Abstract: Recognition character candidates and their similarities for each character obtained by a character recognition section from an input character string are stored in a first recognition result memory, and recognition character candidates obtained by rotating the corresponding characters through 180 degrees and their similarities are stored in a second recognition result memory. Address pointers for accessing the first and second recognition result memories are stored in an address pointer memory. The first recognition result memory is accessed in accordance with the address pointers read out from the address pointer memory in an ascending order, and the second recognition result memory is accessed in accordance with the address pointers read out from the address pointer memory in a descending order.

Abstract: In the data input apparatus, a pressure-sensitive tablet, a character recognition section for recognizing handwritten character data input through the tablet, a document memory for sequentially storing a recognition result of the character data, and a power supply for driving the tablet, the recognition control section, and the document memory, are integrally incorporated in a handheld casing. The data input apparatus can be detachabably connected to a document processing apparatus main body via a cable. During an input operation, the data input apparatus is disconnected from the data processing apparatus main body, and performs the input operation independently of the main body, to store the input document data in the document memory. The data input apparatus is connected to the document data processing apparatus, and the document data stored in the document memory is sent to the main body to be processed.

Abstract: A handwritten letter recognition method in accordance with the present invention detects, for each subset, input strokes that coincide with the standard strokes, according to the order of the standard strokes of a standard pattern, and carries out in turn the coincidence processing of strokes by removing the coincident input strokes from the input pattern. The recognition processing for the input patterns is carried out by extracting the standard patterns possessing standard strokes that are coincident for all of the strokes of the input pattern. Therefore, it becomes possible to recognize the input letter pattern easily and efficiently without regard to the order of the strokes input, and even for an input letter pattern with large number of strokes.