CA1177176A - Word-processor systems - Google Patents
Word-processor systemsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1177176A CA1177176A CA000387427A CA387427A CA1177176A CA 1177176 A CA1177176 A CA 1177176A CA 000387427 A CA000387427 A CA 000387427A CA 387427 A CA387427 A CA 387427A CA 1177176 A CA1177176 A CA 1177176A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- text
- recorder
- address information
- comments
- data
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F40/00—Handling natural language data
- G06F40/10—Text processing
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
- G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
- G09B5/00—Electrically-operated educational appliances
- G09B5/06—Electrically-operated educational appliances with both visual and audible presentation of the material to be studied
- G09B5/065—Combinations of audio and video presentations, e.g. videotapes, videodiscs, television systems
Abstract
Abstract of the Disclosure A word processing system includes a voice recorder/player connected to the microprocessor of the word processor per se. In use, a previously typed text is displayed on a visual display unit to the author who indicates by operating a remote switch that he wishes to provide instructions regarding the page of text displayed.
The microprocessor causes a unique burst of digital information to be recorded on the recorder identifying the page of text and the fact that an instruction is to be made. Thereafter the computer activates the recorder microphone, allowing the author to insert verbally the desired instruction. When annotation in this way is complete, the system is then handed over to the operator (typist) to whom the pages of text to be edited are displayed under control of the microprocessor which also causes the recorder/player to play back the appropriate voice instructions at the appropriate times.
The microprocessor causes a unique burst of digital information to be recorded on the recorder identifying the page of text and the fact that an instruction is to be made. Thereafter the computer activates the recorder microphone, allowing the author to insert verbally the desired instruction. When annotation in this way is complete, the system is then handed over to the operator (typist) to whom the pages of text to be edited are displayed under control of the microprocessor which also causes the recorder/player to play back the appropriate voice instructions at the appropriate times.
Description
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Word-processor S~stems This invention concerns word-processor systems, and relates in particular to the use in such systems of methods and apparatus enabling the annotatlon of the text with comments.
It has long been common office practice fox written documents to be prepared in draft form, the draft being considered, and if necessary amended, before being prepared in final form. The text - the word eontent of the document is decided by the originator of the document, while the actual physical operation of preparlng the document (by typing, say) is usually effected by a person skilled in the relevant art (of typinq). Thus:
a letter is dictated by the originator (who is not skllled in typing) to a secretary (who is); the secretary types the letter in draft form and returns it to the ori~inator for "checking"; any necessary amendments are effeeted~
and the letter is typed again in its final form.
~hile instructions regarding any changes can be written upon the draft itself, nevertheless, because it i3 often - convenient to prepare the draft as though it were in the final form (so that, if there are no changes, lt is in fact in its flnal form, and may be used as such), it i~
considered good practice for the originator checking the draft to write hls comments not upon the draft but instead upon a separate paper associated with the draft, each comment including information identifying the portion of the draft's text to whlch it refers. The typist ean then go through the draft checking lt agalnst the comment~
or go through the comments checking them against the drat, so as to identify, and effect, the necessary text changes, and thus produce the document inits final form~
Although the equipment and procedures in the modexn offlce may differ from ~he system just describ2d, the concept~ remain the same.
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In the modern office increasing use is being made of word-processors - that is to day, word/text writing devices akin to the typewriter but operated in conjunction with a microcomputer (a microprocessor) so that the data (the text) input to the device may be stored in convenient (usually digital) form, manipulated as required, and then displayed in any suitable way (typically using a televlsion-type screen commonly referred to as a Visual Display Unit, or VDU). It may often be the case that text origin-ating from a first person (the originator) but prepared by a sec-ond person (a secretary, say) using a word-processor is to be considered and commented upon (perhaps by way of amendment) by the originator in much the same way as a draft typewritten docu-ment conventionally prepared by a typist is to be checked by the originator, but that the text is most conveniently presented to the originator using a VDU instead of in the form of "hard copy"
on paper. Additionally, it may well be the case that the origin-ator is unfamiliar with the VDU equipment and/or the skills neces-sary to use that equipment to give effect to his comments (to amend the text, say) or that his VDU is itself not equipped for effecting his wishes. The invention seeks to provide an arrange-ment whereby the text originator may append comments to the "draft"
text displayed on the VDU, in a manner akin to putting the comments on an associated piece of paper, together with information iden-tifying the portion of text to which the comrnents apply, but in a way more befitting the technology employed in word-processors and the modern automated office.
In one aspect, therefore, the inven-tion provides a text ~, -2-7~7~
processing system operable in two modes, in a first mode audio commentary is recorded and associated with selected portions of displayed text, in a second mode the commentary is played back while the text to which it pertains is recalled to a display, said system comprising: (a) a word processor including:(i) a dis-play unit (DU) on which the text is displayed, (ii) addressable means for storing data including said text, (iii) input means for selecting the mode of operation, (iv) a processing unit respon-sive to said input means for communicating data, including text, between said storage means, the DU and said input means, said processing unit generating digital address information correspon-ding to the locations in said storing means where said selected text is located, said processing unit including bus means by which the display unit, storing means and interface can communicate with the processing unit; (b) recorder means capable of recording and playing back address information and commentary; (c) means for interfacing said processing unit with the recorder means to permit the processing unit to control recording and playback and to store and retrieve said address information from the recor-ding means such that: (i) during the first mode the processingunit generates address information to be recorded along with the audio commentary and (ii) during the second mode the processing unit causes the recorder to play back the recorded address infor-mation and commentary, said processing unit retrieving said add-ress information via said interfacing means and utilizing it to display the text to which the commentary pertains; whereby a first user can select text displayed on the DU and record commentary 7~j relating thereto and, when desired, the same or a second user can listen to the recorded commentary while having the text to which it pertains displayed on the DU.
In another aspect, the invention provides an operator controlled system for processing text and associating operator comments therewith comprising: (a) storage means for storlng data including data corresponding to text; (b) a display unit for dis-playing text; (c) operator input means for permitting an operator to designate a portion of the text to which said comments will pertain; (d) a controller for communicating data between the stor-age means, the display unit and the operator input means and for producing address information for the data in the storage means corresponding to the designated portion of the displayed text;
(e) means for generating the comments to be associated with the designated text; (f) recorder means for recording said address data and comments; (g) means for receiving the address information and comments from elements (d) and (e) and transmitting them to said recorder means, whereby the recorder means records said ad-dress data in association with comments made by the operator.
