Handheld electronic device and method employing logical proximity of characters in spell checking

Abstract

An improved handheld electronic device and associated method employing an improved spell checking routine enable proposed spelling corrections having a close logical proximity to an active input to be output at a position of preference for easy selection by the user. By way of example, a base character and the various accented forms thereof can be said to have a logical proximity to one another that is closer than their logical proximity to any character having a different base character, whether additionally having a diacritical element or not.

1 - 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A method of enabling input on an electronic device, the method comprising:
 receiving an input reflecting a set of characters;   identifying proposed spelling corrections based on the input; and   outputting at least two of the proposed spelling corrections such that spelling corrections of a first type are distinguishable from spelling corrections of a second type.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein outputting at least two of the proposed spelling corrections comprises:
 ordering the output proposed spelling corrections with the spelling corrections of the first type prioritized in the order over spelling corrections of the second type.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first type of spelling correction is a correction that contains base characters matching the input, but that has at least one diacritical difference. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the second type of spelling correction is a correction that contains at least one base character different from the base characters of the input. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising accessing a dictionary to determine whether any words exist in the dictionary that are of the first type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising identifying, as a first proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the first type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising identifying, as a second proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the second type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 identifying, as a third proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the first type of spelling correction, wherein the third proposed spelling correction differs from the first proposed spelling correction;   determining a preferred proposed spelling correction and an alternate proposed spelling correction using linguistic rules to choose between the first proposed spelling correction and the third proposed spelling correction; and   outputting the preferred proposed spelling correction as preferred over the alternate proposed spelling correction and the alternate proposed spelling correction as preferred over the second proposed spelling correction.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 identifying, as a third proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the first type of spelling correction, wherein the third proposed spelling correction differs from the first proposed spelling correction;   determining a preferred proposed spelling correction and an alternate proposed spelling correction, wherein the preferred proposed spelling correction has a highest associated frequency value between a frequency value associated with the first proposed spelling correction and a frequency value associated with the third proposed spelling correction; and   outputting the preferred proposed spelling correction as preferred over the alternate proposed spelling correction and the alternate proposed spelling correction as preferred over the second proposed spelling correction.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein words of the first type of spelling correction are output in a list at higher positions than words of the second type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         25 . An electronic device comprising:
 a memory storing instructions; and   a processor executing the instructions to perform the steps of:
 receiving an input reflecting a set of characters; 
 identifying proposed spelling corrections based on the input; and 
 outputting at least two of the proposed spelling corrections such that spelling corrections of a first type are distinguishable from spelling corrections of a second type. 
   
     
     
         26 . The electronic device of  claim 25 , wherein outputting at least two of the proposed spelling corrections comprises the processor executing the instructions to perform the further step of:
 ordering the output proposed spelling corrections with the spelling corrections of the first type prioritized in the order over spelling corrections of the second type.   
     
     
         27 . The electronic device of  claim 25 , wherein the first type of spelling correction is a correction that contains base characters matching the input, but that has at least one diacritical difference. 
     
     
         28 . The electronic device of  claim 25 , wherein the second type of spelling correction is a correction that contains at least one base character different from the base characters of the input. 
     
     
         29 . The electronic device of  claim 25 , the processor executing the instructions to perform the further step of accessing a dictionary to determine whether any words exist in the dictionary that are of the first type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         30 . The electronic device of  claim 29 , the processor executing the instructions to perform the further step of identifying, as a first proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the first type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         31 . The electronic device of  claim 30 , the processor executing the instructions to perform the further step of identifying, as a second proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the second type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         32 . The electronic device of  claim 31 , the processor executing the instructions to perform the further steps of:
 identifying, as a third proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the first type of spelling correction, wherein the third proposed spelling correction differs from the first proposed spelling correction;   determining a preferred proposed spelling correction and an alternate proposed spelling correction using linguistic rules to choose between the first proposed spelling correction and the third proposed spelling correction; and   outputting the preferred proposed spelling correction as preferred over the alternate proposed spelling correction and the alternate proposed spelling correction as preferred over the second proposed spelling correction.   
     
     
         33 . The electronic device of  claim 31 , the processor executing the instructions to perform the further steps of:
 identifying, as a third proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the first type of spelling correction, wherein the third proposed spelling correction differs from the first proposed spelling correction;   determining a preferred proposed spelling correction and an alternate proposed spelling correction, wherein the preferred proposed spelling correction has a highest associated frequency value between a frequency value associated with the first proposed spelling correction and a frequency value associated with the third proposed spelling correction; and   outputting the preferred proposed spelling correction as preferred over the alternate proposed spelling correction and the alternate proposed spelling correction as preferred over the second proposed spelling correction.   
     
     
         34 . The electronic device of  claim 25 , wherein words of the first type of spelling correction are output in a list at higher positions than words of the second type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         35 . A tangibly embodied non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising:
 receiving an input reflecting a set of characters;   identifying proposed spelling corrections based on the input; and   outputting at least two proposed spelling corrections such that spelling corrections of a first type are distinguishable from spelling corrections of a second type.   
     
     
         36 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 35 , wherein outputting at least two of the proposed spelling corrections comprises:
 ordering the output proposed spelling corrections with the spelling corrections of the first type prioritized in the order over spelling corrections of the second type.   
     
     
         37 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 36 , wherein the first type of spelling correction is a correction that contains base characters matching the input, but that has at least one diacritical difference. 
     
     
         38 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 36 , wherein the second type of spelling correction is a correction that contains at least one base character different from the base characters of the input. 
     
     
         39 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 36 , the method further comprising accessing a dictionary to determine whether any words exist in the dictionary that are of the first type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         40 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 39 , the method further comprising identifying, as a first proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the first type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         41 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 40 , the method further comprising identifying, as a second proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the second type of spelling correction. 
     
     
         42 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 41 , the method further comprising:
 identifying, as a third proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the first type of spelling correction, wherein the third proposed spelling correction differs from the first proposed spelling correction;   determining a preferred proposed spelling correction and an alternate proposed spelling correction using linguistic rules to choose between the first proposed spelling correction and the third proposed spelling correction; and   outputting the preferred proposed spelling correction as preferred over the alternate proposed spelling correction and the alternate proposed spelling correction as preferred over the second proposed spelling correction.   
     
     
         43 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 41 , the method further comprising:
 identifying, as a third proposed spelling correction, a word that is of the first type of spelling correction, wherein the third proposed spelling correction differs from the first proposed spelling correction;   determining a preferred proposed spelling correction and an alternate proposed spelling correction, wherein the preferred proposed spelling correction has a highest associated frequency value between a frequency value associated with the first proposed spelling correction and a frequency value associated with the third proposed spelling correction; and   outputting the preferred proposed spelling correction as preferred over the alternate proposed spelling correction and the alternate proposed spelling correction as preferred over the second proposed spelling correction.   
     
     
         44 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 36 , wherein words of the first type of spelling correction are output in a list at higher positions than words of the second type of spelling correction.