Similar change information takeout method, similar change information takeout apparatus, and teletext receiver

A similar change information takeout apparatus is intended to take out automatically unit containing similar change information when character row data divided in certain units are given in a multiplicity, and comprises an input unit in which character row data are entered sequentially in time series, a former data memory unit for storing character row data, a start/stop input unit for accepting an input for designating start or stop of output of similar change information from the user, a new data unit takeout process for taking out sequentially the units contained in new data, a unit comparison process for comparing the units taken out in the new data unit takeout process and the units contained in former data to see if different or same character by character contained in the units sequentially, a different character and type counting process for calculating the variety and number of different or same characters as a result of comparison in the unit comparison process, and a similarity judging process for judging similarity between units in certain condition on the basis of the result of calculation of the different character and type counting process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a similar change information takeout 
method, similar change information takeout apparatus, and teletext 
receiving apparatus applicable to a case for making use of information 
updated moment after moment, from character row data given in time series 
and divided in specified unit such as teletext. 
2. Related Art of the Invention 
Recently, in the day of multimedia, much information is presented not only 
from the package media such as CD-ROM, but also through communication, 
broadcast and the like. Examples of such information include, aside from 
picture and sound, character information by so-called electronic book and 
character information. The character information is expressed in character 
codes that can be processed easily by computer, such as ASCII code and JIS 
code. 
Incidentally, as an important difference between the information presented 
by communication or broadcast and the information presented by package 
media such as CD-ROM, instantaneity is known. When compared with package 
media, the information obtained by communication or broadcast is 
characterized as being presented instantly. 
That is, in communication or broadcast, a large mass of information is 
presented, including the information updated moment after moment and the 
information not changed in a short time, so that the user is allowed to 
pickup only necessary information therefrom. In the information changing 
moment after moment, there is bullet information for presenting 
information along with change of the time regarding a same subject. Such 
example is information of sports bulletin. 
Moreover, recently, receivers handling character information transmitted as 
character codes by broadcast are developed and sold, and the character 
information presented to the household is increasing rapidly. The teletext 
is presented in multiple programs, and the form of information is 
characters and is presented over plural pages, and hence the user obtains 
information by reading while turning pages of the statements shown on the 
screen of television or the like. 
For example, when the user makes use of the teletext of the television, it 
may be utilized as the means of knowing the progress of the game of the 
sport actually played at that moment. 
In such manner of use, the user searches the corresponding page displaying 
the progress of the desired game of the sport as bullet information, and 
sees the displayed data. By repeating such action often, the progress of 
the game is known. 
In such conventional teletext receiver, however, it is necessary to obtain 
information of the statement shown on the television screen while turning 
the pages. Therefore, to understand the whole information, it was 
troublesome to read lots of characters, or read sequentially while turning 
the pages. 
In particular, to obtain information that changes with the time, such 
trouble is further increased. In this specification, such information 
changing with the time is called similar change information. 
More specifically, for example, in the news program of teletext, in the 
character row data extended over plural pages, the pages containing 
similar change information and pages containing general information are 
presented in mixture. In this case, if desired to obtain similar change 
information from plural pages, (1) a page containing changing information 
must be searched while reading sequentially page after page, and (2) the 
user does not know when the changing information is updated, and therefore 
it is forced to refer to the information frequently whether updated or 
not. It hence increases the time spent for obtaining necessary 
information, which is a bottleneck for increasing the number of users 
enjoying the teletext. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In consideration of the above problems, it is hence a primary object of the 
invention to present similar change information takeout method, similar 
change information takeout apparatus, and teletext receiving apparatus 
capable of obtaining information changing with the time more easily than 
in the prior art. 
The invention is a similar change information takeout method which 
comprises the steps of: 
feeding character row data divided into certain units in time series having 
a certain time interval, 
comparing matching points and/or different points of earlier entered 
character row data and successive later character row data in the every 
unit, 
judging presence or absence of similarity between units of character row 
data to be compared on the basis of the result of comparison, and 
issuing the unit judged to have similarity, out of the units in the later 
character row data, when judged to have similarity as a result of 
comparing and judging. 
The invention is a similar change information takeout apparatus which 
comprises: 
input means in which character row data divided into certain units is 
entered in time series having a certain interval, 
first memory means for storing the earlier entered character row data out 
of character row data entered in time series, 
second memory means for storing the later entered character row data out of 
the character row data entered in time series, 
comparing and judging means for comparing matching point and/or different 
point of the character row data of the first memory means and character 
row data of the second memory means in the every unit, and judging 
presence or absence of similarity between units of character row data to 
be compared on the basis of the result of comparison, 
output means for outputting the unit judged to have similarity out of the 
units in the second memory means when judged to have similarity by the 
comparing and judging means, and 
update control means for (1) updating the content of the first memory means 
by the character row data of the second memory means after comparing and 
judging by the comparing and judging means and (2) updating the content of 
the second memory by the new character row data entered from the input 
means. 
The invention is a similar change information takeout apparatus of above 
mentioned invention, further comprising display means for displaying the 
unit outputted from the output means, wherein the outputted unit is 
displayed continuously by the display means until the output means next 
issues a new unit similar to that unit, and when the output means issues 
the new unit, it is told that the unit being displayed so far is updated. 
The invention is a similar change information takeout apparatus of above 
mentioned invention, further comprising display means for displaying the 
unit outputted from the output means, wherein the outputted unit is 
displayed by the display means for the predetermined certain time. 
The invention is a similar change information takeout apparatus of above 
mentioned invention, wherein the certain time is the time from the output 
from the output means until next new character row data is entered from 
the input means. 
The invention is a similar change information takeout apparatus which 
comprises: 
input means in which character row data divided into certain units is 
entered in time series, 
first memory means for storing the earlier entered character row data out 
of character row data entered in time series, 
second memory means for storing the later entered character row data out of 
the character row data entered in time series, 
comparing and judging means for comparing matching point and/or different 
point of the character row data of the first memory means and character 
row data of the second memory means in the every unit, and judging 
presence or absence of similarity between units of character row data to 
be compared on the basis of the result of comparison, 
output means for searching and outputting the unit containing a keyword, by 
making use of an entered keyword, from plural units judged to have 
similarity out of the units in the second memory means when judged to have 
similarity by the comparing and judging means, and 
update control means for (1) updating the content of the first memory means 
by the character row data of the second memory means after comparing and 
judging by the comparing and judging means and (2) updating the content of 
the second memory by the new character row data entered from the input 
means. 
The invention is a similar change information takeout apparatus which 
comprises: 
input means in which character row data divided into certain units is 
entered in time series, 
first memory means for storing the earlier entered character row data out 
of character row data entered in time series, 
second memory means for storing the later entered character row data out of 
the character row data entered in time series, 
comparing and judging means for selecting units containing an entered 
keyword when comparing matching point and/or different point of the 
character row data of the first memory means and character row data of the 
second memory means, comparing in the each unit between the selected 
units, and judging presence or absence of similarity between the units of 
character row data to be compared on the basis of the result of 
comparison, 
output means for outputting the unit judged to have similarity out of the 
units in the second memory means when judged to have similarity by the 
comparing and judging means, and 
update control means for (1) updating the content of the first memory means 
by the character row data of the second memory means after comparing and 
judging by the comparing and judging means and (2) updating the content of 
the second memory by the new character row data entered from the input 
means. 
The invention is a similar change information takeout apparatus which 
comprises: 
input means in which character row data divided into certain units is 
entered in time series having a certain interval, 
first memory means for storing the earlier entered character row data out 
of character row data entered in time series, 
second memory means for storing the later entered character row data out of 
the character row data entered in time series, 
comparing and judging means for comparing matching point and/or different 
point of the character row data of the first memory means and character 
row data of the second memory means in the every unit, and judging 
presence or absence of similarity between units of character row data to 
be compared on the basis of the result of comparison, 
portion retrieval means for searching data of portion in the unit including 
a keyword, by using an entered keyword, from the unit judged to have 
similarity out of the units of the second memory means when judged to have 
similarity by the comparing and judging means, 
change judging means for judging whether the searched data is changed from 
the memory content in the first memory means or not, 
output means for outputting the data when judged to have been changed as a 
result of judging, and 
update control means for (1) updating the content of the first memory means 
by the character row data of the second memory means after comparing and 
judging by the change judging means and (2) updating the content of the 
second memory by the new character row data entered from the input means. 
The invention is a similar change information takeout apparatus which 
comprises: 
input means in which character row data divided into certain units is 
entered in time series having a certain interval, 
first memory means for storing the earlier entered character row data out 
of character row data entered in time series, 
second memory means for storing the later entered character row data out of 
the character row data entered in time series, 
comparing and judging means for comparing matching point and/or different 
point of the character row data of the first memory means and character 
row data of the second memory means in every data of portion in the unit, 
including an entered keyword, and judging presence or absence of 
similarity between data of the portions to be compared on the basis of the 
result of comparison, 
output means for outputting the data of the portion judged to have 
similarity out of the units in the second memory means when judged to have 
similarity by the comparing and judging means, and 
update control means for (1) updating the content of the first memory means 
by the character row data of the second memory means after comparing and 
judging by the comparing and judging means and (2) updating the content of 
the second memory by the new character row data entered from the input 
means. 
