U.S. patent number RE32,773 [Application Number 06/854,430] was granted by the patent office on 1988-10-25 for method of creating text using a computer.
Invention is credited to Dorothy Goldwasser, Eric P. Goldwasser.
United States Patent |
RE32,773 |
Goldwasser , et al. |
October 25, 1988 |
Method of creating text using a computer
Abstract
A method of creating text using a computer having a display
screen and a pointing mechanism for identifying locations on the
display screen. The method involves displaying a list of commonly
used words on the screen so that the user may select the words to
be used in the text by successively pointing to them. The computer
responds to the pointing mechanism and displays on the screen a
line of text comprising the identified words in their successive
order of selection.
Inventors: |
Goldwasser; Eric P. (Yorktown
Heights, NY), Goldwasser; Dorothy (Yorktown Heights,
NY) |
Family
ID: |
27042420 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/854,430 |
Filed: |
April 21, 1986 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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Reissue of: |
468493 |
Feb 22, 1983 |
04559598 |
Dec 17, 1985 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/205; 715/246;
715/249; 715/252; 715/255; 715/272 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F
40/174 (20200101); G06F 40/274 (20200101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
17/27 (20060101); G06F 17/24 (20060101); G06F
015/21 () |
Field of
Search: |
;364/200,900,419
;340/707,708,365P ;434/167,169,308 ;400/98,95 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
Cossalter et al., "A Microcomputer-Based Communication System for
the Non-Verbal Severely Handicapped" Eurocon '77 Proceedings on
Communications, Venice, Italy, May 1977, pp. 196-202. .
Words+Living Center III, The Most Powerful Single Switch
Augmentative Communication System Ever Developed, by Words+, Inc.,
Sunnyvale, California..
|
Primary Examiner: Fleming; Michael R.
Claims
What is claimed is: .[.1. A method of creating text using a
computer having a memory, at least one display screen and means for
selecting positions on said screen, said method comprising the
steps of:
(a) storing in said memory a dictionary of frequently used
linguistic expressions, at least some of said linguistic
expressions having a plurality of alphanumeric characters;
(b) displaying on a first section of said screen a plurality of
said linguistic expressions arranged in a predetermined order for
selection by a user;
(c) displaying on a second section of said screen at least one line
of text, as said text is created by a user;
(d) identifying the position of a linguistic expression on said
first section of said screen, in response to selection of that
position by a user with said position selecting means; and
(e) displaying the linguistic expression, whose position was
identified in step (d), in said second section of said screen,
concatenated to the end of said line of text, thereby adding a
linguistic expression to said line of text..]. .[.2. The method
defined in claim 1, wherein some of said linguistic expressions
each comprise a single alphanumeric character..]. .[.3. The method
defined in claim 2, wherein said single alphanumeric characters are
displayed on said first section of said sceen arranged in the order
they appear on a "QWERTY" keyboard..]. .[.4. The method defined in
claim 1, wherein said predetermined order includes alphabetic
order..]. .[.5. The method defined in claim 1, wherein step (b)
includes the step of displaying a list of words of a given
language, which are the words most likely to be selected by the
user..]. .[.6. The method defined in claim 1, further comprising
the additional step of identifying, in sequence, at least one
alphanumeric character selected by a user, and wherein step (b)
includes the step of displaying on said first section of said
screen a plurality of said linguistic expressions which begin with
said at least one alphanumeric character identified in said
additional step in the character sequence selected by the user..].
