Patent ID: 8327285

Claim:
At a computer system including an interactive touch screen display, a method for replicating text entered at a virtual keyboard into a plurality of separate data fields, the method comprising: an act of presenting a virtual keyboard on the interactive touch screen display along with an application data field which is visibly separated from the virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboard including: a plurality of virtual keys for entering characters into the application data field; and a keyboard data field, which is distinguished from the application data field and which is visibly separated from the keyboard data field; an act of receiving user input selecting a virtual key, from among the plurality of virtual keys; an act of providing character input corresponding to the selected virtual key to an application associated with the application data field; an act of presenting a visual representation of the character input corresponding to the selected virtual key in either of the application data field or the keyboard data field; an act of subsequently echoing the visual representation of the character input corresponding to the selected virtual key in the keyboard data field or the application data field, without requiring additional user input, such that the character input is displayed at both the application data field as well as the keyboard data field, automatically in response to receiving the user input selecting the virtual key, without requiring additional user input for activating a send control, and to thereby provide more easily viewable feedback indicating the selection of the virtual key and such that a user does not have to alter a field of view from the virtual keyboard to the application data field to determine what character was selected.