According to a first aspect of the invention, units contained in the data 
stored as new data are taken out sequentially, and compared sequentially 
character by character contained in the units with the units contained in 
the data stored as former data to see whether different or same, and the 
variety and number of different or same characters are calculated, the 
similarity between units is judged in specific condition according to the 
result of calculation, and the unit judged to be similar as a result of 
this judgement is issued to output means as the unit containing bulletin 
information. Hence, neither the unit completely matched in the content nor 
the unit completely different in the content, the bulletin information 
same in the majority of the content but updated only in part of the 
content moment by moment such as sports bulletin can be taken out. 
According to a second aspect of the invention, units contained in the data 
stored as new data are taken out sequentially, and compared sequentially 
character by character contained in the units with the units contained in 
the data stored as former data to see whether different or same, and the 
variety and number of different or same characters are calculated, the 
similarity between units is judged in specific condition according to the 
result of calculation, and the unit judged to be similar as a result of 
this judgement is stored, and only the unit containing a keyword 
designated by the user is searched and issued to the output means as the 
unit containing the bullet information required by the user. 
According to a third aspect of the invention, units contained in the data 
stored as new data are taken out sequentially, and compared sequentially 
character by character contained in the units with the units contained in 
the data stored as former data to see whether different or same, and the 
variety and number of different or same characters are calculated, the 
similarity between units is judged in specific condition according to the 
result of calculation, and the unit judged to be similar as a result of 
this judgement is stored. From the stored units, only the unit containing 
a keyword designated by the user is searched, and from the searched unit, 
only the portion containing the keyword designated by the user is taken 
out and issued to the output means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS 
1 Input unit 
2 Former data memory unit 
3 Output unit 
4 Start/stop input unit 
5 Initializing process 
6 Data memory process 
7 New data unit takeout process 
8 Unit comparison process 
9 Different character and type count process 
10 Similarity judging process 
11 Unit output process 
12 Data update process 
21 VRAM 
22 Main memory device 
23 External memory device 
24 CPU 
31 Character broadcast receiving unit 
41 Voice output unit 
51 Designation input unit 
52 Keyword select/input unit 
53 Unit memory process 
54 Keyword takeout process 
55 Keyword memory process 
56 Unit retrieval process 
61 Similar unit memory process 
62 Portion retrieval process 
63 Portion update judging process 
PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
(Embodiment 1) 
Referring now to the drawings, a first embodiment of a first aspect of the 
invention is described in detail below. 
The first embodiment relates to a similar change information takeout 
apparatus. 
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of the first embodiment. In FIG. 
1, reference numeral 1 is an input unit divided into specified units for 
receiving input of character row data having each character expressed in 
character code sequentially in time series, and 2 is a former data memory 
unit for storing character row data. The first memory means of the 
invention corresponds to the former data memory unit 2. Reference numeral 
3 is an output unit for displaying the unit containing the similar change 
information in the input data, and 4 is a start/stop input unit for 
receiving input for specifying output start or output stop of similar 
change information from the user. The display means of the invention 
corresponds to the output unit 3. Reference numeral 5 is an initializing 
process for storing an identifier showing the data is empty as initial 
value in the former data memory unit 2, when designation of output start 
of similar change information is entered from the start/stop input unit 4. 
Reference numeral 6 is a data memory process for erasing the identifier 
and storing the character row data entered from the input means as former 
data in the former data memory means when the identifier showing the data 
is empty is stored in the former data memory unit 2, or, otherwise, 
storing the input data as new data. The second memory means of the 
invention corresponds to the data memory process 6. Reference 7 is a new 
data unit takeout process for taking out the units contained in the new 
data sequentially, and 8 is a unit comparison process for comparing the 
units taken out in the new data unit takeout process 7 and the units 
contained in the former data, character by character contained in both 
units to see if same or different. Reference numeral 9 is a different 
character and type count process for counting the variety and number of 
same or different characters as a result of comparison in the unit 
comparison process 8. Reference numeral 10 is a similarity judging process 
for judging similarity between units in specific condition on the basis of 
the calculation result of the different character and type count process 
9, and 11 is a unit output process for issuing the unit contained in the 
new data judged to be similar as a result of judgement by the similarity 
judging process 10 to the output unit 3 as the unit containing the similar 
change information. The comparing and judging means of the invention is 
the means comprising the unit comparison process 8, different character 
and type count process 9, and similarly judging process 10. The output 
means of the invention corresponds to the unit output process 11. 
Reference numeral 12 is a data update process for transferring the new 
data to the former data memory unit 2 in order to update the data in the 
former data memory unit 2. The update control means of the invention 
corresponds to the data update process 12. Meanwhile, the data memory 
process 6 stops processing about input data when designation of output 
stop of similar change information is entered from the start/stop input 
unit 4, and thereby stops processing in all other processes and units. The 
control means of the invention is the means comprising the unit comparison 
process 8, different character and type count process 9, similarity 
judging process 10, and data update process 12. 
A hardware configuration for executing the system thus constituted is shown 
in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is basically same as the configuration of 
general-purpose computer system, and comprises the input unit 1, former 
data memory unit 2, output unit 3, and start/stop input unit 4 explained 
as constituent parts of the system configuration in FIG. 1. Of the 
constituent parts in FIG. 2, the same constituent parts as in the system 
configuration in FIG. 1 are identified with same reference numerals, and 
their explanations are omitted. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 is a VRAM 
for storing the data displayed in the output unit 3, 22 is a main memory 
device for storing program and data for processing at the time of 
execution, 23 is an external memory device for accumulating program and 
data, and 24 is a CPU for transferring the program stored in the external 
memory device 23 into the main memory device 22 and executing. 
In thus constituted similar change information takeout method and similar 
change information takeout apparatus, the operation is described below 
while referring to the flowchart in FIG. 3. This flowchart is executed 
when designation of output of similar change information is entered from 
the start/stop input unit 4. The input from the start/stop input unit 4 is 
executed, for example, when the user pushes the buttons by preparing 
similar change information display start button and similar change 
information display stop button in the appliance. 
When the user actually watches the teletext by using the apparatus of the 
embodiment, before pressing the similar change information display start 
button, once set in the ordinary mode as usual, the whole content of the 
teletext being broadcast at the present is displayed to understand the 
present broadcast content, and then this apparatus is started. Such 
operation is required in this embodiment because the character row data 
transmitted first after pressing the similar change information display 
start button is not displayed. 
In FIG. 3, when the similar change information display start button is 
pressed, at step a1, in the initializing process 5, an identifier showing 
that the former data memory unit 2 is empty is stored. For example, a 
character row "null" that can be distinguished from the input data is 
stored. 
At step a2 to step a5, first in the data memory process 6, the character 
row data entered from the input unit 1 is accepted and stored as new data, 
and the content of the former data memory unit 2 is referred to, and as a 
result of reference, if "null" is stored in the former data memory unit 2, 
the identifier "null" is erased, and the input data is directly stored in 
the former data memory unit 2. Every time step a2 is executed, the data 
entering from the input unit 1 is stored again as new data. The data 
entered from the input unit 1 is the data divided into specified units as 
shown in FIG. 4. 
In FIG. 4, there are n pieces of character row data divided into specified 
units. For example, contents of the newspaper containing information about 
sports are stored and entered from unit 1 to unit n in each press agency. 
In this example, the bulletin of the result of games of sports can be 
obtained by the similar change information takeout method and similar 
change information takeout apparatus. As the example used in the 
explanation of the following steps, the latest sports news is supposed to 
be entered in the format stored in unit 1 to unit n. An example of input 
data is shown in FIG. 5. This is prepared on the basis of the sports news 
of teletext being broadcast presently. In FIG. 5, each unit corresponds to 
the page of teletext. 
At step a6, in the new data unit takeout process 7, one unit is taken out 
each from the new data stored at step a2, and is put into variable A for 
storing the unit. When taking out one unit from new data, for example, 
according to the predetermined sequence such as input order, one is taken 
out every time this step is called. In this process, however, even if the 
unit is taken out from the character row data stored as new data, the unit 
being take out is not erased from the memory. After taking out all units 
sequentially by repeating step a6, the process advances to step a11 as 
indicated by "end" in the flowchart. For example, when data shown in FIG. 
5 is entered, "null" is stored in the former data memory unit, and the 
data is stored in the former data memory unit at step a5, and when step a2 
is executed again after executing step a5, it is supposed that the data in 
FIG. 6 is entered. In this case, since the data in FIG. 6 is stored as new 
data, for example, unit 1 in FIG. 6 is taken out at this step. 
At step a7, one unit is taken out from the former data memory unit 2, and 
is put into variable B for storing the unit. When taking out one unit from 
the former data memory unit 2, for example, according to the predetermined 
sequence such as data input order, one is taken out every time this step 
is called. In this process, however, even if the unit is taken out from 
the former data memory unit 2, the unit being take out is not erased from 
the memory. After taking out all units sequentially by repeating step a7, 
the process advances to step a6 as indicated by "end" in the flowchart. 