In another aspect, the invention provides an operator controlled system for displaying text and playing back recorded audio comments relative thereto comprising: (a) a storage means for storing data including data corresponding to text; (b) a dis-play unit for displaying text thereon; (c) a controller for com-municating data between the storage means and the display unit;
(d) recorder means including playback means, having recorded there-on address information for selected data corresponding to text .~
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stored in said storage means and audio comments related to said selected text; (e) operator controlled means for causing said recorder to play back said address information and, said audio comments; (f) interface means for providing said address informa-tion to said controller; (g) said controller utilizing said add-ress information to loca-te the data in the storage means corres-ponding to the seleeted text and communieating said data to the display unit to display said text for viewing by the operator and, subsequent to said display, eausing playbaek of the opera-tor's eomments pertaining to the displayed text.
Although in general the expression "word-proeessor"
where used herein has its normal signifieanee, it should be appre-ciated that "text" need not be purely words but could be any form of visible data - such as lists or arrays of numbers, or pictures - eapable of being stored (eommonly in digital form), displayed and manipulated by the system. Similarly, the "eomments" with whieh the commentator annotates the text may take any ~ -3b-~.~
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data form and physical form that can be recorded and played back by the recording means, though - as discussed further hereina~ter - it i5 envisaged that the most useful physical form of comments will be speech recorded in conventional analogue fashion. Thus, for "word-processor system" one can read "cornputer-driven data processing and display system", and thereafter for "word-processor" one can read "computer", and for "text" one can read "data".
Nevertheless, the invention is intended primarily for use in the annotation of text in true word-processor systems, and is so described herelnafter.
The invention employs recording means operating under the control both of the word-processor and of the commentator. It is a primary objective of the invention lS that it should be useable with present-day word-processing equipment, and at no great additional cost, and therefore, while the recording means could be an integral paxt of the word-processor, it is most conveniently physically separate therefrom (though operatively connected therato by some suitable interface and/or connection means). For the same reasons of convenience and cost, the recording means itself is most advantageously quite conventional in nature, and is preferably a magnetic tape or disc recorder - for example, a standard office dictating machine or one of 25 those tape recorders known as cassette recorders (as opposed to the reel-to-reel type) - with, or modified so as to have, control means whereby the operation of the device may be controlled by the word-processor under the overall control of the commentator. A standard type of tape recorder usually has a microphone input, a remote switch input ~controlling the drive motor), an auxilliary input, and an earphone output; with the addition of a suitable lnterface junction box and switch gear (as described here;
inafter), such a recorder is quite acceptable.
The recording means is operable, under the control of the word-processor ~or, more accurately, o~ the program .
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controlling the word-processor). This control of the - recordin~ means takes two forms. Firstly, the word-processor needs tv be able to turn the recording means on and off (to start and stop the drive motor of a tape recorder/ say), and secondly the word-processor needs to be able to cause there to be recorded the desired text-identifying information. It will be seen that these requirements can easily be met when employlng a con~entional tape recorder; the remote switch input can be connected to the word-processor for turning on or off the recorder, while the signal input may be connected to the word-processox for supplylng the text-identifying information.
The recording means is also operable under the control of the commentator (the person making the comments).
Again, this control takes the two forms - turnlng on and off the recording means, either in record or playback mode, as appropriate, and recordiny the deslred comments - and again it will easily be appreciated that the requirements can very conveniently be met using the remote swit~h input and the microphone lnput of a conventional tape recorder.
Because both the word-processor and the commen~ator need to control the operation of the recording means it is ronvenient if the controlling means - the various switches and connections - are appropriately interlinked. Indeed, i~ is most preferred if the on/off c~ntrol of the recording means by the commentator is effected through the word-processor - and an advantageous way of achieving this is to arrange that the on/off control exercised by the ~ommentator does not directly turn on (or off) the recording means but instead constitutes a signal to the word-- processor to turn on (or off) the recording means. Thus, when the commentator is ready to record a comment he move~
to i'on" his recording means on/off swltch, and this "instructs" the word-processor to turn on ~he recordlng .
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means (and perhaps then generate and output to the recording means the necessary text-identifying information).
Similarly, after the commentator has recorded his comment he moves his switch to lloff"~ and this "instructs" the word-processor to turn off the recording means.
The word-processor causes there to be recorded information identifying the relevant portion of text currently being displayed, this information being used by the word-processor during playback to select the combination of that particular portion of text for display together with the comments recorded by the recording means in association with this information. The text-identifying information can take a number of different forms (provided, of course, they are all readable by the word-processor).
Thus, for example, the information could itself directly identify the text portion, or alternatively the information could indirectly identify the text portion, by directly or indirectly identifying a processor memory location in which is stored the actual text portion identification.
Illustrating this, direct identification is achieved by the information being a processor-readable representation of a text page and/or line number, while indirect identification is attained by the information beiny a simple marker pulse (these being counted to achieve identification of the corresponding portion of text) or preferably a processor-readable representation of a code number (the se~uential number of the associated comment, say), this code number identifying the whereabouts of a memory location containing the current page and/or line number and/or cursor position relevant to the text in question.
Whatever form is taken by the text identifying information itself, the computer will conveniently prefix it with an identification header, and follow it with one or more check data items. This is quite conventional,and needs no further discussion here.
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The means enabling the word-processor to cause the recording means to record the text identifying information (and any header, etc.) is the combination of operative connections between the word-processor outputs (an I/O port) and the recording means' inputs (both the control and the signal inputs). The operative connection ` to the recording means' signal inputs will generally be via a MODEM (MOdulator/DEModulator) which converts the digital output from the word-processor into tones more suitable for recording, and in reverse converts the tones read off the recording into digital signals for passing to the word-processor. Thus, a binary digital signal from the word-processor is converted to a two-tone signal (normally in the audio range) for the recording means, and vice versa. Moreover, it will generally be the case that the digital signals to or from the word~
processor are first transferred into a UART (Universal - Asynchronous ~eceive and Transmit device; a typical such device is an Intel 8251), for most commonly the word-processor outputs or receives the text identifying information a byte (8 bits) at a time, and some such device as a UART is required both to convert these bytes into a stream of serial bits for onwards transmission to the MODEM and to convert bits received from the MODEM
into bytes for the word-processor.
It is desirable if, when the word-processor is actually recording the text-identifying information, the commentator be made aware of this fact, so that he know that the system is operating and that he should not begin speaking until it is ready to record his comment.
This can be achieved by arranging for the word processor to k -- .
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provide a "speak-after-this" tone while it is recording the infoxmation, and it is convenient if the information itself, appropriately modulated for recordal, is employed as the tone.