.[.7. The method defined in claim 6, wherein said at least one
alphanumeric character is selected by a user by typing on a
keyboard, and wherein said additional step includes the step of
receiving typed commands from said keyboard..]. .[.8. The method
defined in claim 6, wherein some of said linguistic expressions
each comprise an alphanumeric character and wherein said at least
one alphanumeric character is selected by a user by identifying its
position on said first section of said screen with said position
selecting means..]. .[.9. The method defined in claim 1, wherein
said means for selecting positions on said screen comprises a
pointing mechanism..]. .[.10. The method defined in claim 9,
wherein said pointing mechanism is a light pen..]. .[.11. The
method defined in claim 9, wherein said pointing
mechanism is a touch-sensitive display..]. .Iadd.12. A method of
enabling text to be created on a display screen using a computer
having a memory, said display screen and means for selecting
positions on said screen, said method comprising the steps of:
(A) storing in said memory a dictionary of frequently used
linguistic expressions, at least some of said linguistic
expressions each comprising a plurality of letters which form words
of a given language;
(B) sub-dividing said dictionary into numerous predetermined screen
presentations of predetermined words including:
(i) a first of said screen presentations comprising the most
commonly used words in the given language, without regard to the
initial letters of these most commonly used words,
(ii) a first plurality of said screen presentations comprising
other commonly used words of the given language, each screen
presentation of said first plurality consisting of words all having
the same initial letter, and the initial letters of the words in
each of said screen presentations of the first plurality being
different from the initial letters of the words in the other screen
presentations of the first plurality, and
(iii) a second plurality of said screen presentations comprising
words of the given language, each screen presentation of said
second plurality consisting of words all having a predetermined
initial and second letter, and combinations of initial and second
letters of the words in each of said screen presentations of the
second plurality being different from combinations of initial and
second letters of the words in other screen presentations of the
second plurality;
(C) displaying, on a first section of said screen, at least one
line of text, as said text is progressively created in response to
a user's indication of respective selected positions;
(D) continuously displaying, on a second section of said screen, a
plurality of individual letters of the alphabet of the given
language arranged in a predetermined pattern;
(E) displaying, on a third section of said screen various ones of
said screen presentations one at a time in response to a user's
indications of various selected positions;
(i) prior to the selection of the initial letter of each new word
to be concatenated to the text, initially displaying, on said third
section of the screen, said first screen presentation comprising
the most commonly used words of the given language,
(F) in response to the user's selection of a position in said third
section of the screen corresponding to a selected one of the
commonly used words in said initially displayed screen
presentation, displaying said selected word following a space
concatenated to the end of said line of text for adding said
selected word to said text;
(G) in response to the user's lack of selection of a position
identified in step (F) in said third section of the screen and in
response to the user's selection of a position in said second
section of the screen corresponding to a selected initial
letter,
(i) displaying, on said third section of the screen, one of the
screen presentations of said first plurality, said one displayed
screen presentation consisting of words all having initial letters
corresponding to said selected initial letter;
(H) in response to the user's selection of a position in said third
section of the screen corresponding to a selected one of the words
in the screen presentation being displayed in step (G) (i),
displaying said selected one word following a space concatenated to
the end of said text for adding said selected one word to said
text;
(I) in response to the user's lack of selection of a position
identified in step (H) in said third section of the screen and in
response to the user's selection of a position in said second
section of the screen corresponding to a selected second
letter,
(i) displaying, on said third section of the screen, one of the
screen presentations of said second plurality, said one displayed
screen presentation consisting of words all having initial and
second letters corresponding to said initial letter selected in
step (G) and said second letter selected in step (I); and
(J) in response to the user's selection of a position in said third
section of the screen corresponding to a selected one of the words
in the screen presentation being displaying in step (I) (i),
displaying said selected one word following a space concatenated to
the end of said text for adding
said selected one word to said text. .Iaddend. .Iadd.13. The method
defined in claim 12, further comprising the steps of displaying
following a space concatenated to the end of said text the initial
letter selected in step (G) and the second letter selected in step
(I) immediately following the respective selections thereof.
.Iaddend. .Iadd.14. The method defined in claim 12, wherein said
individual letters are displayed on said second section of said
screen arranged in the pattern they appear on a keyboard. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.15. The method defined in claim 14, wherein said individual
letters are arranged on said screen in the order they appear on a
QWERTY keyboard. .Iaddend. .Iadd.16. The method defined in claim 1,
wherein said means for selecting positions on said screen comprises
a pointing mechanism for pointing at the screen. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.17. The method defined in claim 16, wherein said pointing
mechanism
is a light pen. .Iaddend. .Iadd.18. The method defined in claim 16,
wherein said pointing mechanism is a touch sensitive display.
.Iaddend. .Iadd.19. The method defined in claim 12, wherein said
first screen presentation of said dictionary includes an
essentially fixed, standard dictionary of linguistic expressions
which are normally frequently used by at least a given segment of
the public, and a variable, personal dictionary of linguistic
expressions which are frequently used by a frequent individual
user, said method further comprising the steps of:
(K) determining the frequency of use of at least some of said words
of said given language that are added to said text; and
(L) storing in said personal dictionary the words of said language
which are most frequently used as determined in step (K). .Iaddend.