For example, when data shown in FIG. 5 is stored in the former data memory 
unit, one unit in FIG. 5 is taken out at this step. 
At step a8, in the unit comparison process 8, similarity is compared 
between two units A and B. When comparing the similarity, the characters 
contained in unit A and unit B are compared sequentially. At this time, 
when characters are different, any one of the difference patterns shown in 
Table 1 is judged according to the type of the character. 
TABLE 1 
______________________________________ 
Difference pattern 
Condition of difference pattern 
______________________________________ 
Kanji difference 
Characters taken out from A and B are both 
kanji. 
Katakana difference 
Characters taken out from A and B are both 
katakana. 
Numeral difference 
Characters taken out from A and B are both 
numerals. 
Hiragana difference 
Characters taken out from A and B are both 
hiragana. 
Blank, kanji difference 
Of characters taken out from A and B, one 
is blank and other is kanji. 
Blank, katakana difference 
Of characters taken out from A and B, one 
is blank and other is katakana. 
Blank, numeral difference 
Of characters taken out from A and B, one 
is blank and other is numeral. 
Blank, hiragana difference 
Of characters taken out from A and B, one 
is blank and other is hiragana. 
Other difference 
Other combination 
______________________________________ 
For example, suppose unit 1 in FIG. 6 is put in unit A, and unit 1 in FIG. 
5 in unit B. 
In this case, the first character is blank in both unit A and unit B, and 
characters are not different. For the next character "2" of " FO-" in the 
third line of unit A, the subject of comparison is the next character "0" 
of " FO-" in the third line of unit B, and these two characters are 
different from each other, corresponding to numeral difference of the 
difference patterns in Tabled 1. 
At step a8, thus judging the difference pattern, the number is calculated 
in the different character and type count process 9. For example, as a 
result of comparison of unit A and unit B, the number of each difference 
pattern is calculated, such as (number of kanji differences, number of 
katakana differences, number of numeral differences, number of hiragana 
differences, number of blank, kanji differences, number of blank, katakana 
differences, number of blank, numeral differences, number of blank, 
hiragana differences, and number of other differences) =(10, 0, 5, 0, 0, 
0, 0, 0, 0). For example, if unit A is unit 3 in FIG. 6 and unit B is unit 
2 in FIG. 5, the contents are identical, and different character is not 
detected as a result of comparison, and thereby (number of kanji 
differences, number of katakana differences, number of numeral 
differences, number of hiragana differences, number of blank, kanji 
differences, number of blank, katakana differences, number of blank, 
numeral differences, number of blank, hiragana differences, and number of 
other differences)=(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0). 
At step a9, similarity is judged between unit A and unit B according to the 
difference patterns calculated at step a8, in the similarity judging 
process 10, and when judged to be similar, the process advances to step 
alO, and if not judged to be similar, the process returns to step a7. In 
the similarity judgement, first if the calculation result of difference 
patterns is (number of kanji differences, number of katakana differences, 
number of numeral differences, number of hiragana differences, number of 
blank, kanji differences, number of blank, katakana differences, number of 
blank, numeral differences, number of blank, hiragana differences, and 
number of other differences)=(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0), unit A and unit 
B are matched completely, and it is judged not similar. If not matched 
completely, assuming the average of the number of characters contained in 
unit A and unit B to be H, specific constants t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6, t7, 
t8, t9 are determined, thereby calculating G=number of kanji 
differences.times.t1+number of katakana differences.times.t2+number of 
numeral differences.times.t3+number of hiragana 
differences.times.t4+number of blank, kanji differences.times.t5+number of 
blank, katakana differences.times.t6+number of blank, numeral 
differences.times.t7+number of blank, hiragana differences.times.t8+number 
of other differences.times.t9. As compared with the result of calculation, 
if G/H is smaller than the predetermined threshold, it is judged to be 
similar, and otherwise it is not judged to be similar. The constants t1, 
t2, t3, t4, t5, t6, t7, t8, t9 express the degree of difficulty of 
appearance of each difference pattern in the unit containing similar 
change information, and a larger value is set for the constant 
corresponding to the difference pattern that is less likely to appear. In 
the similar change information of sport bulletin, the fighting partners 
are not changed until the end of the game, but the score changes moment by 
moment. Accordingly, it is judged that the kanji difference is least 
likely to appear, and a large value is set for the constant t1 
corresponding to the kanji difference, while the numeral difference is 
judged to appear often, and a small value is set for the constant t3 
corresponding to the numeral difference. On the other hand, katakana is 
used in the team name of the sport, same as kanji, in the similar change 
information, and the constant t2 corresponding to the katakana difference 
is set large same as t1. Hiragana is also used in the team name of the 
sort, same as kanji and katakana, in similar change information, and 
therefore the constant t4 corresponding to the hiragana difference is also 
set large same as t1 and t2. Concerning the constants corresponding to the 
number of blank, kanji differences, number of blank, katakana differences, 
number of blank, numeral differences, and number of blank, hiragana 
differences, in the similar change information, there are fighting table 
data before start of the game, and the blank may be filled with such 
information as the winning trick of sumo and the result of soccer game, 
and hence t5, t6, t7, t8 are set larger than t3 and smaller than t1, t2, 
t4. Such example of setting relates to sports bulletin transmitted in 
teletext, and it is necessary to set depending on the nature of the input 
data. 
For example, supposing unit 1 in FIG. 6 to be unit A and unit 1 in FIG. 5 
to be unit B, "2" and "0", "", and "", and "" and, "" of the third line, 
"2" and "0", "", and "" and "" and "" of the fourth line, "2" and "0", "" 
and "" and "" and "" of the fifth line, "" and "" and "" and "" of the 
sixth line, and "1" and "0", "3" and "1", "" AND "" AND "" and "" of the 
seventh line are different, and hence (number of kanji differences, number 
of katakana differences, number of numeral differences, number of hiragana 
differences, number of blank, kanji differences, number of blank, katakana 
differences, number of blank, numeral differences, number of blank, 
hiragana differences, and number of other differences)=(10, 0, 5, 0, 0, 0, 
0, 0, 0). In this case, supposing the number of characters of one unit to 
be 147 characters, and (t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6, t7, t8, t9)=(5, 5, 1, 5, 
3, 3, 2, 3, 5), hence H=147, 
G=10.times.5+0.times.5+5.times.1+0.times.5+0.times.3+0.times.3+0.times.2+0 
.times.3+0.times.5=55, resulting in G/H=0.374. When the threshold is set at 
0.5, these two units are judged to be similar. Actually, in this example, 
unit 1 in FIG. 6 and unit 1 in FIG. 5 are regarded to be similar units. 
That is, unit 1 in FIG. 5 is regarded to be followed by unit 1 in FIG. 6, 
which may be hence assumed to be similar change information. In this 
method, moreover, in comparison between unit 3 in FIG. 6 and each unit in 
FIG. 5, for example, unit 2 in FIG. 5 is matched perfectly, and it is not 
judged to be similar, and other units are larger than 0.5 in the value of 
G/H, and hence are not regarded to be similar. 
At step a10, when unit A and unit B are judged to be similar to each other 
at step a9, unit A is stored. The storing place may be either on the 
external memory device 23 or on the main memory device 22. For example, 
when unit 1 in FIG. 5 and unit 1 in FIG. 6 are judged to be similar, unit 
1 in FIG. 6 which is put in unit A is stored. By repeating the operation 
of steps a6 to a10, the units judged to be similar are sequentially stored 
in the memory device. 
At step a11, the unit stored at step a10 in the unit output process 11 is 
displayed in the output unit 3. 
For example, when unit 1 in FIG. 6 is stored at step a10, as shown in FIG. 
7, this unit 1 is displayed. Actually, however, there may be a plurality 
of units containing similar change information. In such a case, a scroll 
bar may be attached to the display area of the similar change information 
in FIG. 7, or a button for viewing next page may be prepared, and every 
time the user selects the button, the units containing similar change 
information may be displayed one after another. When displaying the 
information, it may be also considered to issue user's caution alerting 
sound such as beep sound and alarm sound. 
At step a12, it is judged if the input for stopping display of similar 
change information given by the user through the start/stop input unit 4, 
and if the stopping input is made, processing is terminated, and if 
stopping input is not made, the process advances to step a13. This input 
from the user is supposed to be stored in the buffer of the start/stop 
input unit 4. That is, if the user makes an input while doing other 
process than step a12, it is stored, and it can be judged at this step. 
At step a13, in the data update process 12, a character row data stored as 
new data is transferred to the former data memory unit 2. For example, 
when the data shown in FIG. 6 is stored as new data, this data is 
transferred to the former data memory unit 2, and the process advances to 
step a2. That is, the content of the former data memory unit 2 is updated 
by the transferred new data. By advancing to step a2, the newly entered 
data is stored again as new data. At this time, as explained at step a10, 
the content of the memory unit storing the unit judged to be similar is 
also cleared. 
