Handheld electronic device with text disambiguation
A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. Additionally, the device can facilitate the selection of variants by displaying a graphic of a special <NEXT> key of the keypad that enables a user to progressively select variants generally without changing the position of the user's hands on the device.
1. A method of disambiguating an input into a handheld electronic device including a memory having a plurality of objects stored therein, the plurality of objects including a plurality of word objects and a plurality of frequency objects, each of at least a portion of the plurality of word objects being associated with a frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects, the method comprising:
detecting an ambiguous input;
generating a plurality of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input, each prefix object of the plurality of prefix objects including a number of the characters;
for each prefix object of at least a portion of the plurality of prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word object corresponding to the prefix object;
obtaining a frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects associated with the identified word object and having a frequency value;
generating an output set of the prefix objects sorted according to the frequency values associated therewith;
detecting an input key selection associated with a prefix object corresponding to the identified word object; and
outputting, in response to the input key selection, the selected prefix object.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of the characters of each prefix object is less than a number of the characters of the corresponding identified word object.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the output set includes a first prefix object being a default output and a second prefix object being a variant output, the default output having a relatively higher priority than the variant output.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein upon detection of an input key selection associated with the variant output, outputting the second prefix object.
5. A handheld electronic device, comprising:
a processor;
an input apparatus including a plurality of input keys, at least some of the keys each having a character assigned thereto;
an output apparatus; and
a memory having stored therein a plurality of objects stored therein, the plurality of objects including a plurality of word objects and a plurality of frequency objects, each of at least a portion of the plurality of word objects being associated with a frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects;
wherein the processor is configured to execute a routine to detect an ambiguous input;
generate a plurality of prefix objects corresponding to the ambiguous input, each prefix object of the plurality of prefix objects including a number of the characters;
for each prefix object of at least a portion of the plurality of prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word object corresponding to the prefix object;
obtain a frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects associated with the identified word object and having a frequency value;
generate an output set of the prefix objects sorted according to the frequency values associated therewith;
detect an input key selection associated with a prefix object corresponding with the identified word object; and
output, in response to the input key selection, the selected prefix object.
6. The handheld electronic device of claim 5 , wherein at least a portion of the output set includes a first prefix object being a default output and a second prefix object being a variant output, the default output having a relatively higher priority than the variant output.
7. The handheld electronic device of claim 6 , wherein upon detection of an input key selection associated with the variant output, the processor is further configured to output the second prefix object.