User's Guide For Traditional Chinese Input Methods
Preedit Area
Status Area
Lookup Choice Area
Auxiliary Window
III. Basic Functions For Traditional
Chinese Input Methods
1. Opening and Closing Input MethodsIV. Utilities For Traditional Chinese Input Methods
2. Selecting An Input Method
3. Switching Input Methods Roundly
4. Switching Between Half_width Character Mode and Full_width Character Mode
5. Switching Between Chinese Punctuation Mode and English Punctuation Mode
1. Selecting the Utility Menu
2. Input Method Selection Tool
3. Input Method Options Setting Tool
4. Lookup TableLookup table with native encoding5. Virtual Keyboard
Lookup table with UNICODE encoding
Lookup table for special charactersPC Keyboard6. User Define Charater(UDC)
TsangChien Keyboard
Array Keyboard
DaYi Keyboard
ChuYin Keyboard
I-Tien Keyboard
Boshiamy Keyboard
ChienI Keyboard
7. Input Method Help
V. Function Specfication
for Traditional Chinese Input Methods
1. ASCII Input Mode
2. TsangChieh Input Mode
3. Array Input Mode
4. ChuYin Input Mode
5. Boshiamy Input Mode
6. ChienI Input Mode
7. I-Tien Input Mode
8. DaYi Input Mode
9. TeleCode Input Mode
10. English_Chinese Input Mode
11. NeiMa Input Mode
12. NewChuYin Input Mode
VI. CodeTable
Input Method Interface
1. Introduction
2. Creating a Codetable
3. Convert the codetable text file to binary format
4. Convert the binary codetable file to text format
5. Creating a new codetable input method
Preedit Area: Highlighted (such as inverse video or underlined)
entry display area.
Status Area: Indicating the current input/conversion
mode.
Lookup Choice Area: Displaying multiple character choices.
Auxiliary Windows: Utilities for input method management.
Type [Control+Spacebar] again
to close the input method, the auxiliary bar disappears.
And select the input method you want to use.
The input method system is in Full_width Character Mode when the
button appears as below:
And the input method system is in Half_width Character Mode when
the button appears as below:
When in Full_width mode, the Full_width character of the input key will be committed to applications.
For example: Inputting 'a' when in Full_width mode, the fullwidth character of 'a' will be committed to the application as shown below:
The input method system is in Chinese Punctuation Mode when the button appears as below:
,
and he input method system is in English Punctuation Mode
when the button appears as below:
.
When typing a punctuation key in Chinese Punctuation mode, the corresponding Chinese punctuation character will be committed to the application.
For example: when you type "$" in Chinese Punctuation mode, the Traditional Chinese currency symbol character "NT$" will be committed to application as shown below:
The punctuation keys include these characters: , . / <> :;'"\$!^&_-
And the mapping between English and Chinese punctuation is as follows:
The following tools are supported:
And select one of the input method tools from the menu.
Click the input method selection item from the utilities menu, and the input method selection panel appears as below:
After selecting some input methods and clicking "OK" or "Apply", the
setting will be activated. The first input method selected
becomes the default input method.
Press [Control+Spacebar] in the application window to
activate Chinese input, the default input method will be selected as the
current input method.
Press "F2" to switch to the first selected input method,
"F3" to switch to the second selected one, "F4"
to switch to the third selected one, and so on.
With the options setting tool, you can set input method options. After setting the options in this panel, then clicking "OK" or "Apply", the setting is activated.
For input methods based on code table structure, there are 4 options that can be set as described below:
- If this option is selected: Each time a valid key is entered, the input method will search the dictionary table and display the candidates in Lookup window immediately.
- If this option is not selected: Each time a valid key is entered, the input method does not search the dictionary table, it only displays the key in the preedit area, after "Space" key is entered, the input method engine then searches the dictionary table, and displays the candidates.
This option can help user to learn the input method, for example, viewing the external codes of a Chinese character in that input method.
- If this option is selected: In each Lookup window, the external codes for each candidate appear after the candidate.
- If this option is not selected: The external codes for each candidate does not appear after that candidate.