The first embodiment of the first aspect of the invention is applied in a 
different example below. In this example, instead of the Japanese data 
shown in FIG. 5, English data is entered as shown in FIG. 26. Similarly, 
as the data entered in the time series, the data changing in content is 
entered by time delay as shown in FIG. 27. 
The operation of this example is described while referring to the flowchart 
in FIG. 3. 
At step a1 to step a7, processing is same as in the Japanese data 
processing except that the input data is written in English. 
At step a8, in the unit comparison process 8, similarity is compared 
between unit A and unit B. When comparing the similarity, the characters 
contained in unit A and unit B are compared sequentially. At this time, if 
characters are different, any one of the difference patterns shown in 
Table 2 is judged according to the type of character. 
TABLE 2 
______________________________________ 
Difference pattern 
Condition of difference pattern 
______________________________________ 
Alphabet difference 
Characters taken out from A and B are both 
alphabetic letters. 
Numeral difference 
Characters taken out from A and B are both 
numerals. 
Blank, alphabet difference 
Of characters taken out from A and B, one 
is blank and other is alphabetic letter. 
Blank, numeral difference 
Of characters taken out from A and B, one 
is blank and other is numeral. 
Other difference 
Other combination 
______________________________________ 
For example, unit 2 in FIG. 27 is put in unit A, and unit 2 in FIG. 26 in 
unit B. In this case, the first character is blank in both unit A and unit 
B, and hence the characters are not different. Comparing sequentially, for 
the next character "7" of "Braves 1" of the second line in unit A, the 
next character. "6" of "Braves 1-" of the second line of unit B is the 
subject of comparison, and these characters are different from each other, 
corresponding to the numeral difference in the difference patterns in 
Table 2. 
At step a8, the difference pattern is thus judged, and the number is 
counted in the different character and type count process 9. For example, 
as a result of comparison of unit A and unit B, the number of each 
difference pattern is determined as follows: (number of alphabet 
differences, number of numeral differences, number of blank, alphabet 
differences, number of blank, numeral differences, and number of other 
differences)=(0, 3, 0, 0, 0). When units coinciding perfectly are 
compared, the result is (number of alphabet differences, number of numeral 
differences, number of blank, alphabet differences, number of blank, 
numeral differences, and number of other differences)=(0, 0, 0, 0, 0). 
At step a9, in the similarity judging process 10, similarity of unit A and 
unit B is compared on the basis of the difference pattern detected at step 
a8. In the judgement of similarity, same as when handling Japanese data, 
first, when the calculation result of difference patterns is (number of 
alphabet differences, number of numeral differences, number of blank, 
alphabet differences, number of blank, numeral differences, and number of 
other differences)=(0, 0, 0, 0, 0), unit A and unit B are perfectly 
matched, and they are judged to be not similar. If not matched perfectly, 
supposing the average of the number of characters contained in unit A and 
unit B to be H, specific constants t1, t2, t3, t4, t5 are determined, and 
the following is calculated: G=number of alphabet 
differences.times.t1+number of numeral differences.times.t2+number of 
blank, alphabet differences.times.t3+number of blank, numeral 
differences.times.t4+number of other differences.times.t5. As a result of 
calculation, if G/H is smaller than a predetermined threshold, it is 
judged to be similar, and otherwise it is judged not similar. The 
constants t1, t2, t3, t4, t5 express the degree of difficulty of 
appearance of each difference pattern in the unit containing bulletin 
information same as in the case of handling Japanese data, and a larger 
value is set for the constant corresponding to the difference pattern that 
is less likely to appear. In the bulletin information of sport bulletin, 
the fighting partners are not changed until the end of the game, but the 
score changes moment by moment. Accordingly, it is judged that the 
alphabet difference is least likely to appear, and a large value is set 
for the constant t1 corresponding to the alphabet difference, while the 
numeral difference is judged to appear often, and a small value is set for 
the constant t2 corresponding to the numeral difference. In such setting 
example, meanwhile, it is necessary to set depending on the nature of the 
input data same as in the case of handling Japanese data. 
For example, supposing unit 2 in FIG. 27 to be unit A and unit 2 in FIG. 26 
to be unit B, "7" and "6" of the second line, "4" and "2" of the fifth 
line, and "c" and "S", "1" and "n", "1" and blank, "e" and "D", "d" and 
"i", blank and "e", "o" and "g", "f", and "o", "f" and ")", and ")" and 
blank of the seventh line are different, and hence (number of alphabet 
differences, number of numeral differences, number of blank, alphabet 
differences, number of blank, numeral differences, and number of other 
differences)=(6, 2, 2, 0, 2). In this case, supposing the number of 
characters of one unit to be 280 characters, and (t1, t2, t3, t4, t5)=(5, 
1, 2, 1, 5), hence H=280, 
G=6.times.5+2.times.1+2.times.2+0.times.1+2.times.5=46, resulting in 
G/H=0.164. When the threshold is set at 0.5, these two units are judged to 
be similar. Actually, in this example, unit 2 in FIG. 27 and unit 2 in 
FIG. 26 are regarded to be similar units. That is, unit 3 in FIG. 26 is 
regarded to be followed by unit 2 in FIG. 27, which may be hence assumed 
to be bulletin information. In this method, moreover, in comparison 
between unit 4 in FIG. 27 and each unit in FIG. 26, for example, unit 4 in 
FIG. 26 is matched perfectly, and it is not judged to be similar, and 
other units are larger than 0.5 in the value of G/H, and hence are not 
regarded to be similar. 
At step a10, when unit A and unit B are judged to be similar to each other 
at step a9, unit A is stored. The storing place may be either on the 
external memory device 23 or on the main memory device 22. For example, 
when unit 2 in FIG. 26 and unit 2 in FIG. 27 are judged to be similar, 
unit 2 in FIG. 27 which is put in unit A is stored. 
At step a11, the unit stored at step a10 in the unit output process 11 is 
displayed in the output unit 3. For example, when unit 2 in FIG. 27 is 
stored at step a10, as shown in FIG. 28, the unit is displayed. Actually, 
however, there may be a plurality of units containing bulletin 
information. In such a case, a scroll bar may be attached to the display 
area of the bulletin information shown in FIG. 28, or a button for viewing 
next page may be prepared, and every time the user selects the button, the 
units containing bulletin information may be displayed one after another. 
When displaying the information, it may be also considered to issue user's 
caution alerting sound such as beep sound and alarm sound. 
The processing at step a12 and step a13 is same as in the process on the 
Japanese data. 
Herein, the display in the output unit 3 is described more specifically 
below by referring to FIG. 5 to FIG. 7. 
In this embodiment, as described above, the first entered character row 
data shown in FIG. 5 are not displayed. Therefore, there is a possibility 
that the character row data which are transmitted sequentially in time 
series having a certain time interval after the first entered character 
row data shown in FIG. 5 are transmitted are displayed. 
As described above, in FIG. 7, from the result of judgement of similarity 
between the character row data shown in FIG. 5 and character row data 
shown in FIG. 6, it shows that the unit 1 shown in FIG. 6 is displayed in 
the output unit 3 as similar change information. 
Such display in the output unit 3 continues from the time of output of the 
unit judged to have similarity to the output unit 3 by the unit output 
means 11 until next new character row data is sent after a specific 
interval. 
When next new character row data is sent and the unit taken out as similar 
change information is displayed, beep sound or the like is issued to tell 
it to the use. 
As a result, the user knows that the displayed data is updated. If the 
immediately preceding character row data and the new character row data 
are exactly same in content, there is no unit taken out as similar change 
information, and hence nothing is issued to the output unit 3 by the unit 
output means 11. In this case, therefore, character row data is not 
displayed in the output unit 3 until the next new character row data is 
further sent forth. 
Incidentally, the timing of disappearance of the display of similar change 
information in the output unit 3 is, in the above case, the time when the 
next new character row data is sent forth, but instead, for example, the 
display may be erased at the fastest moment, that is, before the next new 
character row data is sent forth. In this case, immediately before the 
character row data is sent, there is a state of no display whether similar 
change information is present or absent. 
On the other hand, a different display method from the above display method 
may be possible as described below. 
That is, when the immediately preceding character row data and new 
character row data are exactly same in content, there is no output of 
similar change information to the output unit 3 from the unit output means 
11 as mentioned above. In this case too, however, the output unit 3 does 
not erase the existing display, and hence the display continues. Thus 
displayed unit is displayed continuously until a new unit similar to this 
unit is later issued from the unit output means 11. More specifically, the 
display in the display unit 3 keeps the state shown in FIG. 7 until the 
content of the unit 1 shown in FIG. 6 is changed. 
This method of display also solves the conventional problems of necessity 
of searching of unit containing changing information from multiple units. 
However, even the unit small in frequency of change, if once judged as 
similar change information, is not erased from the display in the output 
unit 3. By contrast, in the former method of easing the display at the 
specified timing, only the unit having similar change in comparison with 
the character row data always sent immediately before is displayed, so 
that display of the unit small in frequency in change is avoided. 
As the manner of display, therefore, the former method is preferable to the 
latter method. 
The same holds true in the output unit 3 in the following embodiments. 