.Iadd.20. The method defined in claim 12, further comprising the
steps of:
(K) in response to the selection of a position of an existing word
in said text in said first section of said screen, displaying the
existing word, whose position was identified in said first section
of said screen, concatenated to the end of said text following a
space thereby adding said
selected existing word to the text. .Iaddend. .Iadd.21. The method
defined in claim 12, including the further steps of:
including in said numerous screen presentations:
(iv) a third plurality of screen presentations comprising words of
the given language, each screen presentation of the third plurality
consisting of words all having a predetermined initial, second and
third letter, and combinations of initial, second and third letters
of the words in each of said screen presentations of the third
plurality being different from combinations of initial, second and
third letters of the words in other screen presentations of the
third plurality,
(K) in response to the user's lack of selection of a position
identified in step (J) in said third section of the screen and in
response to the user's selection of a position in said second
section of the screen corresponding to a selected third letter,
(i) displaying, on said third section of the screen, one of the
screen presentations of said third plurality, said one displayed
screen presentation consisting of words all having initial, second
and third letters corresponding to said initial letter selected in
step (G), said second letter selected in step (I) and said third
letter selected in step (K); and
(L) in response to the user's selection of a position in said third
section of the screen corresponding to a selected one of the words
in the screen presentation being displayed in steps (K) (i),
displaying said selected one word following a space concatenated to
the end of said text for adding
said selected word to said text. .Iaddend. .Iadd.22. The method
defined in claim 21, including the further step of:
(M) in response to the user's lack of selection of a position
identified in step (L) in said third section of the screen and in
response to the user's selection of a position in said second
section of the screen corresponding to a selected fourth letter,
blanking out from said one screen presentation of said third
plurality all words which do not contain said selected initial,
second, third and fourth letters for facilitating the user's seeing
those remaining words of said one screen presentation of said third
plurality which do contain said selected initial, second, third and
fourth letters. .Iaddend. .Iadd.23. The method defined in claim 22,
including the further steps of:
(N) in response to the user's selection of a position in said
second section of the screen corresponding to a selected fifth
letter, blanking out from said one screen presentation of said
third plurality all words which do not contain said selected
initial, second, third, fourth and fifth letters for facilitating
the user's seeing those remaining words which do contain said
selected initial, second, third, fourth and fifth letters, and
(O) in the event that all words of said one screen presentation of
said third plurality become blanked out upon selection of said
fifth letter, thereby indicating to the user a strong likelihood
that the word has been
misspelled. .Iaddend. .Iadd.24. The method defined in claim 12,
including the further step of:
(K) in response to the user's selection of a position in said
second section of the screen as identified in step (G)
corresponding to a selected initial letter followed almost
simultaneously by selection of another position in said second
section of the screen as identified in step (I) corresponding to a
selected second letter,
(i) almost immediately displaying, on said third section of the
screen, one of the screen presentations of said second plurality,
said one displayed screen presentation consisting of words all
having initial and second letters corresponding to said initial and
second letters almost
simultaneously selected in step (K) above. .Iaddend. .Iadd.25. The
method defined in claim 12, including the step of:
(K) including in each of said screen presentations of said first
plurality words of said language which are commonly used by at
least a given segment of the public fluent in said language plus
words of said language which are frequently used by a frequent
individual user. .Iaddend. .Iadd.26. A method enabling text of a
predetermined language to be composed on a display screen using a
computer having a memory, said display screen and means for
indicating to the computer selected positions on said screen, said
method comprising the steps of:
(A) displaying, on a first section of said screen, at least one
line of text, as said text is progressively composed in response to
a user's indication of respective selected positions on said
screen;
(B) continuously displaying, on a second section of said screen,
the letters of the alphabet of said language;
(C) in response to the user's indication of a selected position in
said second section of the screen corresponding to a selected
initial letter, displaying on a third section of said screen
numerous commonly used words of the language all beginning with
said selected initial letter;
(D) in response to the user's indication of a selected position in
said third section of the screen corresponding to one of said
displayed words in step (C), concatenating said word following a
space to the end of said text on said first section of the
screen;
(E) in response to the lack of the user's indication of a selected
position in said third section of the screen in step (D) and the
user's indication of a selected position in said second section of
the screen corresponding to a selected second letter, displaying on
said third section of said screen numerous commonly used words of
the language all beginning with said selected initial and second
letters; and
(F) in response to the user's indication of a selected position in