The relevant portion of text being ldentified may be as large or as small, as general or as speclfic, as required. For example, the text-identifying information could merely identify the whole of the text occupying the I'page'' being displayed (this "page'7 preferably being an updated version of the original page, taking account of any previous changes to the text), b~t where appropriate it advantageously identifies the text more specifically - thus, by line or, ideally, by the relevant word or letter. The choice o which text portion is so identified can be determined, for example, by the position o some form of pointer moveable about the display under the control of the commentator. With a conventional VDU displaying alphanumeric data, for instance, a light pen can be pointed at the screen, or the cursor can be moved around the screen~
to mark individual characters (and thus the "words"
containing the characters,and the lines containing the words), and the text-identifying information can then ultimately define not merely the "page" of text currently containing the marked portion but also the position of the cursor on ~5 the VDU, so pointing to the very word that needs correction.
The generation of 1he text-identifying information may be effected in any way appropriate, and conveniently it will be an entirely automatic process (controlled by the word-processor - or its pro~ram), in which the commentator n~ed take no part. Thus, wlth a typical VDU display system, for example, the word-processor constantly maintalns up-to-date identification of the displayed page and the position of the cursor on the screen, and is ready to out-put this at any time - and the time chosen may be whatever time is convenient to the commentator~ It may, for example, ~e when he ls ready to record a comment~ or lt may be after he has fini shed recording the previou~ comment.
In either case the commentator may indicate the chosen moment by operating a switch on the word~processor dedicated to that purpose, but most conveniently (and using the preferred control interlink arrangement discussed hereinbefore) he does so simply by switching on (or off, as appropriate) his recording means remote switch, so instructing the word-processor both to turn on (or off) the re-cording means and to record thereon the necessary text-identifying information (if the latter is an indirect identification, then it may conveniently be re-corded at the end of the previous comment, before the recording means is actu-ally switched off).
The text-identification information is recorded on the recording means in association with the related comments. In addition it may be desirable to mark the text itself to show the relevant portion thereof, and in one preferred embodiment a suitable marker is placed thereon so that as the test is displayed there can be seen which portions thereof have recorded comments associated with them.
When playing back the recorded comments in association with a display of the relevant text portions, the system of the invention may be utilised in two distinct ways. In the first way, the text may be displayed page by page (or marked portion by marked portion), the word-processor then searching through the recorded text-identification information to find that relevant to the currently displayed text portion, and thus to find the comments associated therewith. How-ever, though in theory this is attractive, and might indeed be preferred from an operator point of view, nevertheless, because of the problems arising from the difficulties of arranging the preferred cassette recorder or dictating machine to be controlled both as regards record and playback and as regards fast forward and fast rewind, and because of the delay inherent in any serial access device like a tape recorder, it is very much preferred to play back the record (the tape cassette, say), . ' ~ .
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and have the word-processor then use the text-identifyin~ information to identify, locate and display the relevant text portions before continuing to play back the associated comments. This latter way is very much the better having regard to the properties of standard tape recorders (or dictating machines~ and typical word-p:rocessors, and for such an embodiment of the invention is therefore to be preferred.
Whichever of these two playback modes is used it is desirable that the displayed text be marked to show the particular portion of text relating to the recordal comment presently selected (and that this marking should be quite separate from any markin~ used simply to indicate which text portions have related comments). The marking may be effected in any convenient way, and where the text is displayed on a VDU examples are the position of the cursor or the use of reverse video or "bright-up~.
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An embodiment of the invention is now described, though only by way of illustration, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 shows in perspective vlew an artistic impression of the main components of the apparatus used inthe invention; and Fi~ure 2 shows a block diagram of the relevant operating parts of the apparatus of Figure 1.
The apparatus of the Figures is a combination of a word-processor (10), with its on-board computer (20 in Figure 2) running under the control of an interactive program, a small amount of inter~acing equipment (11), a standard office cassette tape dlctating machlne (12) having input and output sGckets and a remote con~rol (21, 22 and 23 in Figure 2) for recording and reproducing speech and other analogue information, and hence sllitably encoded digital information, a microphone (13), and a speaker (14 - which may be in the form of earphones~. The recorder 12 is operated via the computer 20, and is able to respond fai~ly quickly to 'start' and 'stop' commands from the computer.
The operatlon of the system falls clearly ~nto two phases - annotation and edit.
Annotation The user interacts ~ith the word-processor's computer 20 by means of a visual display unit (VDU - 15) and the word-processor's keyboard (16). In this way he indicates the portion of text or other information he wishes to ann~tate. He then instructs the computer 20 to make a note of that text portion by operating the 'remote' swltch (24 - shown separately in Figure 2) on the microphone 13.
The computer 20 then activates the recorder 12, and immediately records on it a unique burst of digital in~ormation identifying the comment to be made and the text presently being displayedc The digital information ls appropriat~ly recorded on the medium used - a modem 7~7~
(modulator/demodulator) operatlng at 1070 and 1270 T~ertz is suitable for a cassette tape - and in this case is simply a serial number for the comment about to be made.
The computer also stores~ in some machine-readable form, and in such a way that it can be identified and retrieved ~rom the text-identifying information recorded with the comment, sufficient information to allow the subsequent retrieval of the corresponding displayed tect. After recordlng the identif~ing digital information, the computer 20 connects the microphone 13 to the recorder 12, and the user's speech comment (or other analogue information) is then recorded in the normal way.
The user can, of course, employ the recorder's sonventional controls to play back his own comments (to check, for example, that he has dealt fully with the particular matter to which any comment relates).
Edit At the start of the edit session, the computer ~0 first identifies the body of text or other information to which the annotations refer, either by asking the user or by reading a special block of digital information recorded with the analogue information before the star~ of the annotation procedure. It then begins playing back the tape, and reads the first burst of text-identifying digital information; when the user is ready, lt employs that text identification (or that identifying information most recently read) to retrieve, from the machine-readable recoxd created during annotation, the position in the text to which the subsequent comment refers. The computer 20 then displays the appropriate portion of the text, and causes the recorded comment to be re-played to the user by the recorder 12. Thus, the user now hears through the speaker (or earphones) 14 what the annotator said while looking at the text portion about which he said it. When the computer 20, which i5 all the while monitoxing the signal ~rom the recorder 12~ ~etects the next burst of text-. , .
~ 13 -identifying digital information, it suppresses the output - of the speaker (or earphones) 14, reads the identifying information (so enabling it subsequently to locate and display the next corresponding portion of text), and then 'j stops the recorder 12. It then waits for the user to indicate readiness to have the next comment replayed (which will normally be after the user has effected the editorial changes to the text necessitated by the previous comment) and then the next relevant portion of text is displayed, the recorder 12 is re-started, the speaker (or earphones) 14 is switched in, and the cycle repeats.
If necessary, the user can of course employ t~e recorder's conventional controls to replay any particular comments. Naturally, so doing may cause the text-identifying informatlon relating to that comment to beread again, the computer then re-selecting the appropriate text for display.