(Embodiment 2) 
A second embodiment is described below while referring to the drawings. 
The second embodiment presents a teletext receiver applying the similar 
change information takeout method. 
FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram of the second embodiment. In FIG. 
8, what differs from the system configuration of the first embodiment 
shown in FIG. 1 that a teletext receiving unit 31 is provided instead of 
the input unit 1. Other constituent parts are same as in the system 
configuration of the first embodiment, and are hence identified with same 
reference numerals and explanations are omitted. 
The hardware structure for executing thus constituted system is shown in 
FIG. 9. The hardware structure in FIG. 9 consists of the constituent parts 
of the system configuration shown in FIG. 8 and the constituent parts of 
the hardware structure of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and same 
constituent parts are identified with same reference numerals and 
explanations are omitted. 
The teletext receiving unit 31 is for receiving teletext programs, and a 
received program is, for example, an existing teletext program, which is 
divided into pages of a specific length. Accordingly, what is handled as 
the unit in the first embodiment is replaced by the page in the program. 
Other processing is same as the process in the flowchart shown in FIG. 3. 
Therefore, of the flow chart in FIG. 3, the data entered from the input 
unit 1 at step a2 is received from the teletext receiving unit 31. At 
steps a6 to a11, the portion handled as the unit is replaced by the page. 
The data examples shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 presented in the first embodiment 
relate to the data on the basis of the program broadcast by teletext, and 
the intermediate processing example and output example are both same as in 
the first embodiment. Thus, when applied in the teletext receiver, in the 
television provided with function of receiving teletext, only the similar 
change information can be displayed in the slave screen as shown in the 
output example in FIG. 7. 
Incidentally, if English data as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 is sent as the 
content of teletext, processing is done same as in the processing of 
English data explained in the first embodiment. 
(Embodiment 3) 
A third embodiment is described below while referring to the drawings. 
The third embodiment relates to similar change information takeout method 
and similar change information takeout apparatus. 
FIG. 10 is a system configuration diagram of the third embodiment. In FIG. 
10, what differs from the system configuration of the first embodiment 
shown in FIG. 1 is that a voice output unit 41 is provided instead of the 
output unit 3. Other constituent parts are same as in the system 
configuration of the first embodiment, and are hence identified with same 
reference numerals and explanations are omitted. 
The hardware structure for executing thus constituted system is shown in 
FIG. 11. The hardware structure in FIG. 11 consists of the constituent 
parts of the system configuration shown in FIG. 10 and the constituent 
parts of the hardware structure of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, 
and same constituent parts are identified with same reference numerals and 
explanations are omitted. 
The voice output unit 41 converts the unit to be outputted in the unit 
output process 11 into voice, and outputs. The data to be outputted in the 
unit output process 11 is given as character row data. Accordingly, the 
character codes must be sequentially converted into voice. As the method 
of converting into voice, various methods have been hitherto proposed, and 
any method may be employed in the invention. 
This embodiment is basically same in operation as the first embodiment 
shown in FIG. 3. What differs is that, instead of the memory unit display 
at step a11, the unit stored at step a10 is converted and outputted as 
voice. 
In this embodiment, the input unit 1 is contained in the system 
configuration, but it may be replaced by the teletext receiving unit 31. 
In this case, receiving the teletext, only the page containing the similar 
change information is taken out, and converted to voiced and presented to 
the user. 
In the voice output unit 41, it is also possible to convert the English 
data shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 into voice and output. For such technique, 
various methods have been developed hitherto as the voice synthesizing 
technique. Therefore, in the same method as the processing of English data 
shown in the first embodiment, it is possible to process when the English 
data is entered or received also in this embodiment. 
In this invention, in any embodiment, regardless of the unit or page 
containing similar change information, if once taken out, whether the same 
content is entered or received, it is not judged to be similar in the 
similarity judging process 10. For example, if the newly transmitted 
character row data is identical in content with the character row data 
transmitted immediately before, it is not judged to be similar in the 
similarity judging process 10. 
Accordingly, the similarity judging means 10 does not take out the unit or 
page containing the similar change information, until the content is 
updated, in comparison with the immediately preceding character row data. 
Therefore, only when change is found by continuously monitoring the 
similar change information, the information is taken out from the output 
unit 3 in the first embodiment and second embodiment, or the voice output 
unit 41 in the third embodiment. 
Hence in the first embodiment or second embodiment, when outputting 
information, it may be considered to deliver a caution alerting sound such 
as beep sound and alarm sound in the output unit 3. It is therefore 
possible to draw attention by beep sound or the like only when the similar 
change information is updated, by taking out and displaying the similar 
change information by the invention in, for example, a mobile appliance 
with teletext receiving function. Accordingly, without having to observe 
the screen continuously while driving, the progress of the game of the 
sport can be known by watching the screen only when updated. 
Moreover, by converting and outputting as voice as in the third embodiment, 
the progress of the game can be known by the voice, without having to move 
the vision to the screen while driving an automobile. 
Hitherto, while driving, there was known a method of learning the progress 
of sport game by listing to the live broadcast through the radio, but for 
the user wanting to know only the progress of the game, there were 
following problems: 1) the broadcast of the entire game must be monitored, 
2) the desired game is not always broadcast, and 3) while listening to the 
radio, the voice is continuously issued from the radio, which makes it 
hard to listen to the music comfortably by the car audio. 
In the teletext program, on the other hand, the progress of all games is 
broadcast, in principle, and it is noticed by voice only when there is a 
change in the process of the game according to the third embodiment of the 
invention, so that the above problems may be solved. 
In all embodiments of the invention, the constituent parts may be may be 
composed in the software or in the hardware. Moreover, the first 
embodiment, second embodiment, and third embodiment may be combined. 
(Embodiment 4) 
A fourth embodiment is described by reference to the drawings. 
The fourth embodiment shows a takeout method of similar change information. 
FIG. 12 is a system configuration diagram of the fourth embodiment. In 
FIG. 12, there are same constituent parts as in the system configuration 
of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and they are identified with same 
reference numerals and their explanations are omitted. Only the parts 
different from the system configuration of the first embodiment of the 
first aspect of the invention are described. Reference numeral 51 is a 
designation input unit to be entered by the user when desired to 
manipulate for input of keyword for designating the similar change 
information, 52 is a keyword select input unit for accepting the selection 
of keyword from the user, 53 is a unit memory process for storing the unit 
judged to be similar in the similarity judging process 10 as the unit 
containing similar change information, 54 is a keyword takeout process for 
cutting out the keyword from the unit stored in the unit memory process 53 
if there is an input by the user from the designation input unit 51, and 
displaying in the output unit 3, 55 is a keyword memory process for 
storing the result of selection as keyword by accepting the keyword 
selection by the user in the keyword select input unit 52, and 56 is a 
unit retrieval process for retrieving the unit containing the user keyword 
from the unit stored in the unit memory process 53, regardless of presence 
or absence of input from the designation input unit 51, and outputting in 
the output unit 3. 
The hardware structure for executing thus constituted system is shown in 
FIG. 13. FIG. 13 is basically same as the constitution of the 
general-purpose computer system, and consists of the constituent parts of 
the hardware structure of the first embodiment of the first aspect of the 
invention shown in FIG. 2 and the constituent parts of the system 
configuration of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 12, and same 
constituent parts are identified with same reference numerals and 
explanations are omitted. 
In thus constituted similar change takeout method and similar change 
takeout apparatus, the operation is described below while referring to the 
flowchart in FIG. 1 4. This flowchart is executed when designation of 
output of similar change information is entered from the start/stop input 
unit 4. The input from the start/stop input unit 4 is given as the user 
presses the buttons by preparing, for example, similar change information 
display start button and similar change information display stop button in 
the appliance. 
Step b1 to step b10 correspond to the process of step a1 to step a10 in the 
flowchart of FIG. 3 explained in relation to the operation of the first 
embodiment of the first aspect of the invention. In the unit memory at 
step b10, however, as compared with the first embodiment, since the 
retrieval process about the stored unit is conducted at a later step, and 
hence it is done in the unit memory process 53 as an explicit process for 
memory. 
At step b11, it is judged if there is any input expressing the will of the 
user for selecting a keyword for designating the desired similar change 
information (hereinafter called user keyword) from the designation input 
unit 41. As a result of judgement, if there is an input, the process 
advances to step b12, and if there is no input, the process skips to step 
b15. In this embodiment, when the user desires to select the user keyword, 
the user is supposed to designate by pressing the bulletin keyword button. 
For example, in an appliance furnished with a remote controller such as 
television, a push button may be prepared in the remote controller and is 
used as the bulletin keyword button. Or in an appliance furnished with GUI 
(graphic user interface) such as personal computer, a button or an iron on 
the screen that can be selected by pointing device such as mouse is 
prepared and used as bulletin keyword button. 