- If this option is selected: If there is only one candidate for the external codes, the input method will automatically commit it.
- If this option is not selected: The input method will display the candidate in Lookup window.
- If this option is selected: When a valid key is entered, the corresponding keyboard mapping character of the key appears in Preedit area,.
- If this option is not selected: The keyboard mapping character will not be displayed in Preedit area, only the key.
Three kinds of lookup tables are provided:
In zh_TW/zh_TW.EUC locale, lookup table with EUC_TW encoding is provided, and in zh_TW.BIG5 locale, lookup table with BIG5 encoding is provided, In zh_HK.BIG5HK locale, lookup table with BIG5_HKSCS encoding is provided.The lookup table panel with native encoding looks appears as below:
The Traditional Chinese Environment supports the following virtual keyboards:
The virtual keyboards input characters by clicking the corresponding buttons on the virtual keyboard. The PC Virtual Keyboard appears as below:
- PC Keyboard
- TsangChien Keyboard
- Array Keyboard
- DaYi Keyboard
- ChuYin Keyboard
- I-Tien Keyboard
- Boshiamy Keyboard
- ChienI Keyboard
Click the user define character item from the utilities menu to invoke the UDC tool, which appears as below:
is displayed in the window's status area when in ASCII input mode, when
ASCII input mode is off, ther current conversion mode symbol appears.
TsangChieh conversion mode can also be used to type the characters in the Chinese National Standard 11643. To type characters in this mode, press Z followed by the three-letter code assigned to the symbol by the standard.
If more than one character matches the keystroke sequence, you can type a period (.) or [Control+N ] or [ PageDown ] key to display the next pages of candidates, and type a comma(,) or [ Control+P] or [PageUp ] key to display the previous page of candidates. You can select a Chinese character you want by typing the corresponding number label key.
The keyboard mapping of TsangChieh input mode appears as below:
This section describes how to use the TsangChieh input method to input Chinese characters.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Press F2 to turn on TsangChieh input mode, or click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select TsangChieh input method. The status area shows that TsangChieh input mode is on, as below:
(3). Type ir.
The TsangChieh input converter finds six matching characters and a lookup choice appears as below:
(4). Type number key to select the appropriate character. such as '2' to select the second candidate. The application appears as below:
If more than one character matches the keystroke sequence, you can type a greater symbol (>) or [Control+N ] or [ PageDown] key to display the next pages of candidates, and type a less symbol (<) or [Control+P ] or [ PageUp ] key to display the previous page of candidates. You can select a Chinese character you want by typing the corresponding uppercase letter label key.
The keyboard mapping of Array input mode appears as below:
This section describes how to use the Array input method to input Chinese characters.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Press F3 to turn on Array input mode, or click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select Array input method. The status area shows that Array input mode is on, as below:
(3). Input 'x'.
The Array input converter finds several matching characters, a lookup choice appears as below:
(4). Type [Shift + a] to select the first candidate.
The radical is converted and the correct character appears in application as below.
If more than one character matches the keystroke sequence, you can type a greater symbol (>) or [Control+N ] or [ PageDown] key to display the next pages of candidates, and type a less symbol (<) or [Control+P ] or [ PageUp ] key to display the previous page of candidates. You can select a Chinese character you want by typing the corresponding uppercase letter label key.
The keyboard mapping of ChuYin input mode appears as below:
This section describes how to use the ChuYin input method to input Chinese characters.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Press F4 to turn on ChuYin input mode, or click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select ChuYin input method. The status area shows that ChuYin input mode is on, as below:
(3). Type w96 .
The ChuYin input converter finds several matching characters and a lookup choice appears as below:
(4). Press [Shift + a ] to commit the first candidate. The application appears as below:
If more than one character matches the radical sequence, you can type a period (.) or [Control+N] or [ PageDown ] key to display the next pages of candidates, and type a comma(,) or [ Control+P] or [PageUp ] key to display the previous page of candidates. You can select a Chinese character you want by typing the corresponding number label key.
