Method and apparatus for displaying a record from a structured database with minimum keystrokes

Claim 3

The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the reduced-size input interface is a phone keypad comprising numeric keys and wherein each of the n symbols is one of the numeric keys.

Claim 4

The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the reduced-size input interface is soft keys displayed in the display screen and wherein each of the n symbols symbol is one of the soft keys.

Claim 5

The method as recited in claim 1 , the method still further comprising: refreshing the display screen with the record corresponding to the one of the indexes having the zoom window positioned thereover after a predetermined key in the input interface is activated.

Claim 8

The method as recited in claim 5 , the method further comprising: displaying a first number indicating the number of the indexes in the structured database.

Claim 9

The method as recited in claim 6 , the method still further comprising: displaying a second number indicating the number of a first chosen indexes that start with any of the characters in the first group represented by the first symbol.

Claim 10

The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein said indicating the desired index with a cursor comprises: moving the cursor across a list of adjoining indexes to the desired index.

Claim 11

The method as recited in claim 8 , wherein said cursor is a zoom window and wherein said moving the cursor across a list of adjoining indexes comprises: displaying in the zoom window respectively each of the adjoining indexes along with a field of an adjoining record indexed by the each of the adjoining indexes when the zoom window moves across the list of adjoining indexes.

Claim 12

The method as recited in claim 5 , the method further comprising: refreshing the screen with only the record being displayed after a predetermined key in an input interface is activated.

Claim 13

The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the input interface is a phone keypad comprising numeric keys and wherein the first symbol is one of the numerical keys.

Claim 14

The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the input interface is soft keys displayed in the screen and wherein the first symbol is one of the soft keys.

Claim 15

The method as recited in claim 5 , the method further comprising: displaying a list of first chosen indexes started with one of the first group of characters.

Claim 16

The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein said displaying a list of first chosen indexes comprises: highlighting the first character of first chosen indexes being displayed to indicate that the first symbol has been entered.

Claim 17

The method as recited in claim 14 , the method still further comprising: receiving a second symbol from the input device if the desired index is still not among the first chosen indexes being displayed in the screen; the second symbol representing a second group of characters one of which is a second character of the string of characters in the desired index; and displaying a number to indicate the number of chosen indexes that start with one of the characters in the first group represented by the first symbol followed by one of the characters in the second group represented by the second symbol.

Claim 18

The method as recited in claim 15 , the method still further comprising: updating the screen with a list of second chosen indexes started with one of the first group of characters corresponding to the first symbol and successively with one of the second group of characters corresponding to the second symbol; and highlighting the second character of the second chosen indexes being displayed to indicate that both of the first symbol and the second symbol have been entered.

Claim 19

The method as recited in claim 16 , the method still further comprising: receiving, successively and respectively, subsequent symbols till the desired index is displayed in the screen.

Claim 20

The method as recited in claim 17 , the method further comprising: displaying a sign to indicate that the first symbol, the second symbol and the subsequent symbols have been entered.

Claim 21

The method as recited in claim 18 , wherein the sign indicates graphically a retrieval of the record is being narrowed down with each of the first symbol, the second symbol and the subsequent symbols entered.

Claim 24

The method as recited in claim 20 , the method further comprising: displaying the record completely on the screen after a predefined key is activated.

Claim 25

The method as recited in claim 21 , wherein said receiving a series of symbols comprises: displaying, respectively and progressively, a list of chosen indexes with respect to each of the symbols entered.

Claim 26

The method as recited in claim 22 , the method further comprising: displaying a sign to indicate the number of the symbols have been entered.

Claim 27

The method as recited in claim 23 , wherein the sign is a number of icons, each of icons representing one of the symbols that has been entered.

Claim 28

The method as recited in claim 23 , wherein the sign is a number of highlighted characters in one of the chosen indexes being displayed, each of highlighted characters representing one of the symbols that has been entered.

Claim 31

The device as recited in claim 18 , wherein the input interface is a phone keypad comprising a plurality of keys, each representing a group of characters.

Claim 32

The device as recited in claim 18 , wherein the input interface is a plurality of soft keys, each representing a group of characters.