At step b12, in the keyword takeout process 54, the keyword is cut out from 
the unit stored at step b10. Concerning the manner of cutting out the 
keyword from the unit given as character row, various methods have been 
proposed hitherto in the natural language processing technology, and any 
method may be employed. Considering, however, that it is actually 
difficult in the case of dictionary information or the like requiring a 
large scale of memory capacity, and also that there are too many proper 
nouns to prepare dictionary information in the case of news or sports 
information, this embodiment is intended to cut out the keyword on the 
basis of the difference in the type of character without using dictionary 
information. More specifically, one or more continuous characters of 
kanji, hiragana, alphabet or katakana are cut out. Depending on the 
similar change information to be entered, however, those not cut out as 
keyword are determined preliminarily, and they are exempted from the 
subject of cutting out when cutting out the keyword. For example, in the 
case of handling of similar change information of sports, 1) the unit 
designations following numerals such as the "(inning)", "(points)", 
"(season)", "(top of inning)", "(bottom of inning)", "(day)", and 
"(month)", and 2) specific words about sports bulletin such as "(first 
half)", "(second half)", "(game)", "J(J-League)", and "(professional 
baseball)" are excluded from the subjects of cutting out keyword. Besides, 
space between characters of kanji, hiragana, alphabet and katakana is 
ignored, and only one character of hiragana being cut out is also ignored. 
For example, from 3-2 ,(Giants 3-2 Hanshin, the top of the third inning) 
only (Giants) and (Hanshin) are cut out. The keywords being cut out from 
the unit 1 shown in FIG. 5 are , , ,, , , , , , , ,. 
On the other hand, when handling English data as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, 
as an example of cutting out, a word may be cut out from the boundary of 
symbols such as "(", ")", ":", ",", and ";" in addition to the space. 
Depending on the similar change information to be entered, however, those 
not to be cut out as keyword and characters excluded from keyword are 
determined beforehand. For example, only numerals without including 
alphabetic letters are not cut out, and cut-out keywords including "("or 
")" are excluded from keywords. From unit 2 shown in FIG. 26, for 
instance, the following words are cut out: Result, Baseball, Braves, Cubs, 
Chicago, Reds, Rockies, Colorado, Marlins, Astros, Houston, Dodgers, 
Expos, Los, Angeles, Mets, Pirates, New, York, Phillies, Padres, San, and 
Diego. 
At step b13, the keyword being cut out at step b12 is displayed in the 
output unit 3, and the user selects the user keyword in the key word 
select input unit 52. In the example shown at step b12, the cut-out 
keywords are displayed as shown in FIG. 15, and the user can select a 
desired keyword on the screen by using a pointing device such as cross key 
and mouse. The keyword selecting method is not particularly limited, 
including conventional selecting techniques such as the method of 
selecting numeral button by assigning each keyword with numeral. Moreover, 
many units may be stored at step b10, and it may be difficult to display 
all of them on one screen, and therefore a scroll bar may be attached to 
the keyword display area in FIG. 15, or a button for viewing next page may 
be prepared, so that the keyword list may be scrolled every time the user 
selects the button. 
When handling English data as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, keywords are 
presented, for example, as shown in FIG. 29. 
At step b14, in the keyword memory process 55, the keyword designated by 
the user at step b13 is stored. The storing place may be either main 
memory device 22 or external memory device 23. When stored on the main 
memory device 22, the user keyword must be set again every time this 
similar change information takeout function is started up, but it is free 
from effects of previous setting. When the user keyword is stored on the 
external memory device 23, when this similar change information takeout 
function is newly started, the previously set use keyword can be used. In 
this embodiment, suppose it is stored on the main memory device 22. At 
this time, to store the user keyword, if the previously stored user 
keyword exists, it is erased, and only the new one is stored. Of course, 
the new one may be added to the previously stored one. 
At step b15, it is judged if the user keyword is set at step b14 or not. In 
this embodiment, the user keyword is initialized to a state of nothing set 
at the time of start of the flowchart in FIG. 14. This initializing method 
may be realized, same as in the prior art, by a method of setting an 
identifier expressing blank. Incidentally, when the user keyword is stored 
in the external memory device 23 at step b14, an identifier showing 
nothing is set is preliminarily set on the external memory device as 
initial value, and once the user keyword is updated at step b14, the value 
is used as initial value. 
At step b16, in the unit memory process 56, a unit containing the user 
keyword is searched, out of the units containing the similar change 
information stored at step b10. The searching method is a general method 
employed hitherto. That is, while comparing character by character 
sequentially, a unit containing a same array of characters as the user 
keyword is searched. In matching processing between character rows, 
however, the space contained between characters is ignored. Therefore, the 
user keywords and are regarded as identical character row. For example, 
if the user keyword is set as , as explained in relation to the first 
embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, if unit 1 in FIG. 9 is 
stored as the unit containing similar change information at step a10 (step 
b10 in this embodiment), this unit is searched at step b16 as the unit 
containing the user keyword OSAKA. 
When handling English data as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, suppose the user 
selects "Dodgers" as the user keyword at step b13, out of choices shown in 
FIG. 29. In this case, if unit 2 shown in FIG. 27 is stored as the a mit 
containing the similar change information at step b10, this unit is 
searched as the unit containing the user keyword "Dodgers" at step b16. 
At step b17, the unit searched at step b16 is displayed in the output unit 
3. In this example, unit 1 in FIG. 6 is searched, and hence the display 
example is same as in FIG. 7. In the first embodiment, however, when 
plural units containing similar change information are stored at step a10 
(step b10 in this embodiment), all are displayed. By contrast, in this 
embodiment, if is set as the user keyword, for example, when other units 
shown in FIG. 16 are stored as units containing similar change information 
aside from unit 1 in FIG. 6, only unit 1 in FIG. 6 is searched and 
displayed at step b16. 
When handling English data as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, if "Dodgers" is set 
as the user keyword, when units as shown in FIG. 30 are stored as units 
containing similar change information, only unit 2 in FIG. 27 is searched 
and displayed at step b16. 
At step b18 to step b19, of the flowchart in FIG. 3 explained in the first 
embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, same processing as in 
step a12 to step a13 is conducted. 
As explained in this embodiment, of character row data, first units 
changing similarly are searched, and the unit containing the user keyword 
is selected from the plural searched units, but not limited to this 
operation, first the unit containing the user keyword may be selected from 
the character row data, and then units changing similarly may be selected 
from the plural searched units. This constitution comprises input means in 
which character row data divided in specified units is entered in time 
series, first memory means for storing the first entered character row 
data out of character row data entered in time series, second memory means 
for storing the later entered character row data out of the character row 
data entered in time series, comparing and judging means for selecting 
units containing an entered keyword when comparing matching point and/or 
different point of the character row data of the first memory means and 
character row data of the second memory means, comparing in each unit 
between selected units, and judging presence or absence of similarity 
between the units of character row data to be compared on the basis of the 
result of comparison, output means for outputting the unit judged to have 
similarity out of the units in the second memory means when judged to have 
similarity by the comparing and judging means, and update control means 
for updating the content of the second memory by the new character row 
data entered from the input means by updating the content of the first 
memory means by the character row data of the second memory means after 
comparing and judging by the comparing and judging means. 
(Embodiment 5) 
A fifth embodiment is described below while referring to the drawings. 
The fifth embodiment relates to a teletext receiver applying the similar 
change information takeout method. 
FIG. 17 is a system configuration diagram of the fifth embodiment. In FIG. 
17, what differs from the system configuration of the first embodiment 
shown in FIG. 12 is that a teletext receiving unit 31 is provided instead 
of the input unit 1. Other constituent parts are same as in the system 
configuration of the first embodiment, and are hence identified with same 
reference numerals and explanations are omitted. Besides, the teletext 
receiving unit 31 shares in part with the constituent parts in FIG. 8 
relating to the system configuration of the second embodiment of the first 
aspect of the invention, which are already explained in FIG. 8 and are 
hence omitted herein. 
The hardware structure for executing thus constituted system is shown in 
FIG. 18. The hardware structure in FIG. 18 consists of the hardware 
structure of the second embodiment of the first aspect of the invention 
shown in FIG. 9 and the constituent parts of the system configuration 
shown in FIG. 17, and same constituent parts are identified with same 
reference numerals and explanations are omitted. 
In the fifth embodiment, the teletext program received in the teletext 
receiving unit 31 is divided into pages of specific length, and what is 
handled as the unit in the first embodiment is replaced by the page in the 
program. Other processing is same as the process in the flowchart shown in 
FIG. 14. The data examples shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 presented in the first 
embodiment relate to the data on the basis of the program broadcast by 
teletext, and the intermediate processing example and output example are 
both same as in the first embodiment. 
Thus, when applied in the teletext receiver, in the television provided 
with function of receiving teletext, only the page containing the user 
keyword out of the pages containing similar change information can be 
displayed in the slave screen as shown in the output example in FIG. 7. 
Incidentally, if English data as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 is sent as the 
content of teletext, processing is done same as in the processing of 
English data explained in the fourth embodiment. 
(Embodiment 6) 
A sixth embodiment is described below by reference to the drawings. 
The sixth embodiment relates to similar change information takeout method 
and similar change information takeout apparatus. 
FIG. 19 is a system configuration diagram of the sixth embodiment. In FIG. 