The keyboard mapping of Boshiamy input mode appears as below:
This section describes how to use the Boshiamy input method to input Chinese characters.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Press F5 to turn on Boshiamy input mode, or click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select Boshiamy input method. The status area shows that Boshiamy input mode is on, as below:
(3). Type radicals: uoo . Press the Spacebar key.
The input converter finds five matching characters and a lookup choice appears as below:
(4). Type number key to select the appropriate character. such as '1' to select the first candidate.
If more than one character matches the keystroke sequence, you can type a period (.) or [Control+N ] or [ PageDown ] key to display the next pages of candidates, and type a comma(,) or [ Control+P] or [PageUp ] key to display the previous page of candidates. You can select a Chinese character you want by typing the corresponding number label key.
The keyboard mapping of ChienI input mode appears as below:
This section describes how to use the ChienI input method to input Chinese characters.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Press F6 to turn on ChienI input mode, or click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select ChienI input method. The status area shows that ChienI input mode is on, as below:
(3). Type ak.
The input converter finds several matching characters and a lookup choice appears as below:
(4). Type number key to select the appropriate character. such as '1' to select the first candidate. The application appears as below:
If more than one character matches the keystroke sequence, you can type a greater symbol (>) or [Control+N ] or [ PageDown] key to display the next pages of candidates, and type a less symbol (<) or [Control+P ] or [ PageUp ] key to display the previous page of candidates. You can select a Chinese character you want by typing the corresponding uppercase letter label key.
The keyboard mapping of I-Tien input mode appears as below:
This section describes how to use the I-Tien input mode to input Chinese characters.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Press F7 to turn on I-Tien input mode, or click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select I-Tien input method. The status area shows that I-Tien input mode is on, as below:
(3). Type the sets of radicals: dx83 , as below
(4). Press the Spacebar and the I-Tien input converter finds only one matching characters and commits it to the application, as below:
If more than one character matches the keystroke sequence, you can type a greater symbol (>) or [Control+N ] or [ PageDown] key to display the next pages of candidates, and type a less symbol (<) or [Control+P ] or [ PageUp ] key to display the previous page of candidates. You can select a Chinese character you want by typing the corresponding number label key.
The keyboard mapping of DaYi input mode appears as below:
This section describes how to use the DaYi input mode to input Chinese characters.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Press F8 to turn on DaYi input mode, or click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select DaYi input method. The status area shows that DaYi input mode is on, as below:
(3). Type the sets of radicals: ;o Press Spacebar.
The DaYi input converter finds six matching characters and a lookup choices appears as below:
(4). Type number key to select the appropriate character. such as '1' to select the first candidate. The application appears as below:
This section describes how to use the Telecode input mode to input Chinese characters.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Press F12 to turn on Telecode input mode, or click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select Telecode input method. The status area shows that Telecode input mode is on, as below:
(3). Type the four digits of code: 3456, as below:
(4). Press the Spacebar and the Telcode input converter finds only one matching characters and commits it to the application as below:
If more than one Chinese phrase matches the English word, you can type a period (.) or [Control+N ] or [PageDown ] key to display the next pages of candidates, and type a comma(,) or [ Control+P] or [PageUp ] key to display the previous page of candidates. You can select the Chinese phrase you want by typing the corresponding number label key.
This section describes how to use this input method to type the character representing the Engilsh word " hello ". The word requires four keystrokes.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select English_Chinese input method. The status area shows that English_Chinese input mode is on, as below:
(3).Type hello, as follows:
(4). Type number key to select the appropriate character, such as ' 1' to select the first candidate. the application appears as below:
(5). Wild characters ( * or ? ) can be used to search in the dictionary, '*' stands for one or several letters, and ? represents only one letter. For example, to search all English words which end with ' lution ', you can input '*lution' and the lookup choices appears as below:
Or to search all English words which begin with 'c' , and only three letters, you can input 'c?? ' , the lookup choices appears as below:
This section describes how to use the BIG5 internal codes to input Chinese characters and symbols in zh_TW.BIG5 and zh_TW.UTF-8 locale.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select BIG5 NeiMa input method. The status area shows that BIG5 NeiMa input mode is on, as below:
(3). Press the first three of the four keys that represent a character, For example, b968, as below:
(4). Type the fourth key. The character automatically is committed to the application, as below:
This section describes how to use the BIG5HK internal codes to input Chinese characters and symbols in zh_HK.BIG5HK and zh_HK.UTF-8 locale.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select BIG5HK NeiMa input method. The status area shows that BIG5HK NeiMa input mode is on, as below:
(3). Press the first three of the four keys that represent a character, For example, 8941, as below:
(4). Type the fourth key. The character automatically is committed to the application, as below:
This section describes how to use the EUC_TW internal codes to input Chinese characters and symbols in zh_TW and zh_TW.EUC locale.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select EUC NeiMa input method. The status area shows that EUC_TW NeiMa input mode is on, as below:
(3). To input a Chinese character with 4 byte of EUC_TW internal code, For example, 0xf0b7.