~ he block dlagram of Figure 2 is self-expl~natory, particularly having regard to the comments already given.
Nevertheless, the following additional remarks can usefully be made~
Control of the flow of data in and around the system is effected by the word-processor's in-built micro-computer 20 tM/P), the main routing and switchlng
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Word-processor S~stems This invention concerns word-processor systems, and relates in particular to the use in such systems of methods and apparatus enabling the annotatlon of the text with comments.
It has long been common office practice fox written documents to be prepared in draft form, the draft being considered, and if necessary amended, before being prepared in final form. The text - the word eontent of the document is decided by the originator of the document, while the actual physical operation of preparlng the document (by typing, say) is usually effected by a person skilled in the relevant art (of typinq). Thus:
a letter is dictated by the originator (who is not skllled in typing) to a secretary (who is); the secretary types the letter in draft form and returns it to the ori~inator for "checking"; any necessary amendments are effeeted~
and the letter is typed again in its final form.
~hile instructions regarding any changes can be written upon the draft itself, nevertheless, because it i3 often - convenient to prepare the draft as though it were in the final form (so that, if there are no changes, lt is in fact in its flnal form, and may be used as such), it i~
considered good practice for the originator checking the draft to write hls comments not upon the draft but instead upon a separate paper associated with the draft, each comment including information identifying the portion of the draft's text to whlch it refers. The typist ean then go through the draft checking lt agalnst the comment~
or go through the comments checking them against the drat, so as to identify, and effect, the necessary text changes, and thus produce the document inits final form~
Although the equipment and procedures in the modexn offlce may differ from ~he system just describ2d, the concept~ remain the same.
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In the modern office increasing use is being made of word-processors - that is to day, word/text writing devices akin to the typewriter but operated in conjunction with a microcomputer (a microprocessor) so that the data (the text) input to the device may be stored in convenient (usually digital) form, manipulated as required, and then displayed in any suitable way (typically using a televlsion-type screen commonly referred to as a Visual Display Unit, or VDU). It may often be the case that text origin-ating from a first person (the originator) but prepared by a sec-ond person (a secretary, say) using a word-processor is to be considered and commented upon (perhaps by way of amendment) by the originator in much the same way as a draft typewritten docu-ment conventionally prepared by a typist is to be checked by the originator, but that the text is most conveniently presented to the originator using a VDU instead of in the form of "hard copy"
on paper. Additionally, it may well be the case that the origin-ator is unfamiliar with the VDU equipment and/or the skills neces-sary to use that equipment to give effect to his comments (to amend the text, say) or that his VDU is itself not equipped for effecting his wishes. The invention seeks to provide an arrange-ment whereby the text originator may append comments to the "draft"
text displayed on the VDU, in a manner akin to putting the comments on an associated piece of paper, together with information iden-tifying the portion of text to which the comrnents apply, but in a way more befitting the technology employed in word-processors and the modern automated office.
In one aspect, therefore, the inven-tion provides a text ~, -2-7~7~
processing system operable in two modes, in a first mode audio commentary is recorded and associated with selected portions of displayed text, in a second mode the commentary is played back while the text to which it pertains is recalled to a display, said system comprising: (a) a word processor including:(i) a dis-play unit (DU) on which the text is displayed, (ii) addressable means for storing data including said text, (iii) input means for selecting the mode of operation, (iv) a processing unit respon-sive to said input means for communicating data, including text, between said storage means, the DU and said input means, said processing unit generating digital address information correspon-ding to the locations in said storing means where said selected text is located, said processing unit including bus means by which the display unit, storing means and interface can communicate with the processing unit; (b) recorder means capable of recording and playing back address information and commentary; (c) means for interfacing said processing unit with the recorder means to permit the processing unit to control recording and playback and to store and retrieve said address information from the recor-ding means such that: (i) during the first mode the processingunit generates address information to be recorded along with the audio commentary and (ii) during the second mode the processing unit causes the recorder to play back the recorded address infor-mation and commentary, said processing unit retrieving said add-ress information via said interfacing means and utilizing it to display the text to which the commentary pertains; whereby a first user can select text displayed on the DU and record commentary 7~j relating thereto and, when desired, the same or a second user can listen to the recorded commentary while having the text to which it pertains displayed on the DU.
In another aspect, the invention provides an operator controlled system for processing text and associating operator comments therewith comprising: (a) storage means for storlng data including data corresponding to text; (b) a display unit for dis-playing text; (c) operator input means for permitting an operator to designate a portion of the text to which said comments will pertain; (d) a controller for communicating data between the stor-age means, the display unit and the operator input means and for producing address information for the data in the storage means corresponding to the designated portion of the displayed text;
(e) means for generating the comments to be associated with the designated text; (f) recorder means for recording said address data and comments; (g) means for receiving the address information and comments from elements (d) and (e) and transmitting them to said recorder means, whereby the recorder means records said ad-dress data in association with comments made by the operator.
In another aspect, the invention provides an operator controlled system for displaying text and playing back recorded audio comments relative thereto comprising: (a) a storage means for storing data including data corresponding to text; (b) a dis-play unit for displaying text thereon; (c) a controller for com-municating data between the storage means and the display unit;
(d) recorder means including playback means, having recorded there-on address information for selected data corresponding to text .~
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stored in said storage means and audio comments related to said selected text; (e) operator controlled means for causing said recorder to play back said address information and, said audio comments; (f) interface means for providing said address informa-tion to said controller; (g) said controller utilizing said add-ress information to loca-te the data in the storage means corres-ponding to the seleeted text and communieating said data to the display unit to display said text for viewing by the operator and, subsequent to said display, eausing playbaek of the opera-tor's eomments pertaining to the displayed text.
Although in general the expression "word-proeessor"
where used herein has its normal signifieanee, it should be appre-ciated that "text" need not be purely words but could be any form of visible data - such as lists or arrays of numbers, or pictures - eapable of being stored (eommonly in digital form), displayed and manipulated by the system. Similarly, the "eomments" with whieh the commentator annotates the text may take any ~ -3b-~.~
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data form and physical form that can be recorded and played back by the recording means, though - as discussed further hereina~ter - it i5 envisaged that the most useful physical form of comments will be speech recorded in conventional analogue fashion. Thus, for "word-processor system" one can read "cornputer-driven data processing and display system", and thereafter for "word-processor" one can read "computer", and for "text" one can read "data".
Nevertheless, the invention is intended primarily for use in the annotation of text in true word-processor systems, and is so described herelnafter.
