Abstract:
This specification discloses a display system that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases and the method thereof. When looking up a word, the system finds its explanations in different dictionary databases. After comparing the contents of the explanations with a same attribute, the system combines the repeated contents and keeps distinct ones. Finally, the system displays the combined and preserved explanations. It achieves the effects of integrate same or similar explanations and displays them, increasing the convenience for the user to read.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to system and method of displaying word explanations and, in particular, to system and method of displaying that integrate word explanations in different dictionary databases. 
         [0003]    2. Related Art 
         [0004]    There are close and frequent economical and cultural exchanges between countries nowadays. People want to learn advanced technologies of other countries to facilitate the development of their own. With the advances in information technology and Internet, people can easily obtain information from abroad in this information global village. News from all over the world goes to our life via television, newspapers, magazines and the Internet. The chance for each person to encounter a foreign language thus is much greater than before. Because of this, it is inevitable for a person to learn a second or even third foreign language. 
         [0005]    Currently, translation software has so many powerful functions that it has gradually replaced traditional paper dictionaries. The translation software can be widely used in various electronic devices, such as personal computers (PC&#39;s), personal digital assistants (PDA&#39;s), and mobile communication devices. The translation software has been developed to have multiple dictionaries, such as English-Chinese and Chinese-English dictionaries, Japanese-Chinese and Chinese-Japanese dictionaries, and professional dictionaries (for laws, computers, and other special fields). When a user wants to use the translation software to look up a word, he can simply move the mouse cursor over the word. The translation software looks up in all of the dictionaries whether there is at least a word explanation to match. It then displays all the word explanations in a translation window. Since the word explanations in several dictionaries are displayed simultaneously, it is possible that the display page is too long. This is inconvenient for the user to read. 
         [0006]    In summary, the prior art always has the problem of possibly too long display pages for some word explanations. This is annoying for the user to read. It is therefore imperative to provide a solution. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In view of the foregoing, the invention discloses a display system that integrates word explanations in different dictionaries and the method thereof. 
         [0008]    The disclosed display system that integrates word explanations in different dictionaries includes at least: several dictionary databases, a receiving module, a searching module, an extracting module, a comparing module, and a displaying module. The dictionary databases store a plurality of word data, each of which corresponds to at least one explanation. Each of the explanations contains its attribute and dictionary number. The receiving module receives a word to be searched. The searching module searches for matched word data in the dictionary databases. The extracting module extracts the matched word data from the dictionary databases, obtaining the explanations, their attributes and corresponding dictionary numbers. The comparing module compares the contents of the explanations according to the same attribute. The explanations with repeated contents are combined and the corresponding dictionary numbers are recorded. The different explanations are preserved to obtain an updated list. The displaying module displays the explanations in the updated list and the attributes thereof. 
         [0009]    The disclosed display method that integrates word explanations in different dictionaries includes the following steps at least. First, it establishes several dictionary databases, each of which stores a plurality of word data. Each of the word data corresponds to at least one explanation. Each of the explanations has its attribute and a dictionary number. The next step receives a word to be searched. The next step searches for matched word data in the dictionary databases. Explanations are extracted from the matched word data in the dictionary databases, along with their attributes and dictionary numbers. Explanations of the same attributes are compared in the contents. Explanations with repeated contents are combined and the corresponding dictionary numbers are recorded. Different explanations are preserved to obtain an updated list. Finally, the explanations in the updated list and their attributes are displayed. 
         [0010]    The disclosed system and method differ from the prior art in that the invention searches a word in different dictionary databases. After comparing the contents of explanations with the same attributes of explanations, the invention combines repeated explanations and preserves different ones. Finally, the combined and preserved explanations are displayed. Thus, the invention achieves the goal of integrating same or similar explanations for the convenience of the user. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below illustration only, and thus is not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the disclosed display system that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart of the disclosed display method that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases; and 
           [0014]      FIGS. 3 to 8  are schematic view of the display system that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases according to an embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    Those Chinese characters shown in the following descriptions or in the drawings are just mentioned for describing the embodiments and are substantially irrelevant to any technical matters. 
         [0016]    The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements. 
         [0017]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a block diagram of the disclosed display system that integrates different dictionary databases. The system  100  includes: several dictionary databases  110 , a receiving module  120 , a searching module  130 , an extracting module  140 , a comparing module  150 , and a displaying module  160 . The display system  100  that integrates different dictionary databases disclosed herein is applicable to translation software with multiple dictionary databases. 