Press the first three keys, as below:
(4). Type the fourth key. The character automatically is committed to the application, as below:
(5). To input a Chinese character with 8 byte of EUC_TW internal code, For example, 0x8ea2a1a1:
Press the first seven keys, as below:
(6). Type the last key '1', then the character is committed to the application, as below:
This section describes the features in the New ChuYin input methods,
and how to use some of the features in Traditional Chinese locales, including
zh_TW.EUC/zh_TW.BIG5/zh_TW.UTF8/zh_HK.BIG5HK/zh_HK.UTF-8.
The New ChuYin provide the following new features:
This section describes how to use the New ChuYin input method to input Chinese characters and symbols.
(1). Open a new Terminal, type [ Control+Spacebar ] to turn on Chinese input conversion.
(2). Click the Input method selection button on the auxiliary window and select New ChuYin input method. The status area shows that NewChuYin input mode is on, as below:
Or if other input method is used , you can press
[Control + Escape] several times to switch to NewChuYin input
method.
(3). Input Chinese single character.
For example:
Type key sequence "5j; " , the application appears as follow:
Then type the tone "4 " , as below:
Notes: If the tone of the Chinese character is "Tone 1", you need NOT type [Spacebar ] for this tone, the candidates which tone is "Tone 1" will be shown at the beginning of all candidates. [Spacebar] key is reserved for committing the first candidate.
And then type [Shift+d ] to commit the forth candidate:
(4). Input Chinese phrases.
For example:
,
Type the key sequence "m06fm06", as below:
Then press [Spacebar ] or [ Shift+a] to commit the candidate:
(5). Define a new phrases.
For example, to define a new phrase
.
Notes: the length of one user defined phrase is up to 8 Chinese character.
Input key sequence "5jaj4x;3a83z/", as below:
Since the first Chinese character isn't in the lookup window, type [Return] to change to single characters group.
Type [Spacebar] to select the first Chinese character, and this character is displayed in Preedit area, as below:
Since the second Chinese character we want is not in lookup window, press [ ] ] to search next pages:
Type [Spacebar] to select the second Chinese character we want:
Input the third, forth and fifth Chinese characters in the same way
as above. The phrase will be
committed automatically after the last Chinese character is selected.
as below:
Then this new phrase will be memorized by input method. When type "5jaj4x;3a83z/" again, the new phrase will be shown in the lookup window.
(6). Adjust frequency of phrase and Chinese character automatically.
In New ChuYin input method, the selected candidate will be presented at the beginning of the candidates list so they can be found more readily.
Type "g4u", as below:
Notes: pay attention to the third candidate.
Select the third candidate:
Type "g4u" again.
Now the phrase has been presented at the first one, because it has been
selected before. So the candidates which is used frequently can be found
more easily.
(7). Input with ChuYin consonant.
Input consonant only, the related Chinese character candidates will also be listed.
For example: to input phrase
.
Type ChuYin consonant of these Chinese character only, which is "g1e1" :
The phrase is shown in the lookup window.
(8). Edit preedit string.
The preedit area is editable like a text field.
The following table shows the definitions of the edit keys.