The invention employs recording means operating under the control both of the word-processor and of the commentator. It is a primary objective of the invention lS that it should be useable with present-day word-processing equipment, and at no great additional cost, and therefore, while the recording means could be an integral paxt of the word-processor, it is most conveniently physically separate therefrom (though operatively connected therato by some suitable interface and/or connection means). For the same reasons of convenience and cost, the recording means itself is most advantageously quite conventional in nature, and is preferably a magnetic tape or disc recorder - for example, a standard office dictating machine or one of 25 those tape recorders known as cassette recorders (as opposed to the reel-to-reel type) - with, or modified so as to have, control means whereby the operation of the device may be controlled by the word-processor under the overall control of the commentator. A standard type of tape recorder usually has a microphone input, a remote switch input ~controlling the drive motor), an auxilliary input, and an earphone output; with the addition of a suitable lnterface junction box and switch gear (as described here;
inafter), such a recorder is quite acceptable.
The recording means is operable, under the control of the word-processor ~or, more accurately, o~ the program .
'7~
controlling the word-processor). This control of the - recordin~ means takes two forms. Firstly, the word-processor needs tv be able to turn the recording means on and off (to start and stop the drive motor of a tape recorder/ say), and secondly the word-processor needs to be able to cause there to be recorded the desired text-identifying information. It will be seen that these requirements can easily be met when employlng a con~entional tape recorder; the remote switch input can be connected to the word-processor for turning on or off the recorder, while the signal input may be connected to the word-processox for supplylng the text-identifying information.
The recording means is also operable under the control of the commentator (the person making the comments).
Again, this control takes the two forms - turnlng on and off the recording means, either in record or playback mode, as appropriate, and recordiny the deslred comments - and again it will easily be appreciated that the requirements can very conveniently be met using the remote swit~h input and the microphone lnput of a conventional tape recorder.
Because both the word-processor and the commen~ator need to control the operation of the recording means it is ronvenient if the controlling means - the various switches and connections - are appropriately interlinked. Indeed, i~ is most preferred if the on/off c~ntrol of the recording means by the commentator is effected through the word-processor - and an advantageous way of achieving this is to arrange that the on/off control exercised by the ~ommentator does not directly turn on (or off) the recording means but instead constitutes a signal to the word-- processor to turn on (or off) the recording means. Thus, when the commentator is ready to record a comment he move~
to i'on" his recording means on/off swltch, and this "instructs" the word-processor to turn on ~he recordlng .
- 6 ~
means (and perhaps then generate and output to the recording means the necessary text-identifying information).
Similarly, after the commentator has recorded his comment he moves his switch to lloff"~ and this "instructs" the word-processor to turn off the recording means.
The word-processor causes there to be recorded information identifying the relevant portion of text currently being displayed, this information being used by the word-processor during playback to select the combination of that particular portion of text for display together with the comments recorded by the recording means in association with this information. The text-identifying information can take a number of different forms (provided, of course, they are all readable by the word-processor).
Thus, for example, the information could itself directly identify the text portion, or alternatively the information could indirectly identify the text portion, by directly or indirectly identifying a processor memory location in which is stored the actual text portion identification.
Illustrating this, direct identification is achieved by the information being a processor-readable representation of a text page and/or line number, while indirect identification is attained by the information beiny a simple marker pulse (these being counted to achieve identification of the corresponding portion of text) or preferably a processor-readable representation of a code number (the se~uential number of the associated comment, say), this code number identifying the whereabouts of a memory location containing the current page and/or line number and/or cursor position relevant to the text in question.
Whatever form is taken by the text identifying information itself, the computer will conveniently prefix it with an identification header, and follow it with one or more check data items. This is quite conventional,and needs no further discussion here.
'7'~7~
The means enabling the word-processor to cause the recording means to record the text identifying information (and any header, etc.) is the combination of operative connections between the word-processor outputs (an I/O port) and the recording means' inputs (both the control and the signal inputs). The operative connection ` to the recording means' signal inputs will generally be via a MODEM (MOdulator/DEModulator) which converts the digital output from the word-processor into tones more suitable for recording, and in reverse converts the tones read off the recording into digital signals for passing to the word-processor. Thus, a binary digital signal from the word-processor is converted to a two-tone signal (normally in the audio range) for the recording means, and vice versa. Moreover, it will generally be the case that the digital signals to or from the word~
processor are first transferred into a UART (Universal - Asynchronous ~eceive and Transmit device; a typical such device is an Intel 8251), for most commonly the word-processor outputs or receives the text identifying information a byte (8 bits) at a time, and some such device as a UART is required both to convert these bytes into a stream of serial bits for onwards transmission to the MODEM and to convert bits received from the MODEM
into bytes for the word-processor.
It is desirable if, when the word-processor is actually recording the text-identifying information, the commentator be made aware of this fact, so that he know that the system is operating and that he should not begin speaking until it is ready to record his comment.
This can be achieved by arranging for the word processor to k -- .
7t--1~
provide a "speak-after-this" tone while it is recording the infoxmation, and it is convenient if the information itself, appropriately modulated for recordal, is employed as the tone.
The relevant portion of text being ldentified may be as large or as small, as general or as speclfic, as required. For example, the text-identifying information could merely identify the whole of the text occupying the I'page'' being displayed (this "page'7 preferably being an updated version of the original page, taking account of any previous changes to the text), b~t where appropriate it advantageously identifies the text more specifically - thus, by line or, ideally, by the relevant word or letter. The choice o which text portion is so identified can be determined, for example, by the position o some form of pointer moveable about the display under the control of the commentator. With a conventional VDU displaying alphanumeric data, for instance, a light pen can be pointed at the screen, or the cursor can be moved around the screen~
to mark individual characters (and thus the "words"
containing the characters,and the lines containing the words), and the text-identifying information can then ultimately define not merely the "page" of text currently containing the marked portion but also the position of the cursor on ~5 the VDU, so pointing to the very word that needs correction.
The generation of 1he text-identifying information may be effected in any way appropriate, and conveniently it will be an entirely automatic process (controlled by the word-processor - or its pro~ram), in which the commentator n~ed take no part. Thus, wlth a typical VDU display system, for example, the word-processor constantly maintalns up-to-date identification of the displayed page and the position of the cursor on the screen, and is ready to out-put this at any time - and the time chosen may be whatever time is convenient to the commentator~ It may, for example, ~e when he ls ready to record a comment~ or lt may be after he has fini shed recording the previou~ comment.
In either case the commentator may indicate the chosen moment by operating a switch on the word~processor dedicated to that purpose, but most conveniently (and using the preferred control interlink arrangement discussed hereinbefore) he does so simply by switching on (or off, as appropriate) his recording means remote switch, so instructing the word-processor both to turn on (or off) the re-cording means and to record thereon the necessary text-identifying information (if the latter is an indirect identification, then it may conveniently be re-corded at the end of the previous comment, before the recording means is actu-ally switched off).