said third section of the screen corresponding to one of said
displayed words in step (E), concatenating said word following a
space to the end of said
text on said first section of the screen. .Iaddend. .Iadd.27. The
method defined in claim 26, including the further steps of:
(G) in response to the lack of the user's indication of a selected
position in said third section of the screen in step (E) and the
user's indication of a selected position in said second section of
the screen corresponding to a selected third letter, displaying on
said third section of said screen numerous commonly used words of
the language all beginning with said selected initial, second and
third letters; and
(H) in response to the user's indication of a selected position in
said third section of the screen corresponding to one of the
displayed words in a step (G), concatenating said word following a
space to the end of said
text on said first section of the screen. .Iaddend. .Iadd.28. The
method defined in claim 27, including the further step of:
(I) in response to the lack of the user's indication of a selected
position in said third section of the screen in step (G) and the
user's indication of a selected position in said second section of
the screen corresponding to a selected fourth letter, blanking out
from said third section of the screen those words displayed in step
(G) not beginning with said selected initial, second, third and
fourth letters. .Iaddend. .Iadd.29. The method defined in claim 28,
including the further step of:
(J) in response to the user's indication of a selected position in
said second section of the screen corresponding to a selected fifth
letter, blanking out from said third section of the screen those
words remaining in step (I) not beginning with said selected
initial, second, third, fourth and fifth letters, and
in the event that all words become blanked out informing the user
of the strong likelihood that the user is misspelling a word.
.Iaddend.
.Iadd. The method defined in claim 27, including the further steps
of:
(I) in response to the lack of the user's indication of a selected
position in said third section of the screen in step (G) and the
user's indication of a selected position in said second section of
the screen corresponding to a selected fourth letter and wherein
said selected initial, second, third and fourth letters are
contained in a significant number of commonly used words in said
language, displaying on said third section of said screen a number
of words of the language all beginning with said selected initial,
second, third and fourth letters; and
(J) in response to the user's indication of a selected position in
said third section of the screen corresponding to one of the
displayed words in step (I), concatenating said word following a
space to the end of said text on said first section of the screen.
.Iaddend. .Iadd.31. The method defined in claim 30, including the
further step of:
(K) in response to the lack of the user's indication of a selected
position in said third section of the screen in step (I) and the
user's indication of a selected position in said second section of
the screen corresponding to a selected fifth letter, blanking out
from said third section of the screen those words displayed in step
(I) not beginning with said selected initial, second, third, fourth
and fifth letters, and
in the event that all words become blanked out informing the user
of the strong likelihood that the user is misspelling a word.
.Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is a new way of creating text using a pointing
mechanism such as a light pen or touch sensitive display screen to
point to words that a program causes to be displayed on the screen,
thereby adding them to the text.
The standard method of creating text is by typing on a keyboard.
This method requires considerable skill to be able to create text
at reasonably high rates. It typically takes adults about 100 hours
of training to attain a typing speed of about 40 words per minute.
Young children are not taught to type because they do not have the
mental and/or physical dexterity required.
As personal computers become less expensive in the next few years,
we can expect that almost anyone who needs to create text will have
access to a computer so that he can use the word processing
capabilities of the computer to create the text. Further, since
word processing offers great advantages over both handwriting and
standard typing on paper via a standard typewriter, we can expect
that using a computer will be the method of choice for creating
text. Hence a method of creating text at a reasonably high rate
using a computer, that requires little skill or training will be
very advantageous.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of this invention is to provide a method of creating text
using a personal computer, which method is easy to learn but holds
the possibility of permitting both young children and adults to
create text at higher rates than present methods permit.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method of creating
text which allows a person to use a word even if he is not sure of
the correct spelling of that word.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a method of
editing using a natural pointing method rather than typed commands
or cursor movements.
These objects, as well as other objects which will become apparent
from the discussion that follows, are achieved, according to the
present invention, by suitably programming a computer, having both
a display screen and a pointing mechanism for identifying locations
on the display screen, to enable the computer to carry out a
process with the following steps:
(a) displaying on the screen a list of language words for selection
by the computer user;
(b) identifying successive ones of the words in response to the
pointing mechanism as these words are selected by the user by
pointing to their respective locations on the screen; and
(c) displaying on the screen a line of text comprising the
identified words in their successive order of selection.
