US 7,598,946 B2 · Handheld electronic device having facilitated input and associated method

Abstract

An improved handheld electronic device and an improved method facilitate the entry of data when the data is to be of a particular arrangement of alphabetic (A) and/or numeric (N) and/or other characters. In the depicted exemplary embodiment, the handheld electronic device includes a user interface that facilitates the entry of postal codes, zip codes, and the like that vary from country to country by processing key inputs according to a data format that has been selected on the basis of its correspondence with a country. In the example of address data, the handheld electronic device detects the entry of country-specific data, such as the name of the country or one of its geographic regions, and selects a corresponding data format for processing keystrokes during entry of postal codes, zip codes, or other codes.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A method of enabling data entry into a handheld electronic device, said data entry including a plurality of data elements, said method comprising:

providing a database having data representing a plurality of geographic regions wherein each geographic region has a corresponding postal code format;
displaying a geographic region field, said geographic region field structured to receive input;
displaying a postal code field, said postal code field structured to receive input;
detecting a first input in said geographic region field;
identifying a geographic region based on said first input;
automatically selecting, based on said database, the postal code format corresponding to the geographic region;
detecting a second input in said postal code field;
and
processing said detected second input according to said selected corresponding postal code format to obtain a second of said data elements, said second of said data elements conforming to said selected postal code format.

6 more elements

A handheld electronic device structured to enable data entry, said data entry including a plurality of data elements, said handheld electronic device comprising:

a keyboard including a plurality of keys;
a display;
a processor including a memory, a database and a routine;
said database having data representing a plurality of geographic regions wherein each geographic region has a corresponding postal code format;
said routine being adapted to respond to input signals from said keys and to generate output signals to said display;
said routine being adapted to display a geographic region field and a postal code field, said geographic region field structured to receive input, and said postal code structured to receive input;
said routine being adapted to detect a first input in said geographic region field and to process said first input to identify a geographic region based on said first input;
said routine being further adapted to automatically select, based on said database, the postal code format corresponding to the geographic region;
said routine being adapted to generate a first of said output signals to said display in response to detecting said first input;
said routine being adapted to generate a first of said output signals to said display in response to detecting said first input;
said routine being adapted to detect a second input from said keys;
and
responsive to said detected second input, said routine being adapted to process said detected second input according to said corresponding postal code format to obtain a second of said data elements and to generate a second of said output signals to said display.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Handheld electronic device having facilitated input and associated method

Life of this patent

Handheld electronic device having facilitated input and associated method

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims22