
`a two-way page, equipped with a Small Screen, the above
`conventional query methods are often workable but neither
`convenient nor efficient.
`There is therefore a need for an improved input query
`technique that is well Suited for devices with Small Screens
`and a limited input interface.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`The present invention has been made in consideration of
`the above described problems and needs and has particular
`applications to portable devices with a Small Screen and
`limited input interface. The portable devices may include,
`but are not limited to, mobile computing devices, cellular
`phones, palm-sized computer devices, personal digital assis
`tant devices and Internet-capable appliance remote control
`lers. According to the invention, users are able to interact
`with the Screen and input interface of these mobile devices
`to obtain pertinent information with a reduced number of
`keystrokes or button Selections.
`The present invention pertains to an improved query input
`technique in which a user Supplies a relatively few character
`based query entries and is able to retrieve and display at least
`as portion of a record from a structured database. For every
`character the user enters, a progressively reduced list of
`indexes that Start with the entered characters is displayed.
`When a desired index identifying the record is among those
`indexes being displayed, the user may cease the character
`entry and Scroll a Zoom window upon the desired indeX to
`explore the full record. Various visual feedback indicators
`can also be displayed for the benefit of the user.
`Consequently, the user can acceSS and display pertinent
`information of a certain record from a database quickly and
`efficiently with a reduced number of keystrokes.
`According to one aspect of the present invention, a user
`Supplies a few character-based queries to retrieve and dis
`play a record from a structured database. For every alpha
`betical character the user enters from a numerical keypad, a
`progressively reduced list of indexes that Start with the
`entered characters is displayed. When a desired indeX iden
`tifying the record is among those indexes being displayed,
`the user may cease the character entry and Scroll a Zoom
`window upon the desired index to explore the full record.
`According to another aspect of the present invention, the
`Zoom window maintains a display of an indeX and at least
`one field of a record. Consequently, the user can access and
`display pertinent information of a certain record from a
`database quickly and efficiently with minimum keystrokes.
`According to one embodiment, the present invention is a
`method for displaying a record from a structured database on
`
`9
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`

`3
`a display Screen of an electronic device having a reduced
`Size input interface. The Structured database includes a
`plurality of records, and the records include at least one field
`and are indexed by indexes comprising n characters. The
`method includes the acts of displaying on the display Screen
`a portion of indexes from the Structured database; receiving
`Successively in Symbols from the input interface, the n
`Symbols Sequentially and respectively corresponding to the
`in characters of a desired index of the indexes for the records
`of the Structured database, each of the Symbols representing
`a group of characters one of which corresponds to the
`associated n” character of the desired index; and displaying
`on the display Screen a reduced portion of the indexes,
`including the desired index, from the Structured database,
`the reduced portion displays those of the indexes where each
`of the n characters in the indexes is respectively matched by
`one of the characters of the group of characters represented
`by the each of the symbols.
`According to another embodiment, the present invention
`is a method for displaying a record from a structured
`database on a Screen, the record including at least one field
`and indexed by a desired indeX comprising a String of
`characters, the method includes the acts of displaying on the
`Screen a portion of indexes from the Structured database;
`receiving a first Symbol if the desired indeX is not among the
`indexes being displayed in the Screen; the first Symbol
`representing a first group of characters one of which is a first
`character in the String of characters of the desired index; and
`indicating the desired indeX with a cursor when the desired
`indeX is among the indexes being displayed in the Screen and
`the cursor is Scrolled to the desired index.
`In one preferred embodiment, the cursor is a Zoom
`window that Surrounds the desired index. The Zoom window
`may further display one field of information of the record to
`facilitate the display of a piece of pertinent information in
`the record.
`According to yet another embodiment, the present inven
`tion is an apparatus for displaying a desired record from a
`Structured database on a Screen, the record including at least
`one field and indexed by a predefined indeX comprising a
`String of characters, the device includes: a Screen driver
`commanding the Screen; an input interface; a memory for
`Storing code for an application module; and a processor
`coupled to the memory, the input interface and the Screen
`driver. The processor executes the code in the memory to
`cause the application module to drive the Screen driver to:
`display on the Screen a portion of indexes from the Struc
`tured database; position a Zoom window on one of indexes
`being displayed on the Screen, where the Zoom window
`displays the one of indexes along with a field of a record
`indexed by the one of indexes; and move the Zoom window
`to the desired indeX when a navigation key is being activated
`and the desired indeX is among the indexes being displayed
`in the Screen, where the Zoom window displays the desired
`index and the at least one field of the desired record.