The text-identification information is recorded on the recording means in association with the related comments. In addition it may be desirable to mark the text itself to show the relevant portion thereof, and in one preferred embodiment a suitable marker is placed thereon so that as the test is displayed there can be seen which portions thereof have recorded comments associated with them.
When playing back the recorded comments in association with a display of the relevant text portions, the system of the invention may be utilised in two distinct ways. In the first way, the text may be displayed page by page (or marked portion by marked portion), the word-processor then searching through the recorded text-identification information to find that relevant to the currently displayed text portion, and thus to find the comments associated therewith. How-ever, though in theory this is attractive, and might indeed be preferred from an operator point of view, nevertheless, because of the problems arising from the difficulties of arranging the preferred cassette recorder or dictating machine to be controlled both as regards record and playback and as regards fast forward and fast rewind, and because of the delay inherent in any serial access device like a tape recorder, it is very much preferred to play back the record (the tape cassette, say), . ' ~ .
.~
and have the word-processor then use the text-identifyin~ information to identify, locate and display the relevant text portions before continuing to play back the associated comments. This latter way is very much the better having regard to the properties of standard tape recorders (or dictating machines~ and typical word-p:rocessors, and for such an embodiment of the invention is therefore to be preferred.
Whichever of these two playback modes is used it is desirable that the displayed text be marked to show the particular portion of text relating to the recordal comment presently selected (and that this marking should be quite separate from any markin~ used simply to indicate which text portions have related comments). The marking may be effected in any convenient way, and where the text is displayed on a VDU examples are the position of the cursor or the use of reverse video or "bright-up~.
, .
~7'~
An embodiment of the invention is now described, though only by way of illustration, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 shows in perspective vlew an artistic impression of the main components of the apparatus used inthe invention; and Fi~ure 2 shows a block diagram of the relevant operating parts of the apparatus of Figure 1.
The apparatus of the Figures is a combination of a word-processor (10), with its on-board computer (20 in Figure 2) running under the control of an interactive program, a small amount of inter~acing equipment (11), a standard office cassette tape dlctating machlne (12) having input and output sGckets and a remote con~rol (21, 22 and 23 in Figure 2) for recording and reproducing speech and other analogue information, and hence sllitably encoded digital information, a microphone (13), and a speaker (14 - which may be in the form of earphones~. The recorder 12 is operated via the computer 20, and is able to respond fai~ly quickly to 'start' and 'stop' commands from the computer.
The operatlon of the system falls clearly ~nto two phases - annotation and edit.
Annotation The user interacts ~ith the word-processor's computer 20 by means of a visual display unit (VDU - 15) and the word-processor's keyboard (16). In this way he indicates the portion of text or other information he wishes to ann~tate. He then instructs the computer 20 to make a note of that text portion by operating the 'remote' swltch (24 - shown separately in Figure 2) on the microphone 13.
The computer 20 then activates the recorder 12, and immediately records on it a unique burst of digital in~ormation identifying the comment to be made and the text presently being displayedc The digital information ls appropriat~ly recorded on the medium used - a modem 7~7~
(modulator/demodulator) operatlng at 1070 and 1270 T~ertz is suitable for a cassette tape - and in this case is simply a serial number for the comment about to be made.
The computer also stores~ in some machine-readable form, and in such a way that it can be identified and retrieved ~rom the text-identifying information recorded with the comment, sufficient information to allow the subsequent retrieval of the corresponding displayed tect. After recordlng the identif~ing digital information, the computer 20 connects the microphone 13 to the recorder 12, and the user's speech comment (or other analogue information) is then recorded in the normal way.
The user can, of course, employ the recorder's sonventional controls to play back his own comments (to check, for example, that he has dealt fully with the particular matter to which any comment relates).
Edit At the start of the edit session, the computer ~0 first identifies the body of text or other information to which the annotations refer, either by asking the user or by reading a special block of digital information recorded with the analogue information before the star~ of the annotation procedure. It then begins playing back the tape, and reads the first burst of text-identifying digital information; when the user is ready, lt employs that text identification (or that identifying information most recently read) to retrieve, from the machine-readable recoxd created during annotation, the position in the text to which the subsequent comment refers. The computer 20 then displays the appropriate portion of the text, and causes the recorded comment to be re-played to the user by the recorder 12. Thus, the user now hears through the speaker (or earphones) 14 what the annotator said while looking at the text portion about which he said it. When the computer 20, which i5 all the while monitoxing the signal ~rom the recorder 12~ ~etects the next burst of text-. , .
~ 13 -identifying digital information, it suppresses the output - of the speaker (or earphones) 14, reads the identifying information (so enabling it subsequently to locate and display the next corresponding portion of text), and then 'j stops the recorder 12. It then waits for the user to indicate readiness to have the next comment replayed (which will normally be after the user has effected the editorial changes to the text necessitated by the previous comment) and then the next relevant portion of text is displayed, the recorder 12 is re-started, the speaker (or earphones) 14 is switched in, and the cycle repeats.
If necessary, the user can of course employ t~e recorder's conventional controls to replay any particular comments. Naturally, so doing may cause the text-identifying informatlon relating to that comment to beread again, the computer then re-selecting the appropriate text for display.
~ he block dlagram of Figure 2 is self-expl~natory, particularly having regard to the comments already given.
Nevertheless, the following additional remarks can usefully be made~
Control of the flow of data in and around the system is effected by the word-processor's in-built micro-computer 20 tM/P), the main routing and switchlng
2~ component of the system being the multiplexors (X/Y). When activated ~with the microphone remote switch 24) the computer switches on the tape recorder 12 (using the recorder's remote switch control 23), prepares and transmits via the multiplexor to the recorder for recording the text identifying information, and then switches the multiplexor to its microphone input 21, so connecting the microphone 13 to the recorder. For play~ack, the computer again operates the recorder via the remote switch control and uses the multiplexor to switch the speaker (or earphones) 3S 14 in or out as appropxi~te~ In each case, the modem is employed to eonvert the computerls yes/no dlgital output . . . _ . . ~ . .
7~ i3 - 14 ~
into suitable tone pulses for input to the recorder~
and to convert the recorder's tone-pulse output into digital signals for the computer, and various level shifters, UARTS (not shown separately), buffers and amplifiers are employed as required.
7~ i3 - 14 ~
into suitable tone pulses for input to the recorder~
and to convert the recorder's tone-pulse output into digital signals for the computer, and various level shifters, UARTS (not shown separately), buffers and amplifiers are employed as required.