Thus, when a person uses the programmed computer to create text on
the display screen, he (or she) points to successive ones of the
listed words, which are preferably arranged alphabetically on the
screen. The computer then notes which words were pointed to and
performs the appropriate processing to display a line or lines of
text containing these words in proper order. Advantageously, the
line(s) of text can be displayed at either the top or the bottom of
the screen, so as to leave room on the main part of the screen for
the original "library list" of words.
According to a particular feature of the present invention a list
of alphanumeric characters is also displayed, so that words which
are not contained in the "library list" may be spelled out,
character by character, by pointing to their successive characters,
in turn, in the manner described below.
Typically the first screen that is displayed (i.e. the first set of
words and characters) by the computer will contain the most common
words so that the person can add one of these words to the text by
pointing to it, with one pointing action. If the person wants to
add a word that is not on the first screen, he can point to one or
more words or characters that will cause the computer to display a
new screen on which the word that he wants to add is present.
Typically he would point to the first letter of the word he wants.
The computer will then display a second screen of words all of
which start with that letter and which are in some sense the most
common words that start with that letter. Hence this second screen
is likely to contain the word that he has in mind. If it does, he
can add the word to the text by pointing to it. He will then have
added that word with a total of two pointing actions. If this
second screen does not contain the word he wants, he would point
(on this second screen) to the second letter of the word he wants
and the computer will then display a third screen of the most
common words that start with the first letter followed by the
second letter. He can continue spelling out the word by pointing to
succeeding letters until a screen is displayed which contains the
word he wants or he has spelled out the entire word. If the word
appears he can point to it and it will be added to the text and the
first screen will be displayed so that he can choose his next word
from among the most common words. If the word is completely spelled
out he can point to an end of word indicator and the word will be
added to the text and to one of the screens so that the next time
he wants to use that word he will not have to spell it out
again.
To edit the text he can point to an edit indicator and the computer
will display a portion of the text along with edit command words.
He can then perform the editing functions (such as "delete",
"insert", etc.) by pointing to the edit command words and the text
words that the edit commands should operate on.
The pointing mechanism can be a light pen, or a touch sensitive
display that registers the position on the screen that a fingertip
or other pointing object touches, or some other way of selecting a
point on the screen. The computer can also be constructed to
register several points that are pointed to almost simultaneously
by several fingers or other pointing objects. Hence a person could
point to the first two letters of a word almost simultaneously with
two fingers, or he could point to a letter and a position on the
screen at which he expects a word to appear as a result of pointing
to the letter. This method according to the invention makes it
possible for people to create text at very high rates.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the
invention will be apparent from the following more particular
description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, as
illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 of the drawing illustrates a preferred format for the
display screen of a computer which is programmed to operate
according to the method of the present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates an edit screen format for use with the method of
the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be
described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing. This
embodiment utilizes the following computer equipment, which is
available commercially from IBM Corp., Boca Raton, Fla.:
IBM Personal Computer with at least 64K of memory;
At least one diskette drive;
A graphics CRT display;
A light pen.
The preferred embodiment also utilizes a computer program, written
in BASIC language and designed to be supported by the IBM Disk
Operating System (DOS). A complete listing of the instructions of
this program is set forth in the attached Appendix. This program is
entitled "Pointwriter"TM.
The Pointwriter TM text processing program operates to carry out 25
different functions. These are:
1. Add word to text and most used words columns.
2. Add letter to partially spelled word and get new screen of
words.
3. Add fully spelled word to text and most used words columns.
4. Add suffixes "s", "ed", and "ing".
5. Add other suffixes.
6. Add special characters (including numbers and punctuation).
7. View text.
8. Replace character(s).
9. Delete character(s).
10. Insert character(s).
11. Delete word(s).
12. Undo last action.
13. Insert word(s).
14. Capitalize.
15. Paragraph.
16. Save text and most used words columns.
17. Print text.
18. Align text to eliminate short lines.
19. Stop editing and return to main screen.
20. Stop edit function.
21. Use words that you have previously used.
22. Start a new document or add to an old document.
23. Use old most used words columns.
24. Modify screens (for teacher).
25. Tutorials.
1. Add word to text and most used words columns.
The Pointwriter program generates a main image on the display
screen in the format illustrated in FIG. 1. This image or "screen"
is divided into three areas:
The first three rows contain the last three lines of text;
The bottom three rows (actually the bottom five because two are
blank) contain the alphabet, special characters and command words;
and
The middle area consists of a left part of fifteen rows by
twenty-nine columns and a right part of fifteen rows by ten
columns. The left part contains seventy of the most commonly used
English words. The right part contains the fifteen text words that
were used most often in the text, but are not among the
seventy.