`According to Still another embodiment of the invention,
`the present invention is a computer readable medium includ
`ing computer program code for displaying a record from a
`database on a display Screen of an electronic device having
`a reduced-Size input interface. The database includes a
`plurality of records, and the records include at least one field
`and are indexed by indexes of alphanumeric characters. The
`computer readable medium including: computer program
`code for receiving a first Symbol from the input interface, the
`first Symbol pertaining to a first group of alphanumeric
`characters, and the first alphanumeric character of a desired
`index of the indexes for the database being one of the
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`4
`alphanumeric character of the first group; computer program
`code for retrieving a first list of the indexes of the database
`in which their first alphanumeric character matches one of
`the alphanumeric characters of the first group; computer
`program code for displaying on the display Screen at least a
`portion of the retrieved first list of the indexes, the desired
`indeX being one of the indexes, computer program code for
`receiving a Second Symbol from the input interface, the
`Second Symbol pertaining to a Second group of alphanumeric
`characters, and the Second alphanumeric character of the
`desired index of the indexes for the database being one of the
`alphanumeric character of the Second group; computer pro
`gram code for retrieving a Second list of the indexes of the
`database in which their first alphanumeric character matches
`one of the alphanumeric characters of the first group and
`their Second alphanumeric character matches one of the
`alphanumeric characters of the Second group; and computer
`program code for displaying on the display Screen at least a
`portion of the retrieved second list of the indexes, the desired
`indeX being one of the indexes.
`Accordingly, one of the objects in the present invention is
`to provide a generic Solution to displaying a record on a
`Small Screen from a structured database with minimum
`keystrokes on a limited input interface.
`Other objects, together with the foregoing are attained in
`the exercise of the invention in the following description and
`resulting in the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying
`drawings.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the
`present invention will become better understood with regard
`to the following description, appended claims, and accom
`panying drawings, in which:
`FIG. 1 illustrates one commonly used phone keypad;
`FIGS. 2A to 2C illustrate a set of screen displays com
`monly Seen to retrieve and display a desired record;
`FIGS. 3A to 3H illustrate a sequence of screen displays
`with respect to processes in one embodiment of the present
`invention;
`FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary record used in the descrip
`tion of the present invention;
`FIG. 5 demonstrates an inherent process with respect to
`entries provided by a user through an input interface;
`FIG. 6 shows an internal functional block diagram of a
`portable device in which the present invention may be
`practiced; and
`FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart diagram in the present
`invention according to one embodiment.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS
`INVENTION
`
`Notation and Nomenclature
`In the following detailed description of the present
`invention, numerous Specific details are Set forth in order to
`provide a thorough understanding of the present invention.
`However, it will become obvious to those skilled in the art
`that the present invention may be practiced without these
`Specific details. In other instances, well known methods,
`procedures, components, and circuitry have not been
`described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects
`of present invention.
`The detailed description of the present invention in the
`following is presented largely in terms of procedures, Steps,
`
`10
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`

`S
`logic blocks, processing, and other Symbolic representations
`that resemble of data processing devices including mobile
`phones, two-way pages, telephones and remote controllers.
`These process descriptions and representations are the
`means used by those experienced or skilled in the art to most
`effectively convey the Substance of their work to others
`skilled in the art. The present invention is a method for using
`a Small Screen and a reduced number of keystrokes or button
`presses to identify a record from a structured database. The
`method along with an apparatus to implement the method to
`be described in detail below is a Sequence of processes or
`Steps leading to a desired result. These Steps or processes are
`those requiring physical manipulations of physical quanti
`ties. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities may
`take the form of electrical Signals capable of being Stored,
`transferred, combined, compared, displayed and otherwise
`manipulated in a computer System or electronic computing
`devices. It proves convenient at times, principally for rea
`Sons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits,
`values, elements, Symbols, operations, messages, terms,
`numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind that all of
`these Similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate
`physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied
`to these quantities. Unless Specifically Stated otherwise as
`apparent from the following description, it is appreciated
`that throughout the present invention, discussions utilizing
`terms Such as “processing” or “computing or “verifying or
`“displaying or the like, refer to the actions and processes of
`a computing device that manipulates and transforms data
`represented as physical quantities within the computing
`device's registers and memories into other data Similarly
`represented as physical quantities within the computing
`device or other electronic devices.