         [0018]    The dictionary databases  110  store a plurality of word data, each of which has at least one explanation. Each of the explanations has a corresponding attribute and dictionary number. Examples of the dictionary databases  110  include, but are not limited to, “English-Chinese dictionary”, “management dictionary”, or “financial and trade dictionary”. Each of the dictionary databases  110  stores much word data, such as “price”, “money”, and “rider”. Each of the word data corresponds to at least one explanation. Each of the explanations has an attribute and a dictionary number. The attributes include “n” representing nouns, “vt” representing verbs, and “adv” representing adverbs. The dictionary number is, for example, “0x00000301” to represent a number of the “English-Chinese dictionary”. 
         [0019]    For example, the word datum “price” has the Chinese explanations          ,                    ,          , or          . The explanations                               all have the attribute of “n” and the dictionary number “0x00000301”. On the other hand the explanation                     has the attribute “vt” and the dictionary number “0x00000301”. 
         [0020]    The receiving module  120  receives a word to be searched, i.e., the word that a user wants to look up. It should be noted that the searched word can be the word where the mouse cursor is. That is, the user uses the mouse cursor to locate the word to be searched. The receiving module  120  then receives the word. For example, the user wants to look up the word “price”. Then the receiving module  120  receives the word “price”. 
         [0021]    The searching module  130  searches for word data that match with the word in the dictionary databases  110 . That is, the searching module  130  searches in all the dictionary databases  110  whether there is any match with the word received by the receiving module  120 . In the above example, suppose the dictionary databases  110  include “English-Chinese dictionary”, “management dictionary”, and “financial and trade dictionary”. The searching module  130  looks up in the dictionary databases  110 : “English-Chinese dictionary”, “management dictionary”, and “financial and trade dictionary” for the word “price. In the dictionary databases  110  of “English-Chinese dictionary” and “financial and trade dictionary”, the searching module  130  finds the matched word data for the word “price”. 
         [0022]    The extracting module  140  extracts the explanations and the corresponding attributes and dictionary numbers of the matched word in the dictionary databases  110 . That is, after the searching module  130  finds matched word data in the dictionary databases  110 , the extracting module  140  extracts the explanations of the word data from the dictionary databases, along with the corresponding attributes and dictionary numbers. 
         [0023]    In the above-mentioned example, after the searching module  130  finds the word data matching with the word “price” in the dictionary databases  110  of “English-Chinese dictionary” and “financial and trade dictionary”, the extracting module  140  extracts the explanations of “price” from the dictionary database  110  “English-Chinese dictionary”:                     or                     The explanations                     and                     have the attribute “n” and the dictionary number “0x00000301”. The explanation           has the attribute “vt” and the dictionary number “0x00000301”. The extracting module  140  also extracts the corresponding explanation           for “price” from the dictionary database  110  of “financial and trade dictionary”, along with the attribute “n” and the dictionary number “0x23000301”. 
         [0024]    The comparing module  150  compares the contents of explanations with the same attribute in different dictionary databases  110 . The explanations of repeated contents are combined, and the corresponding dictionary numbers are recorded. Explanations with different contents are preserved. An updated list is thus obtained. That is, the comparing module  150  uses the explanations and their attributes extracted by the extracting module to combine repeated contents of explanations with the same attribute and record the dictionary numbers thereof. Explanations of different contents are preserved. The combined explanations and the preserved explanations along with their attributes and dictionary numbers are recorded in the updated list. 
         [0025]    In the above-mentioned example, the comparing module  150  compares the contents of the explanations                     and                     as they have the same attribute “n”. The explanation           has the attribute “vt” and is thus not compared with those of attribute “n”. The repeated content is found to be           and is combined. Also, the explanation           is recorded to have dictionary numbers “0x00000301” and “0x23000301”, which are then written into the updated list. The unrepeated explanations                     of attribute “n” and                     of attribute “vt” are preserved. The updated list thus includes the explanation           along with its attribute “n” and dictionary numbers “0x00000301, 0x23000301”, the explanations                     along with the respective attributes “n” and dictionary numbers “0x00000301”, and the explanation                     along with its attribute “vt” and dictionary number “0x23000301”. 
         [0026]    The displaying module  160  displays the explanations and their attributes in the updated list. In other words, the displaying module  160  displays the explanations and their attributes in the updated list obtained by the comparing module  150 . In the above example, the displaying module  160  displays the explanations                               along with their attribute “n” and the explanation                     along with its attribute “vt” in the updated list. 