19, what differs from the system configuration of the fifth embodiment 
shown in FIG. 12 is that a voice output unit 41 is provided instead of the 
output unit 3. Other constituent parts are same as in the system 
configuration of the first embodiment, and are hence identified with same 
reference numerals and explanations are omitted. 
The hardware structure for executing thus constituted system is shown in 
FIG. 20. The hardware structure in FIG. 20 consists of the constituent 
parts of the system configuration shown in FIG. 19 and the constituent 
parts of the hardware structure of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 13, 
and same constituent parts are identified with same reference numerals and 
explanations are omitted. 
The operation of the embodiment is basically same as the operation of the 
fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 14. What differs is that the unit searched 
at step b16 is converted into voice and outputted, instead of the search 
result display process at step b17. The unit searched at step b16 is 
character row data. Accordingly, the character codes must be sequentially 
converted into voice. As the method of converting into voice, various 
methods have been hitherto proposed, and any method may be employed in the 
invention. 
In this embodiment, the input unit 1 is contained in the system 
configuration, but it may be replaced by the teletext receiving unit 31. 
In this case, receiving the teletext, only the page containing the similar 
change information is taken out, and converted to voiced and presented to 
the user. 
In this invention, in any embodiment, regardless of the unit or page 
containing similar change information, if once taken out, whether the same 
content is entered or received, it is not judged to be similar in the 
similarity judging process 10. Accordingly, if once outputted, it is not 
taken out as the unit or page containing the similar change information, 
until the content is updated next. Therefore, only when change is found by 
continuously monitoring the similar change information, the information is 
outputted from the output unit 3 in the fourth embodiment and fifth 
embodiment, or the voice output unit 41 in the sixth embodiment. Hence in 
the fourth embodiment or fifth embodiment, when outputting information, it 
may be considered to deliver a caution alerting sound such as beep sound 
and alarm sound in the output unit 3. 
It is therefore possible to draw attention by beep sound or the like only 
when the similar change information is updated, by taking out and 
displaying the similar change information by the invention in, for 
example, a mobile appliance with teletext receiving function. Accordingly, 
without having to observe the screen continuously while driving, the 
progress of the game of the sport contained in the unit or page 
designated, for example, by the user keyword can be known by watching the 
screen only when updated. 
Moreover, by converting and outputting as voice as in the sixth embodiment, 
the progress of the game can be known by the voice, without having to move 
the vision to the screen while driving an automobile. Hitherto, while 
driving, there was known a method of learning the progress of sport game 
by listing to the live broadcast through the radio, but for the user 
wanting to know only the progress of the game, there were following 
problems: 1) the broadcast of the entire game must be monitored, 2) the 
desired game is not always broadcast, and 3) while listening to the radio, 
the voice is continuously issued from the radio, which makes it hard to 
listen to the music comfortably by the car audio. In the teletext program, 
on the other hand, the progress of all games is broadcast, in principle, 
and it is noticed by voice only when there is a change in the process of 
the game according to the sixth embodiment of the invention, so that the 
above problems may be solved. In all embodiments of the invention, the 
constituent parts may be may be composed in the software or in the 
hardware. Moreover, the fourth embodiment or fifth embodiment may be 
combined with the sixth embodiment. 
In the voice output unit 41, it is also possible to convert the English 
data shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 into voice and output. For such technique, 
various methods have been developed hitherto as the voice synthesizing 
technique. Therefore, in the same method as the processing of English data 
shown in the fourth embodiment, it is possible to process when the English 
data is entered or received also in this embodiment. 
(Embodiment 7) 
A seventh embodiment is described below by reference to the drawings. 
The seventh embodiment relates to similar change information take out 
method and similar change information takeout apparatus for taking out and 
display only the portion containing user keyword out of the units 
containing similar change information. FIG. 21 is a system configuration 
diagram of the seventh embodiment. FIG. 21 contains same constituent parts 
as in the fourth embodiment, and same constituent parts are identified 
with same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted. In FIG. 
21, what differs from the system configuration of the fourth embodiment 
shown in FIG. 12 is that it further comprises similar unit memory process 
61 for storing both of two units judged to be similar to each other in the 
similarity judging process 10, portion retrieval process 62 for searching 
the portion containing the user keyword from the units searched in the 
unit retrieval process 56, and portion update judging process 63 for 
judging if the portion searched in the portion retrieval process 62 is 
updated or not. The portion retrieval means of the invention corresponds 
to the portion retrieval process 62, and the change judging process of the 
invention corresponds to the portion update judging process 63. 
The hardware structure for executing thus constituted system is same as the 
hardware structure of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 14. Therefore, 
detailed description is omitted. 
In thus constituted similar change information takeout method and similar 
change information takeout apparatus, the operation is described below 
while referring to the flowchart in FIG. 22. This flowchart is executed 
when designation of output of similar change information is entered from 
the start/stop input unit 4. The input from the start/stop input unit 4 is 
executed, for example, when the user pushes the buttons by preparing 
similar change information display start button and similar change 
information display stop button in the appliance. 
Step c1 to step c9 is processed same as in step b1 to step b9 in the 
flowchart in FIG. 14 showing the operation of the first embodiment of the 
second aspect of the invention. 
At step c10, in the similar unit memory process 61, unit A is stored as 
similar change information, and unit B is stored as former similar change 
information. 
Step c11 to step c16 is processed same as in step b11 to step b16 in the 
flowchart in FIG. 14 showing the operation of the first embodiment of the 
second aspect of the invention. 
At step c17, in the portion retrieval process 62, the line containing the 
user keyword is searched in the units containing similar change 
information searched at step c16 and in the units containing user keyword. 
For example, when unit 1 shown in FIG. 6 is the unit searched at step c16 
and the user keyword is , the seventh line is searched. Or, in the case of 
handling English data as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, suppose "Dodgers" is 
set as the user keyword. At this time, if the unit searched at step c16 is 
unit 2 in FIG. 27, the fifth line containing the user keyword "Dodgers" is 
searched. In this embodiment, meanwhile, the line containing the user 
keyword is searched, but other methods of retrieval may be also employed, 
such as searching of three lines before and after including the user 
keyword, and searching by the number of lines satisfying the predetermined 
conditions in the portion containing the user keyword. 
At step c18, first from those stored as the former similar change 
information at step c10, units containing the user keyword are searched, 
and the portion containing the user keyword is selected from the searched 
units. These processes are same as in the method at step c16 and step c17. 
What differs from step c16 and step c17 is that step c16 and step c17 are 
intended to process on the units stored as similar change information at 
step c10, while it is intended herein to process on the units stored as 
former similar change information. Thus searched portion is compared with 
the portion searched at step c17 sequentially character after character, 
and if only one character is different, the process advances to step c19, 
or when all characters are identical, the process goes to step c20. The 
procedure so far is done in the portion update judging process 63. 
At step c19, what is searched at step c18 is displayed in the output unit 
3. 
For example, when the seventh line of unit 1 in FIG. 6 is searched at step 
c17, the output result is obtained as shown in FIG. 23. 
Or, when handling English data as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, for example, if 
the fifth line of unit 2 in FIG. 27 is searched at step c17, the output 
result is obtained as shown in FIG. 31. 
At steps c20 to step c21, the same process as at step b18 to step b19 in 
the flowchart in FIG. 14 showing the operation of the first embodiment of 
the second aspect of the invention is executed. 
In this embodiment, out of character row data, first units changing 
similarly are searched, and data of a portion in the unit is selected by 
using the user keyword, but not limited to this operation, first the data 
of the portion in the unit containing the user keyword may be selected 
from the character row data, and then the data changing similarly may be 
selected from the data of the searched plural portions. This constitution 
comprises input means in which character row data divided in specified 
units is entered in time series having a specific interval, first memory 
means for storing the first entered character row data out of character 
row data entered in time series, second memory means for storing the later 
entered character row data out of the character row data entered in time 
series, comparing and judging means for comparing matching point and/or 
different point of the character row data of the first memory means and 
character row data of the second memory means, in every data of portion in 
the unit containing the entered keyword, and judging presence or absence 
of similarity between data of the portions to be compared on the basis of 
the result of comparison, output means for outputting the data of the 
portion judged to have similarity out of the units in the second memory 
means when judged to have similarity by the comparing and judging means, 
and update control means for updating the content of the second memory by 
the new character row data entered from the input means by updating the 
content of the first memory means by the character row data of the second 
memory means after comparing and judging by the comparing and judging 
means. 
(Embodiment 8) 
An eighth embodiment is described below while referring to the drawings. 
The eighth embodiment relates to a teletext receiver applying the similar 
change information takeout method. 
FIG. 24 is a system configuration diagram of the eighth embodiment. In FIG. 
24, what differs from the system configuration of the first embodiment 
shown in FIG. 21 is that a teletext receiving unit 31 is provided instead 
of the input unit 1. Other constituent parts are same as in the system 
configuration of the first embodiment, and are hence identified with same 
reference numerals and explanations are omitted. Besides, the teletext 
receiving unit 31 shares in part with the constituent parts in FIG. 8 
relating to the system configuration of the second embodiment, which are 
already explained in FIG. 8 and are hence omitted herein. 