`The Preferred Embodiments
`In View of the indeX lookup process, prior art Solutions for
`displaying a record from a structured database have
`attempted to enable a user to adapt to the information being
`Structured and to retrieve the information in a way that the
`lookup process works. The indeX lookup proceSS is capable
`of providing a Successful way for looking up a desired String
`throughout a structured database and often used in Systems
`with a full functional keyboard. When a portable device is
`not equipped with a full functional keyboard but has a
`display Screen therein and a limited Set or keys or buttons,
`the lookup process can be used in conjunction with the
`Visual feedback provided in the display Screen So as to
`facilitate an efficient retrieval of pertinent information from
`a database with minimum (or at least a reduced number)
`keystrokes.
`Thus, it is desirable to have a Solution that provides an
`easy and fast key entry method for displaying a desired
`record from a structured database on a display Screen.
`Obviously, this Solution can be advantageously used on
`Small portable devices with Screens that may include cellular
`phones, two-way pagers, palm-sized computers, personal
`digital assistants and remote control devices.
`According to the principles of this invention, FIGS. 3A to
`3E illustrate a Sequence of Screens to demonstrate the
`retrieval of a desired record using minimum key Strokes
`from a structured database in conjunction with the Visual
`feedback. AS used herein, the Structured database means that
`all the records in the database are Sorted with respect to the
`indexes in either an ascending or descending order. Accord
`ing to one Specific database, each of the records in the
`database has a first name and a last name, limited number of
`fields, such as first field, a second field, etc. FIG. 4 shows an
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`exemplary record 400 in which last name 402 is used as an
`index of record 400. To retrieve the record, at least a portion
`of the index must be supplied. First field 404 is a work phone
`number, second field 406 is a home phone number, third
`field 408 is an email address and fourth field 410 is a home
`address. It should be pointed out that any of the fields could
`be used as the index of record 400 and none of the fields
`have to have information therein. Traditionally, a name,
`particularly the last name, is used as an indeX when the
`Structured database is associated with an address book.
`To facilitate the description of the present invention, the
`Structured database in the following example is a collection
`of address information that is Sorted in an ascending order.
`Each record of the address information is indexed with a last
`name. AS will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the
`present invention is not limited to this particularity and can
`be applied equally well to other databases.
`Returning now to FIG. 3A, Screen 310 is intended to
`display the indexes of all records in the Structured database.
`Because of the limited size of screen 310, only a first portion
`of the indexes can be displayed. Optionally, indicator or
`Zoom window 311, pre-selects a first index “Abramowitz'
`318 and Zooms in to provide one field information 319.
`Zoom window 311 allows a user to quickly glance at Some
`commonly referred information, Such as a work phone
`number or a home phone, when being placed on a chosen
`index.
`According to one embodiment, Zoom window 311 shows
`an initially chosen index 318 along with a field 319 of the
`record. This leaves a visual impression to a user that Zoom
`window 311 is scrollable so as to allow scrolling to an index
`of interest. Preferably, Zoom window 311 displays more than
`just an index. The number of fields as well as which one or
`more fields of the associated record are caused to be dis
`played upon Selecting one of the indexes, however, does not
`affect the operation of the invention and largely depends on
`the actual implementation preference. For example, Zoom
`window 311 may be chosen to display chosen index.318 and
`two fields, for example, a full name, a work phone number
`and a home phone number. Nevertheless, the number of the
`fields caused to be displayed in Zoom window 311 deter
`mines the available Space to display the rest of the indexes
`in Screen 310.
`To provide more visual feedback to the user, total index
`number 314 as well as match (or chosen) index number 316
`are preferably displayed of the screen 310. For example, the
`total index number 314 and the match index number 316 can
`be displayed in one of the corners of the screen 310. Total
`index number 314 indicates the number of records in the
`database and the matched index number 316 tells the num
`ber of indexes that match an input query by the user. Since
`the user has not made any query, match index number 316
`is optionally set to total index number 314 (see FIG. 3A). It
`should be pointed out that the display of total index number
`314 and match index number 316 are not necessarily
`required to practice the present invention, however, they
`provide the user Some knowledge about the database and
`help the user to determine if a refined query is necessary.