To add a word that is on this screen (except for the command words)
to the text you just point to the word. All the characters to the
left and right, including the character pointed to, up to the first
space will be added to the text. Then a space character will be
added to the text so that the next word added will be separated
from this word by a space. If the word is not one of the seventy,
it may also be added to the right hand column of fifteen most often
used words. More precisely, its new frequency (after incrementing
its frequency by one) will be compared to the frequencies of the
words in that column and if its frequency outranks one of the
others' it will replace it. If there are less than fifteen words in
the column it will be added to the column. There are also
twenty-five other columns of most used words, one for each letter
exept "x". These columns appear, as we shall see when we discuss
the next function-"Add letter to partially spelled word . . . ",
when the middle area of the main screen is replaced by a list of
words all starting with the letter. The word will also be added to
the column of fifteen most used words which begin with its first
letter.
2. Add letter to partially spelled word and get new screen of
words.
If a word that you want to add to the text is not on the main
screen of seventy words or in the column of fifteen most used text
words you should point to its first letter in the screen displayed
keyboard on the left side of the bottom three rows. The words in
the middle area of the screen will immediately be replaced with
words that begin with that letter. On the left (fifteen row by
twenty nine character) part will be between ten and fifty very
common words that begin with that letter. On the right (fifteen row
by ten character) part will be up to fifteen words that have been
used most frequently in the text that begin with that letter. If
the word you want is still not on the screen you should point to
its second letter. Again the words in the middle area will be
replaced with words that begin with these two letters (the first
followed by the second). If you point to a third or fourth letter
one of two things will occur. If there are many words that begin
with that sequence of three or four letters then a new set of words
all starting with that sequence will appear. But if there are not
many such words then all the words that do not begin with that
sequence will be blanked out so that it will be easier to see if
your word is on the screen. As you continue to spell out a word the
words that don't begin with the letters that you have pointed to
will continue to be blanked out so that if you fully spell the word
only that word (and perhaps additional words that differ from it by
an added suffix) will remain. As you spell out a word the letters
you point to are added to the text so that you can see how much of
it you have spelled. At any point that you notice the word and
point to it, it will be added to the text replacing the partially
or fully spelled word. Then the first screen of seventy words will
reappear so you can chose your next word.
3. Add fully spelled word to text and most used word columns.
If you have fully spelled a word because it was never displayed,
you must point to "end" on the next to last row to tell the program
that it has no more letters. It will then be added to the text and
possibly to the columns of fifteen most used words. Sometimes it
will go into the column of most used words on the first screen.
Usually it will go into the column of fifteen most used words that
begin with its first letter so that when you want to use it again
it will appear on the screen after you point to its first
letter.
4. Add "s", "ed", and "ing" to the last word of text.
By pointing to "s", "ed", or "ing" on the right side of the next to
last row, these suffixes may be added to the last word
displayed.
5. Add other suffixes to the last word of text.
By first pointing to the left arrow on the bottom row to position
the cursor immediately after the last text word, and then spelling
the suffix and point to "end" other suffixes may be added. The full
word including the suffix will be ranked by frequency of use for
possible inclusion in the most used words columns.
6. Add special characters (including numbers and punctuation).
First position the cursor if necessary by pointing (perhaps
repeatedly) to the arrows on the bottom row, then if the character
is on the main screen point to it. If it is not on the main screen
you should first point to "edit" on the bottom row. The edit screen
will appear. Point to the character and you will immediately be
returned to the main screen.
An example of the edit screen is shown in FIG. 2. Notice that the
last twelve lines of text are displayed along with three additional
rows of commands and that special characters have replaced the
suffixes and the "edit" command on the bottom two rows.
7. View the text.
Only the last three lines of text are displayed on the main screen.
To view the rest of the text point to "edit" to get the edit
screen. You will initially see the last twelve lines of text. Point
to TOP, BOTTOM, UP, and DOWN to scroll the text. TOP will display
the first twelve lines of text and BOTTOM the last twelve lines. UP
and DOWN cause a scroll of one line. Pointing to the number n
immediately after pointing to UP or DOWN will cause an additional
scroll of n-1 lines.