Claims (12)
1. A text processing system operable in two modes, in a first mode audio commentary is recorded and associated with selected portions of displayed text, in a second mode the commentary is played back while the text to which it pertains is recalled to a display, said system comprising:
(a) a word processor including:
(i) a display unit (DU) on which the text is display-ed, (ii) addressable means for storing data including said text, (iii)input means for selecting the mode of operation, (iv) a processing unit responsive to said input means for communicating data, including text, between said storage means, the DU and said input means, said processing unit generating digital address information corresponding to the locations in said storing means where said selected text is located, said processing unit including bus means by which the display unit, storing means and interface can communicate with the processing unit;
(b) recorder means capable of recording and playing back address information and commentary;
(c) means for interfacing said processing unit with the recorder means to permit the processing unit to control recording and playback and to store and retrieve said address information from the recording means such that:
(i) during the first mode the processing unit gener-ates address information to be recorded along with the audio commentary and (ii) during the second mode the processing unit causes the recorder to play back the recorded address information and commentary, said processing unit retrieving said address information via said interfacing means and utilizing it to display the text to which the commentary pertains;
whereby a first user can select text displayed on the DU and record commentary relating thereto and, when desired, the same or a second user can listen to the recorded commentary while having the text to which it pertains displayed on the DU.
(a) a word processor including:
(i) a display unit (DU) on which the text is display-ed, (ii) addressable means for storing data including said text, (iii)input means for selecting the mode of operation, (iv) a processing unit responsive to said input means for communicating data, including text, between said storage means, the DU and said input means, said processing unit generating digital address information corresponding to the locations in said storing means where said selected text is located, said processing unit including bus means by which the display unit, storing means and interface can communicate with the processing unit;
(b) recorder means capable of recording and playing back address information and commentary;
(c) means for interfacing said processing unit with the recorder means to permit the processing unit to control recording and playback and to store and retrieve said address information from the recording means such that:
(i) during the first mode the processing unit gener-ates address information to be recorded along with the audio commentary and (ii) during the second mode the processing unit causes the recorder to play back the recorded address information and commentary, said processing unit retrieving said address information via said interfacing means and utilizing it to display the text to which the commentary pertains;
whereby a first user can select text displayed on the DU and record commentary relating thereto and, when desired, the same or a second user can listen to the recorded commentary while having the text to which it pertains displayed on the DU.
2. The system according to Claim 1 wherein said display unit is a cathode ray tube.
3. The system according to Claim 1 wherein said storing means includes random access memory.
4. The system according to Claim 1 wherein said input means includes a matrix of switches commonly referred to as a keyboard.
5. The system according to Claim 1 wherein said word processor includes means for permitting the user to designate portions of the text displayed on said DU as the selected portions of text to which the commentary pertains.
6. The system according to Claim 1 wherein said interface means includes:
(a) means, operable during said first mode, for modulating the digital address Information for said selected text generated by said processing unit to convert it to analogue information, (b) means for providing said analogue information to said recorder means.
(a) means, operable during said first mode, for modulating the digital address Information for said selected text generated by said processing unit to convert it to analogue information, (b) means for providing said analogue information to said recorder means.
7. The system according to Claim 6 wherein said interface means includes:
(a) means, operable during said second mode, for demodulat-ing the analogue address information played back by said recorder means to convert it back to digital address information;
(b) means for providing the demodulated digital address information to said processing unit to permit retrieval and display of the selected text.
(a) means, operable during said second mode, for demodulat-ing the analogue address information played back by said recorder means to convert it back to digital address information;
(b) means for providing the demodulated digital address information to said processing unit to permit retrieval and display of the selected text.
8. The system according to Claim 6 further including a speak-er, said providing means also providing said modulated address information to said speaker to produce a "speak-after-this" tone.
9. The system according to Claim 6 wherein said modulating means produces an output signal of a first frequency if the digital data is a logical 1 and an ouput signal of a second frequency if the digital data is a logical 0, according to a modulating technique known as frequency shift keying.
10. An operator controlled system for processing text and associating operator comments therewith comprising:
(a) storage means for storing data including data correspond-ing to text;
(b) a display unit for displaying text;
(c) operator input means for permitting an operator to designate a portion of the text to which said comments will pertain;
(d) a controller for communicating data between the storage means, the display unit and the operator input means and for producing address information for the data in the storage means corresponding to the designated portion of the displayed text;
(e) means for generating the comments to be associated with the designated text;
(f) recorder means for recording said address data and comments;
(g) means for receiving the address information and comments from elements (d) and (e) and transmitting them to said recorder means, whereby the recorder means records said address data in association with comments made by the operator.
(a) storage means for storing data including data correspond-ing to text;
(b) a display unit for displaying text;
(c) operator input means for permitting an operator to designate a portion of the text to which said comments will pertain;
(d) a controller for communicating data between the storage means, the display unit and the operator input means and for producing address information for the data in the storage means corresponding to the designated portion of the displayed text;
(e) means for generating the comments to be associated with the designated text;
(f) recorder means for recording said address data and comments;
(g) means for receiving the address information and comments from elements (d) and (e) and transmitting them to said recorder means, whereby the recorder means records said address data in association with comments made by the operator.
11. An operator controlled system for displaying text and playing back recorded audio comments relative thereto comprising:
(a) a storage means for storing data including data corresponding to text;
(b) a display unit for displaying text thereon;
(c) a controller for communicating data between the storage means and the display unit, (d) recorder means including playback means, having recorded thereon address information for selected data correspond-ing to text stored in said storage means and audio comments related to said selected text;
(e) operator controlled means for causing said recorder to play back said address information and, said audio comments;
(f) interface means for providing said address information to said controller;
(g) said controller utilizing said address information to locate the data in the storage means corresponding to the selected text and communicating said data to the display unit to display said text for viewing by the operator and, subsequent to said display, causing playback of the operator's comments pertaining to the displayed text.
(a) a storage means for storing data including data corresponding to text;
(b) a display unit for displaying text thereon;
(c) a controller for communicating data between the storage means and the display unit, (d) recorder means including playback means, having recorded thereon address information for selected data correspond-ing to text stored in said storage means and audio comments related to said selected text;
(e) operator controlled means for causing said recorder to play back said address information and, said audio comments;
(f) interface means for providing said address information to said controller;
(g) said controller utilizing said address information to locate the data in the storage means corresponding to the selected text and communicating said data to the display unit to display said text for viewing by the operator and, subsequent to said display, causing playback of the operator's comments pertaining to the displayed text.