`In the following representative example, it is assumed that
`the user wants to view a record indexed by a last name
`“Bakers”. Since the displayed indexes in screen 310 does not
`include “Bakers', So the user proceeds with a first query
`using a phone keypad. The phone keypad is, for example,
`such as shown in FIG.1. However, other reduced size input
`interfaces with keys or buttons can also be used. Since the
`desired index starts with a character “b', a numeric key “2”
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`is initially pressed. The numeric key "2 in a phone keypad
`means “a”, “b” and “c”. In response to the first key entry,
`FIG. 3B shows that all indexes started with “a”, “b' or “c”
`are chosen and the first portion of the chosen indexes can be
`displayed on the screen 310. As shown in FIG. 3B, match
`index number 316 now indicates the number of indexes that
`match the numeric key "2 which is equivalent to the query
`“a”, “b” and “c”. In other words, any of the indexes of the
`Structured database having a first character that begins with
`an “a”, “b” or “c” is displayed on the screen 310. Optionally,
`the Zoom window 311 pre-selects the first index in the list of
`indexes displayed on the screen 310.
`Further, the first character 317 in the indexes can also be
`highlighted to provide the visual feedback to the user how
`many characters have been entered. In Some display Screens,
`the characters may not be able to be highlighted.
`Alternatively, an indicator, for example, a asterisk (**) may
`be displayed on the screen 310 to indicate that a character
`has been entered. One asterisk can be provided for each
`character of the query input that has been entered. FIG. 3C
`shows a possible screen 310 in which one asterisk “*” 340
`is displayed, meaning that one query input has been entered.
`Still further, an arrow sign 315 can also be provided on the
`screen 310 to provide additional feedback to the user (see
`FIG. 3C). The arrow sign 315 indicates that a current list of
`indexes is not completely displayed and that there are more
`indexes which could be displayed if a cursor or Zoom
`window 311 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow
`sign 315. The arrow sign 315 shown in FIG. 3C is one
`example of a Suitable graphic Symbol that can be displayed
`to provide this feedback to the user. However, other graphic
`Symbols having a different appearance can also be used to
`inform the user that there are more indexes in the list that are
`not able to be displayed.
`It may be noticed that one of the distinctions in the present
`invention from the prior art Systems is that the user is
`constantly and visually informed of those of the indexes that
`match the input query. In this example, “b' was originally
`intended, but numeric key “2” was the symbolic key that
`was entered and thus results in the equivalence of “a”, “b”
`and “c”. AS Such, the query results being displayed after
`entering the numeric key "2 are those indexes that have
`their initial character beginning with “a”, “b' or “c”. The
`matched (or chosen) index number 316 then informs the
`number of indexes (e.g., 15) satisfying the entry.
`Since the number of the matched or chosen indexes is still
`fairly large, namely the user does not see the desired indeX
`in the Screen after the first character entry, a Second numeric
`key “2' is pressed for the second character “a” in the desired
`index. As shown in FIG. 3D, matched index number 316
`now indicates the number of the matched indexes is 7, which
`means that there are Seven indexes that have the first
`character being “a”, “b' or “c” and have the second char
`acter being “a”, “b' or “c”. Again the first and second
`characters in the indexes are optionally highlighted to pro
`vide the Visual feedback to the user how many characters
`have been entered. Alternatively, two asteriskS can be dis
`played indicating that two characters of query input have
`been entered. Meanwhile the user determines if there is any
`need to provide a further refinements to the query. Typically
`the user repositions or scrolls Zoom window 311 downward
`to the desired index by a special key (as a navigation key)
`if the desired indeX becomes visible in the Screen regardless
`how many are in the chosen indexes.
`As shown in FIG. 3D, Screen 310 does include the desired
`index “Bakers”, so the user may scroll Zoom window 311
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`US 6,370,518 B1
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`downward to the desired index "Bakers' as shown in FIG.
`3E. Upon positioning on the desired index “Bakers”, Zoom
`window 311 displays the desired index along with a field. As
`noted previously, the Zoom window 311 can display one or
`more fields of the record associated with the desired index.
`In the embodiment shown in FIG.3E, the Zoom window 311
`displays the desired index and the work phone number. If the
`user desires to view the whole record, a predefined key can
`be pressed to display the full record as shown in FIG. 3F.
`Alternatively, the user may press a numeric key “5” for a
`third character “k” to further refine query and thus the
`retrieval process. FIG. 3G shows that the screen 310 now
`displays only two indexes 316 following the input of the
`numeric key “5” for a third character. The resulting com
`bined query input then retrieves those indexes that Start with
`the first character being “a”, “b” or “c”, the second character
`being “a”, “b' or “c”, and the third character being “”, “k”
`or “1