Input method: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:43, 1 August 2023

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{{Short description|Input of characters not natively available}}

An '''input method''' (or '''input method editor''', commonly abbreviated '''IME''') is an operating system component or program that enables users to generate characters not natively available on their input devices by using sequences of characters (or mouse operations) that are available to them. Using an input method is usually necessary for languages that have more graphemes than there are keys on the keyboard.

[[File:TypingChineseCharactersWithCangjieGedit383Ubuntu1310Screencast.webm|thumb|Typing [[Standard Chinese|Chinese]] with [[Cangjie input method|Cangjie]]]]

[[File:IME demonstratie - Matsuo Bashou - Furu ikeya kawazu tobikomu mizuno oto.png|thumb|Operation of a typical Japanese [[romaji]]-based IME]]

For instance, on the computer, this allows the user of q keyboards to input Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indic characters. On hand-held devices, it enables the user to type on the numeric keypad to enter q (or any other alphabet characters) or touch a screen display to input text. On some operating systems, an input method is also used to define the behaviour of the dead keys.

[[File:Interface of Weasel Input Method.png|thumb|Operation of a Chinese [[pinyin]]-based IME]]

An '''input method''' (or '''input method editor''', commonly abbreviated '''IME''') is an [[operating system]] component or program that enables users to generate characters not natively available on their [[input devicesdevice]]s by using sequences of characters (or mouse operations) that are available to them. Using an input method is usually necessary for languages that have more graphemes[[grapheme]]s than there are keys on the keyboard.

For instance, on the computer, this allows the user of q[[Latin alphabet|Latin]] [[Keyboard layout|keyboards]] to input [[Chinese characters|Chinese]], [[Japanese writing system|Japanese]], [[Hangul|Korean]] and [[Indic script|Indic]] characters. On hand-held devices, it enables the user to type on the [[telephone keypad|numeric keypad]] to enter q[[Latin alphabet|Latin alphabet characters]] (or any other alphabet characters) or touch a screen display to input text. On some operating systems, an input method is also used to define the behaviour of the [[dead keyskey]]s.

==Implementations==