The hardware structure for executing thus constituted system is same as the 
hardware structure of the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 18. Therefore, 
detailed description is omitted. 
In the eighth embodiment, the teletext program received in the teletext 
receiving unit 31 is divided into pages of specific length, and what is 
handled as the unit in the first embodiment is replaced by the page in the 
program. Other processing is same as the process in the flowchart shown in 
FIG. 22. The data examples shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 presented in the first 
embodiment relate to the data on the basis of the program broadcast by 
teletext, and the intermediate processing example and output example are 
both same as in the first embodiment. Thus, when applied in the teletext 
receiver, in the television provided with function of receiving teletext, 
only the page containing the user keyword out of the pages containing 
similar change information can be displayed in the slave screen as shown 
in the output example in FIG. 23. 
Incidentally, if English data as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 is sent as the 
content of teletext, processing is done same as in the processing of 
English data explained in the fourth embodiment. 
(Embodiment 9) 
A ninth embodiment is described below by reference to the drawings. 
The ninth embodiment relates to similar change information takeout method 
and similar change information takeout apparatus. 
FIG. 25 is a system configuration diagram of the ninth embodiment. The 
constituent parts of the system configuration shown in FIG. 25 consist of 
the constituent parts of the system configuration of the seventh 
embodiment shown in FIG. 21, and the constituent parts of the system 
configuration of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 10. Therefore, same 
reference numerals are given to the corresponding constituent parts, and 
their explanations are omitted. The voice output unit 41 in the third 
embodiment is intended to convert the unit given as the character row data 
into voice and output, but in this embodiment, the portion in the unit 
searched in the portion retrieval process 62 is converted into voice and 
outputted. This portion is, however, give in the character row data same 
as the unit, it is converted into voice and outputted basically in the 
same process. 
The hardware structure for executing thus constituted system is same as the 
hardware structure of the sixth embodiment shown in FIG. 20, and hence 
explanations are omitted. 
The operation of the embodiment is basically same as the operation of the 
seventh embodiment shown in FIG. 22. What differs is that the portion in 
the unit searched at step c17 is converted into voice and outputted, 
instead of the search result display process at step c19. The portion in 
the unit searched at step c17 is character row data. Accordingly, the 
character codes must be sequentially converted into voice. As the method 
of converting into voice, various methods have been hitherto proposed, and 
any method may be employed in the invention. 
In this embodiment, the input unit 1 is contained in the system 
configuration, but it may be replaced by the teletext receiving unit 31. 
In this case, receiving the teletext, only the page containing the similar 
change information is taken out, and the portion containing the user 
keyword in this page is searched, and the researched result is converted 
to voiced and presented to the user. 
In the voice output unit 41, it is also possible to convert the English 
data shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 into voice and output. For such technique, 
various methods have been developed hitherto as the voice synthesizing 
technique. Therefore, in the same method as the processing of English data 
shown in the seventh embodiment, it is possible to process when the 
English data is entered or received also in this embodiment. 
In this invention, in any embodiment, regardless of the unit or page 
containing similar change information, if once taken out, whether the same 
content is entered or received, it is not judged to be similar in the 
similarity judging process 10. Accordingly, if once outputted, it is not 
taken out as the unit or page containing the similar change information, 
until the content is updated next. Therefore, only when change is found by 
continuously monitoring the similar change information, the information is 
outputted from the output unit 3 in the seventh embodiment and eighth 
embodiment, or the voice output unit 41 in the ninth embodiment. Hence in 
the seventh embodiment or eighth embodiment, when outputting information, 
it may be considered to deliver a caution alerting sound such as beep 
sound and alarm sound in the output unit 3. It is therefore possible to 
draw attention by beep sound or the like only when the similar change info 
r mation is updated, by taking out and displaying the similar change 
information by the invention in, for example, a mobile appliance with 
teletext receiving function. Accordingly, without having to observe the 
screen continuously while driving, the progress of the game of the sport 
contained in the portion in the unit or the portion in the page 
designated, for example, by the user keyword can be known. Moreover, by 
converting and outputting as voice as in the third embodiment, the 
progress of the game can be known by the voice, without having to move the 
vision to the screen while driving an automobile. Hitherto, while driving, 
there was known a method of learning the progress of sport game by 
listening to the live broadcast through the radio, but for the user 
wanting to know only the progress of the game, there were following 
problems: 1) the broadcast of the entire game must be monitored, 2) the 
desired game is not always broadcast, and 3) while listening to the radio, 
the voice is continuously issued from the radio, which makes it hard to 
listen to the music comfortably by the car audio. In the teletext program, 
on the other hand, the progress of all games is broadcast, in principle, 
and it is noticed by voice only when there is a change in the process of 
the game according to the third embodiment of the invention, so that the 
above problems may be solved. In all embodiments of the invention, the 
constituent parts may be may be composed in the software or in the 
hardware. Moreover, the seventh embodiment or eighth embodiment may be 
combined with the ninth embodiment. 
Thus, according to the first aspect of the invention, when the character 
row data divided into specific units, with each character expressed in 
character codes is entered in time series, if the units contain similar 
change information in which the information is updated in a short time 
such as the news of progress of a game of sport, and information not 
updated in a short time such as announcement of opening of the Olympic 
Games, only the similar change information can be taken out. As a result, 
it eliminates the trouble of the user to manipulate to take out only the 
necessary portion by observing many times the entire information entered 
in the time series in order to search the updated data of the similar 
change information. For example, in the teletext being broadcast at the 
present, there is a program broadcasting sports news, and this program is 
divided into several pages. Such program consists of pages containing 
similar change information and pages containing other information. 
Therefore, the user wishing to know the latest progress in the sports 
game, it was required to receive the teletext program often and search the 
similar change information by viewing the pages sequentially. In 
particular, since the updating of information is not automatically noticed 
in the teletext, the information may not be updated if the user monitors 
the information frequently, or when monitoring the information less 
frequently, the user cannot catch up with the updating of the information. 
To solve such problems, the invention allows the user to know the similar 
change information without having to do anything, by displaying only the 
page containing the similar change information always in a slave screen of 
a television as described in the foregoing embodiments. Moreover, since 
output is repeated only when the information is updated, updating may be 
noticed by the beep sound. The embodiments mainly corresponding to the 
first aspect of the invention are the first to third embodiments. 
Incidentally, it may be considered that there are plural pages containing 
similar change information in the presented character row data. 
In similar change information, for example, suppose the user wishes to know 
the progress of the game of the supporting team, about the sports bulletin 
of baseball or soccer. In this case, for the user supporting a specific 
baseball team, if the page containing similar change information is 
displayed, it does not mean that useful information for the user is 
presented. Therefore, the user is requested to designate what information 
is demanded in the similar change information, and according to this 
designation, only the page containing the required similar change 
information is searched and presented. 
According to the second embodiment of the invention, only the unit 
necessary for the use is taken out when taking out the similar change 
information. As mentioned above, generally, similar change information may 
be contained in plural units depending on the input data. In this case, if 
merely the plural units containing the similar change information are 
taken out, plural units are taken out, and the user must search the 
desired unit from them. In the invention, if similar change information is 
contained in plural units, when the user designates the desired similar 
change information by keyword, only the unit containing necessary 
information is searched and displayed. As a result, if similar change 
information is contained in plural units, it eliminates the trouble of the 
user to search the unit containing the desired information. The keyword 
designated by the user is to be selected from those being cut out from the 
actually entered data, and, for example, the team name or proper name in 
the sports may be presented as a selectable keyword. The embodiments 
mainly corresponding to the second aspect of the invention are the fourth 
to sixth embodiments. 
Moreover, when the page containing the necessary information is searched 
according to the designation by the user and presented to the user, other 
information than necessary information may be contained in the page. For 
the user, it feels bothersome when unnecessary information is presented 
together with the necessary information. Therefore, instead of the unit of 
the page, only the necessary information is taken and presented. By thus 
taking out only the necessary information, the similar change information 
may be always displayed in a corner of the screen while watching 
television. 
According to the third aspect of the invention, when taking out similar 
change information, only the unit necessary for the user is take out, and 
further only the necessary portion of the unit can be taken out. Depending 
on the input data, many pieces of similar change information may be 
contained in one unit. In such a case, if the unit containing similar 
change information is merely taken out, unnecessary information of the 
user contained in the unit is also taken out, which may feel bothersome 
for the user. In the invention, if plural pieces of similar change 
information are contained in one unit, by designating the similar change 
information desired by the user by keyword, only the portion containing 
necessary information is searched and displayed. As a result, as compared 
with the case of displaying the unit containing the similar change 
information as the slave screen of television, for example, only the line 
is displayed, and the display region may be smaller. The embodiments 
mainly corresponding to the third aspect of the invention are the seventh 
to ninth embodiments. 
As clear from the description herein, the invention offers the advantage of 
obtaining the information changing with the time more easily than in the 
prior art. 
Though the embodiments are described in case of hardware constitution, the 
prevent invention can be realized by using computer software.