8. Replace a character.
You may replace a character by getting to the edit screen and first
pointing to the character you want to replace. The cursor will move
to that character. Then point to the character in the last three
rows that you want to replace it with. Alphabetic characters will
go in as lower case. To make it upper case capitalize it. After the
replacement the cursor will move one character to the right so you
can continue replacing characters easily.
9. Delete a character.
You may delete a character by getting to the edit screen and first
pointing to the character and then pointing to DELETE LETTER. The
characters to the right will be moved left one character so you can
delete additional characters by repeatedly pointing to DELETE
LETTER.
10. Insert a character.
You may insert a character by getting to the edit screen and
pointing to the character before which the insertion should take
place and then pointing to INSERT LETTER. Then point to the
character you want to insert. It will go into the cursor position
and the character that was at that position and the characters to
the right will move one character to the right as will the cursor
so you can easily continue inserting characters.
11. Delete words.
You may delete words by getting to the edit screen and pointing to
DELETE WORD. Any words that you point to after that will be
deleted.
12. Undo your last action.
You may undo your last action by pointing to "erase" on the bottom
row.
13. Insert words.
You may insert words by getting to the edit screen and pointing to
INSERT WORD. You will be asked to point to the word before which
you want to insert. After you point to that word the main screen
will reappear with the top three rows containing the text before
that word on row one and the text after that word on row three and
only the cursor on row two. You can insert as many words as you
want just as you would add words to the end of the text. When you
are finished inserting, point to the end. The text is aligned and
then the last three lines of text will appear and you can
continue.
14. Capitalize a character, by pointing to "Cap" and then the
character. On the main screen you must point to "Cap" before each
character, but on the edit screen you can point to "Cap" once and
then a succession of characters.
15. Start a new paragraph, by pointing to "Par". On the main screen
this will put the cursor at the beginning of the next text line
indented one character. On the edit screen you will be asked which
word should start a new paragraph and when you point to a word a
new paragraph will be created and the text will be realigned
accordingly.
16. Save your document on disk, by pointing to SAVE on the edit
screen. You will be asked to spell a title.
You should point to "end" after spelling a title. The columns of
most used words will also be saved under this title.
17. Print your document on the printer, by pointing to PRINT on the
edit screen.
18. Eliminate short lines caused by deletions, by pointing to ALIGN
on the edit screen.
19. Stop editing and return to the main screen, by pointing to
RETURN on the edit screen.
20. Stop edit functions, by pointing to "end" on the edit screen.
In some cases you can point to another edit command to
automatically stop the previous edit function, but in the case of
DELETE WORD you must point to "end" before attempting to position
the cursor for another edit function since pointing to a text word
while in DELETE WORD mode will delete the word!
21. Use words that you have previously used, by pointing to them in
the text or the columns of most used words. If the word you want to
use is in the last three lines of text it will be in the main
screen text area and you can add it to the text by pointing to it.
If it is not in the last three lines you can go to the edit screen
and point to ADD WORDS. Then when you point to text words they will
be added to the text instead of the cursor being positioned at the
word.
22. Start a new document or add to an old one, by pointing to NEW
DOC or to one of the titles that is displayed when you start the
Pointwriter program. The initial Pointwriter program screen
contains instructions and the command START. When you point to
START the titles of previously saved documents will be
displayed.
23. Use old most used words columns.
After you point to a title you will be asked if you want to use the
most used words columns associated with that document or start out
fresh. If you start a new document you will be asked if you want to
use the most used words columns associated with one of your stored
documents.
24. Modify word screens.
The teacher can modify any of the word screens (of fifteen rows by
twenty nine characters) by adding and/or deleting words. The new
screen can then be saved in place of the supplied screen.
25. Tutorials
There are two tutorials. One presents a story and asks a child to
recreate it. As the child successfully recreates the words they are
highlighted so the child can see which word to work on next. The
other presents a story and recreates it itself showing the child
the proper pointing actions by highlighting the words, letters, and
command words in the proper sequence.
There has thus been shown and described a novel method of creating
text which fulfills all the objects and advantages sought therefor.
Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and
applications of the subject invention will, however, become
apparent to those skilled in the art after considering this
specification and the accompanying drawing which discloses
preferred embodiments thereof. All such changes, modifications,
variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from
the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by
the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.
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