Key | Definition |
[a-z, 0-9, ,./;'-] | ChuYin Keystroke |
Home | Moves to the start of the preedit line |
End | Moves to the end of the preedit line |
Left | Moves the caret in the preedit line to the left. If left is Hanzi, the original PinYin is recovered. |
Right | Moves the caret in the preedit line to the right. |
Delete | Deletes the PinYin character following the caret on the preedit line. |
BackSpace | Deletes the PinYin character preceding the caret on the preedit line. |
(9). Use page scroll keys
If there are many candidates that can't be shown in one page, page scroll
keys can be used:
'[' and [Control+P] are used to scroll
to previous page,
']' and [Control+N] are used to scroll
to next pages.
(10). Switch between PinYin and ChuYin mode
Press [Alt + 1] to switch between ChuYin mode and PinYin
mode.
Here is an example to specify the format of a codetable text file:
A codetable text file contains the following function specific sections:
Each section is briefly specified as below:
- [ Description ]
- [ Comment ]
- [ Key_Prompt ]
- [ Function_Key ]
- [ Phrase ]
- [ Single ]
- [ Options ]
This section describes the following
entry items:
(1). "Name:"
specify the name of this codetable.
(2). "Encode:" specify
the encoding of this codetable, can be UTF-8, GB, GB2312, GBK, GB18030,
EUC_TW, BIG5, BIG5HK.
(3). "WildChar:" specify the wild characters for
input codes. default values are '*' and '?'.
(4). "UsedCodes:" specify the valid characters to input.
(5). "MaxCodes:" specify the maximum number of input codes
for one items.
This section
contains the following entry items:
(1). "PageUp:"
(2). "PageDown:"
(3). "BackSpace:"
(4). "ClearAll:"
Notes: '^' means [ Control ] key, for example: '^N' means '[ Control+N ]' key.
This section contains the following entry items:
(1). "HelpInfo_Mode:" Values: "ON"
or "OFF"
(2). "KeyByKey_Mode:" Values: "ON" or "OFF"
(3). "KeyPrompt_Mode:" Values: "ON" or "OFF"
(4). "AutoSelect_Mode:" Values: "ON" or "OFF"
(5). "SelectKey_Mode:" Values: "Number", "Lower" or "Upper"
The format of every line as follow:
keystroke_sequence Characterlist
Notes: "CharacterList " means a list of Chinese characters with no Space seperated.
The format of every line as follow:
keystroke_sequence word1 word2 word3 ...
the tool "txt2bin" is under directory: "/usr/lib/im/locale/zh_TW/common/"
The command syntax is:
# /usr/lib/im/locale/zh_TW/common/txt2bin
source_codetable_file binary_codetable_file
the tool "bin2txt" is under directory: "/usr/lib/im/locale/zh_TW/common/"
The command syntax is:
# /usr/lib/im/locale/zh_TW/common/bin2txt
binary_codetable_file source_codetable_file
Prepare the code table source file to present the new input method according the format as specified above.
(2). Convert the source codetable file to binary format:
Use the utility tools "txt2bin" to convert the prepared text codetable file to a binary file.
The command syntax is:
# /usr/lib/im/locale/zh_TW/common/txt2bin source_codetable_file binary_codetable_file
(3). Copy the binary codetable file to path " /usr/lib/im/locale/zh_TW/common/data".
(4). Add the codetable into the input method specification file "/usr/lib/im/locale/zh_TW/sysime.cfg ".
After the binary codetable file is ready, Add the codetable file name into input method configure file:
/usr/lib/im/locale/zh_TW/sysime.cfg
(5). Restart the input method server (htt) and relogin to the
system to enable the new input method.
To restart the input method server (htt), you need
to run the following command as root:
# /etc/init.d/IIim stop
# /etc/init.d/IIim start
Then your new input method is ready to use.
For example: To add a new codetable input method named "new_codetable_im":
(1). First create a codetable format file named "new_codetable_im.txt",
(2). Use tool "txt2bin" to convert it to binary file " new_codetable_im.
data",
(3). Then copy it to path "/usr/lib/im/locale/zh_TW/common/data
",
(4). Add the codetable name "new_codetable_im" into the input method
configuration file: "/usr/lib/im/locale/zh_TW/sysime.cfg
".
(5). Restart input method server (htt).