Handheld electronic device and method for performing spell checking during text entry and for integrating the output from such spell checking into the output from disambiguation
View Patent ↗A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with a disambiguation routine that is operable to disambiguate text input. In addition to identifying and outputting representations of language objects that are stored in the memory and that correspond with a text input, the device is able to perform a spell check routine during input of a text entry, with the output from the spell check routine being visually integrated into the output from the disambiguation routine.
1. A method of enabling input on a handheld electronic device having an input apparatus, a memory, and an output apparatus, the input apparatus comprising a number of input members, at least some of the input members each having a number of linguistic elements assigned thereto, at least some of the input members each having as the number of the linguistic elements assigned thereto a plurality of the linguistic elements, the memory having stored therein a number of language objects, at least some of the language objects each comprising a number of the linguistic elements, the output apparatus comprising a display, the method comprising:
detecting as an ambiguous input a plurality of input member actuations comprising at least a current input member actuation and a preceding input member actuation, the current input member actuation being an actuation of an input member having a number of the linguistic elements assigned thereto, the preceding input member actuation preceding the current input member actuation and being an actuation of an input member having a number of the linguistic elements assigned thereto;
responsive to the preceding input member actuation:
generating a number of prefix objects corresponding with an initial portion of the ambiguous input comprising the preceding input member actuation,
for each of at least some of the prefix objects, identifying a language object that corresponds with the prefix object and outputting the prefix object at a first location on the display as a proposed textual interpretation of the ambiguous input, and
outputting one of the prefix objects at a second location on the display; and
responsive to the current input member actuation, outputting a text output at the first location on the display as being a proposed textual interpretation of the ambiguous input and having an arrangement of the linguistic elements different than the arrangement of the linguistic elements of the ambiguous input.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising outputting the text output as being relatively less preferred than another textual interpretation of the ambiguous input.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising outputting another text output representative of at least a portion of the another textual interpretation and having an arrangement of the linguistic elements consistent with the arrangement of the linguistic elements of the first input.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting as the ambiguous input a misspelled ambiguous input, and outputting the text output as a proposed spelling correction.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising outputting an indication that the text output is a proposed spelling correction.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising outputting as the indication a visual indication that the text output is a proposed spelling correction.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising failing to identify a language object that corresponds with the ambiguous input and, responsive thereto, initiating said outputting a text output.
8. A handheld electronic device comprising an input apparatus, a processor apparatus, and an output apparatus, the input apparatus comprising a number of input members, at least some of the input members having a number of linguistic elements assigned thereto, at least some of the input members each having as the number of the linguistic elements assigned thereto a plurality of the linguistic elements, the processor apparatus comprising a processor and a memory having stored therein a plurality of objects comprising a plurality of language objects, at least some of the language objects each comprising a number of the linguistic elements, the output apparatus comprising a display, the memory having stored therein a number of routines which, when executed by the processor, cause the handheld electronic device to be adapted to perform operations comprising:
detecting as an ambiguous input a plurality of input member actuations comprising at least a current input member actuation and a preceding input member actuation, the current input member actuation being an actuation of an input member having a number of the linguistic elements assigned thereto, the preceding input member actuation preceding the current input member actuation and being an actuation of an input member having a number of the linguistic elements assigned thereto;
responsive to the preceding input member actuation:
generating a number of prefix objects corresponding with an initial portion of the ambiguous input comprising the preceding input member actuation,
for each of at least some of the prefix objects, identifying a language object that corresponds with the prefix object and outputting the prefix object at a first location on the display as a proposed textual interpretation of the ambiguous input, and
outputting one of the prefix objects at a second location on the display; and
responsive to the current input member actuation, outputting a text output at the first location on the display as being a proposed textual interpretation of the ambiguous input and having an arrangement of the linguistic elements different than the arrangement of the linguistic elements of the ambiguous input.
9. The handheld electronic device of claim 8 wherein the operations further comprise outputting the text output as being relatively less preferred than another textual interpretation of the ambiguous input.
10. The handheld electronic device of claim 9 wherein the operations further comprise outputting another text output representative of at least a portion of the another textual interpretation and having an arrangement of the linguistic elements consistent with the arrangement of the linguistic elements of the first input.
11. The handheld electronic device of claim 8 wherein the operations further comprise detecting as the ambiguous input a misspelled ambiguous input, and outputting the text output as a proposed spelling correction.
12. The handheld electronic device of claim 11 wherein the operations further comprise outputting an indication that the text output is a proposed spelling correction.
13. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the operations further comprise outputting as the indication a visual indication that the text output is a proposed spelling correction.
14. The handheld electronic device of claim 8 wherein the operations further comprise failing to identify a language object that corresponds with the ambiguous input and, responsive thereto, initiating said outputting a text output.