12. The system according to Claim 11 further including means for designating the selected portion to which the comments refer when said text is displayed on the display unit.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
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|---|---|---|---|
| GB80/32,206 | 1980-10-07 | ||
| GB8032206A GB2088106B (en) | 1980-10-07 | 1980-10-07 | Word processor systems |
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| CA1177176A true CA1177176A (en) | 1984-10-30 |
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| CA000387427A Expired CA1177176A (en) | 1980-10-07 | 1981-10-06 | Word-processor systems |
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| JP (1) | JPS57121766A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1177176A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3139748A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2088106B (en) |
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| US4674065A (en) * | 1982-04-30 | 1987-06-16 | International Business Machines Corporation | System for detecting and correcting contextual errors in a text processing system |
| JPS5969830A (en) * | 1982-10-14 | 1984-04-20 | Toshiba Corp | Document/voice processor |
| US4523055A (en) * | 1983-11-25 | 1985-06-11 | Pitney Bowes Inc. | Voice/text storage and retrieval system |
| JPS6299154A (en) * | 1985-10-25 | 1987-05-08 | Sharp Corp | Printing character size changing system in japanene word processor |
| JPS62156727A (en) * | 1985-12-27 | 1987-07-11 | Casio Comput Co Ltd | Document processor |
| JPS62156724A (en) * | 1985-12-27 | 1987-07-11 | Casio Comput Co Ltd | Document processor |
| JP2574749B2 (en) * | 1985-12-27 | 1997-01-22 | カシオ計算機株式会社 | Document processing device |
| JPS62156726A (en) * | 1985-12-27 | 1987-07-11 | Casio Comput Co Ltd | Document processor |
| US4839857A (en) * | 1986-06-13 | 1989-06-13 | Ibm Corporation | System for facilitating the control of audio information within a word processing document with audio input |
| JPS62297930A (en) * | 1986-06-13 | 1987-12-25 | インタ−ナショナル ビジネス マシ−ンズ コ−ポレ−ション | Word processing system |
| EP0394379B1 (en) * | 1988-05-27 | 1998-01-07 | Kodak Limited | Document folder icon for display in a data processing system |
| US5060135A (en) * | 1988-09-16 | 1991-10-22 | Wang Laboratories, Inc. | Apparatus for manipulating documents in a data processing system utilizing reduced images of sheets of information which are movable |
| US5161213A (en) * | 1988-05-27 | 1992-11-03 | Wang Laboratories, Inc. | Method for black and white image reduction based upon averaging black/white pixel counts of neighboring blocks |
| WO1989011693A1 (en) * | 1988-05-27 | 1989-11-30 | Wang Laboratories, Inc. | Document annotation and manipulation in a data processing system |
| US6167439A (en) * | 1988-05-27 | 2000-12-26 | Kodak Limited | Data retrieval, manipulation and transmission with facsimile images |
| JPH02110658A (en) * | 1988-10-19 | 1990-04-23 | Hitachi Ltd | Document editing device |
| US5231578A (en) * | 1988-11-01 | 1993-07-27 | Wang Laboratories, Inc. | Apparatus for document annotation and manipulation using images from a window source |
| US5119474A (en) * | 1989-06-16 | 1992-06-02 | International Business Machines Corp. | Computer-based, audio/visual creation and presentation system and method |
| US5596700A (en) * | 1993-02-17 | 1997-01-21 | International Business Machines Corporation | System for annotating software windows |
| US5365434A (en) * | 1993-06-04 | 1994-11-15 | Carolyn E. Carlson | Book enhancer |
| CN1080421C (en) * | 1994-06-17 | 2002-03-06 | 国际商业机器公司 | System for annotating software windows |
| JPH07200564A (en) * | 1994-09-16 | 1995-08-04 | Casio Comput Co Ltd | Document processing device |
| JPH07175798A (en) * | 1994-09-16 | 1995-07-14 | Casio Comput Co Ltd | Document processor |
| JPH07191978A (en) * | 1994-09-16 | 1995-07-28 | Casio Comput Co Ltd | Document processor |
| JPH07182325A (en) * | 1994-09-16 | 1995-07-21 | Casio Comput Co Ltd | Document processor |
| GB2303955B (en) * | 1996-09-24 | 1997-05-14 | Allvoice Computing Plc | Data processing method and apparatus |
| US6961700B2 (en) | 1996-09-24 | 2005-11-01 | Allvoice Computing Plc | Method and apparatus for processing the output of a speech recognition engine |
| US5857099A (en) * | 1996-09-27 | 1999-01-05 | Allvoice Computing Plc | Speech-to-text dictation system with audio message capability |
| US6122613A (en) * | 1997-01-30 | 2000-09-19 | Dragon Systems, Inc. | Speech recognition using multiple recognizers (selectively) applied to the same input sample |
| DE19703782A1 (en) * | 1997-02-01 | 1998-08-06 | Thomas Frohberg | Mini cassette player with universal interface |
| US6496206B1 (en) | 1998-06-29 | 2002-12-17 | Scansoft, Inc. | Displaying thumbnail images of document pages in an electronic folder |
| US20020133513A1 (en) * | 2001-03-16 | 2002-09-19 | Ftr Pty Ltd. | Log note system for digitally recorded audio |
| US7617445B1 (en) * | 2001-03-16 | 2009-11-10 | Ftr Pty. Ltd. | Log note system for digitally recorded audio |
| US20060230333A1 (en) * | 2005-04-07 | 2006-10-12 | Microsoft Corporation | Creating associated content for a region of a document in response to a user selecting the region |
| JP2011501847A (en) * | 2007-10-17 | 2011-01-13 | アイティーアイ・スコットランド・リミテッド | Computer-implemented method |
| CN101859293B (en) * | 2010-03-05 | 2013-08-28 | 鸿富锦精密工业（深圳）有限公司 | Electronic reader and edition document storage method |
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| US3648249A (en) * | 1970-12-08 | 1972-03-07 | Ibm | Audio-responsive visual display system incorporating audio and digital information segmentation and coordination |
-
1980
- 1980-10-07 GB GB8032206A patent/GB2088106B/en not_active Expired
-
1981
- 1981-10-06 DE DE19813139748 patent/DE3139748A1/en not_active Ceased
- 1981-10-06 CA CA000387427A patent/CA1177176A/en not_active Expired
- 1981-10-07 US US06/309,256 patent/US4424575A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1981-10-07 JP JP56160048A patent/JPS57121766A/en active Granted
Also Published As
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|---|---|
| GB2088106B (en) | 1983-11-30 |
| DE3139748A1 (en) | 1982-05-27 |
| GB2088106A (en) | 1982-06-03 |
| JPS57121766A (en) | 1982-07-29 |
| US4424575A (en) | 1984-01-03 |
| JPH0113144B2 (en) | 1989-03-03 |
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