Claim 33

The device as recited in claim 18 , wherein the processor executing the code in the memory further causes the application module to drive the screen driver to: display a list of chosen indexes staring with a character in a group of characters represented by a symbol activated from the input interface.

Claim 34

The device as recited in claim 21 , wherein the processor executing the code in the memory still causes the application module to drive the screen driver to: display a sign to indicate the number of symbols activated from the input interface.

Claim 35

The device as recited in claim 22 , wherein the sign is a number of icons, each of icons representing one of the symbols that has been entered.

Claim 36

The method as recited in claim 22 , wherein the sign is a number of highlighted characters in one of the chosen indexes being displayed, each of highlighted characters representing one of the symbols that has been entered.

Claim 37

A computer readable medium including computer program code for displaying a record from a database on a display screen of an electronic device having a reduced-size input interface, the database including a plurality of records, the records including at least one field and being indexed by indexes of alphanumeric characters, said computer readable medium comprising: computer program code for receiving a first symbol from the input interface, the first symbol pertaining to a first group of alphanumeric characters, and the first alphanumeric character of a desired index of the indexes for the database being one of the alphanumeric character of the first group; computer program code for retrieving a first list of the indexes of the database in which their first alphanumeric character matches one of the alphanumeric characters of the first group; computer program code for displaying on the display screen at least a portion of the retrieved first list of the indexes, the desired index being one of the indexes; computer program code for receiving a second symbol from the input interface, the second symbol pertaining to a second group of alphanumeric characters, and the second alphanumeric character of the desired index of the indexes for the database being one of the alphanumeric characters of the second group; computer program code for retrieving a second list of the indexes of the database in which their first alphanumeric character matches one of the alphanumeric characters of the first group and their second alphanumeric character matches one of the alphanumeric characters of the second group; and computer program code for displaying on the display screen at least a portion of the retrieved second list of the indexes, the desired index being one of the indexes.

Claim 38

A computer readable medium including computer program code for displaying a record from a database on a display screen of an electronic device having a reduced-size input interface, the database including a plurality of records, the records including at least one field and being indexed by indexes of alphanumeric characters, said computer readable medium comprising: computer program code for receiving a first symbol from the input interface, the first symbol pertaining to a first group of alphanumeric characters, and the first alphanumeric character of a desired index of the indexes for the database being one of the alphanumeric character of the first group; computer program code for retrieving a first list of the indexes of the database in which their first alphanumeric character matches one of the alphanumeric characters of the first group; computer program code for displaying on the display screen at least a portion of the retrieved first list of the indexes, the desired index being one of the indexes; computer program code for receiving a second symbol from the input interface, the second symbol pertaining to a second group of alphanumeric characters, and the second alphanumeric character of the desired index of the indexes for the database being one of the alphanumeric characters of the second group; computer program code for retrieving a second list of the indexes of the database in which their first alphanumeric character matches one of the alphanumeric characters of the first group and their second alphanumeric character matches one of the alphanumeric characters of the second group; and computer program code for displaying on the display screen at least a portion of the retrieved second list of the indexes, the desired index being one of the indexes.

Claim 39

A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33 , wherein the electronic device is a mobile device.

Claim 40

A computer readable medium as recited in claim 34 , wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone.

Claim 41

A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33 , wherein said computer readable medium further comprises: computer program code for displaying a count of the number of the indexes within the list being displayed.

Claim 42

A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33 , wherein said computer readable medium further comprises: computer program code for displaying a selection indicator that selects one of the indexes being displayed on the display screen and displays at least one field from the record associated with the selected index.

Claim 43

A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33 , wherein said computer readable medium further comprises: computer program code for displaying an indicator of the number of symbols that have been used to retrieve the list from the database.

Claim 44

A computer readable medium as recited in claim 33 , wherein said computer readable medium further comprises: computer program code for displaying an retrieval effectiveness indicator for each of the symbols that are received, wherein a dimension of the retrieval effectiveness indicator is determined based on the size of the retrieve list of the indexes which are determined to match verses all of the indexes of the database.