         [0027]    It should be noted that the displaying module  160  can also display hyperlinks of the matched word data in the dictionary databases  110  according to the respective dictionary numbers. That is, in addition to the explanations and the attributes, the displaying module  160  further displays the hyperlinks of the matched word data in the dictionary databases  110  according to the different dictionary numbers of the explanations. 
         [0028]    Through the operation of the display system that integrates word explanations of different dictionary databases, word explanations are searched for in different dictionary databases. Contents of explanations with the same attribute are compared. Explanations of repeated contents are combined. Unrepeated contents are preserved. Finally, combined and preserved explanations are displayed. This solves the problem in the prior art that the display page may be too long for the user to read when the word explanations in multiple dictionaries are displayed simultaneously. 
         [0029]    In the following paragraphs, the disclosed method is explained with reference to an explicit embodiment. It should be emphasized that this example should not be used to restrict the scope of the invention. Any person skilled in the art can readily modify the embodiment with departing from the spirit of the invention. 
         [0030]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart of the disclosed display method that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases.  FIGS. 3 to 8  are schematic views of the disclosed display system that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases. The following description uses  FIGS. 2 to 8  explain the operating procedure of the disclosed display system that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases. 
         [0031]    Please refer to  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The display system  100  that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases first establishes an English-Chinese dictionary database  300  and management dictionary database  400 . The English-Chinese dictionary database  300  includes word data  310  of explanations  320 . Each of the explanations  320  has an attribute  330  and a dictionary number  340 . Examples of the word data  310  are “money” and “monopoly”. Take the word datum  310  “money” as an example. The corresponding explanation  320  is                               and           The explanation  320                                and           have respectively the attribute  330  “n” and the dictionary number  340  “0x00000301”. The management dictionary database  400  includes the word datum  410  of explanations  420 . Each of the explanations  420  has an attribute  430  and a dictionary number  440 . Examples of the word data  410  are “money” and “monopoly”. Take the word datum  410  “money” as an example. The corresponding explanation  420            and           have the attribute  430  “n” and the dictionary number  440  “0x96000301”. (Step  201 ) 
         [0032]    Please refer to  FIG. 5 . The word search operating interface  500  includes a search word  510  and a mouse cursor  520 . When the user points the mouse cursor  520  to the search word  510  “money”, the system  100  extracts the search word  510  “money”. Afterwards, the disclosed system  100  receives the search word  510  “money” (step  202 ). Afterwards, the disclosed system  100  that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases searches in the English-Chinese dictionary database  300  and the management dictionary database  400  for matched the word data. It finds the word datum  310  “money” in the English-Chinese dictionary database  300  and the word datum  410  “money” in the management dictionary database  400  (step  203 ). 
         [0033]    Please refer to  FIG. 6 . The disclosed system  100  that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases extracts from the English-Chinese dictionary database  300  the explanation  320  corresponding to “money” as                                         and           They all have the attribute  330  “n” and the dictionary number  340  “0x00000301”. Therefore, they are taken as the explanation  620                                and                     with the attribute  630  “n” and the dictionary number  640  “0x00000301”. The disclosed system  100  that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases extracts from the management dictionary database  400  the explanation  420  corresponding to “money” as           and           They all have the attribute  430  “n” and the dictionary number  440  “0x96000301” (step  204 ). Therefore, they are taken as the explanation  620            and           with the attribute  430  “n” and the dictionary number  440  “0x96000301”. 
         [0034]    Please refer to  FIG. 7 . The disclosed system  100  that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases compares the contents of the explanations  620                                                              and           that all have the attribute  630  “n”. The repeated contents of the explanations  620            and           are combined into the explanation  720            in the updated list  700 . Moreover, the dictionary numbers  640  “0x00000301” and “0x96000301” are combined to be the dictionary number  740  “0x00000301, 0x96000301” in the updated list  700 . The unrepeated contents of the explanations  620            and           are kept as the explanations  720            and           in the updated list  700  (step  205 ). 
         [0035]    Please refer to  FIG. 8 . The disclosed system  100  that integrates word explanations in different dictionary databases displays in a word explanation display field  530  of the word search operating interface  500  the explanations  720                                          and           along with their attribute  730  “n” (step  206 ). 
         [0036]    In summary, the invention differs from the prior art in that it first searches for word explanations in multiple dictionary databases and then compares the contents of explanations with the same attribute. Repeated contents of explanations are combined, while unrepeated contents are preserved. Finally, the combined and preserved explanations are displayed. This solves the problem that the display page of word explanations may be too long for the user to read when all of them are displayed simultaneously. The invention achieves the goal of integrate same or similar explanations for the convenience of the user. 
         [0037]    Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.