Subject: Input methods

From: Xiaodan Tang <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1993 12:02:17 JST

>Hello. I am new to this discussion, and only this evening read my first
   >mails. I noticed that when discussing input methods, everyone was talking
.......

I am alos want to say something about Chinese Input Method.

Normally, chinese word input method can be devided into 2 kinds. Input the
word by how to pronounce or by how to write. There are both benifit because
some word you just know how to pronounce but do not clearly know how to write
it, but you use Input Method like PinYin, you can input it correctly.

By the other hand, when you input a novel, you can see how the word is wrote,
but you do not know how to pronounce it, but if you use Input Method like
WBZX, you can still input it.

To say one input method is good or no good, we are interesting in two things,
How quick the word can be find? How easy can the method be remembered?
PinYin is easy to remember but slow to input. When I in Shanghai University of
Technology, I have tried Qian-Code Input Method. It is quick in inputing
Chinese Word, (1 word 2.3 key press average) but it is very diffcult for
remembering.

I am in Japan and there is only one Method to Input Japanese Kanji. (Many
methodes are submit, but just different in how to start/end the method,
how to change the word and so on). Japanese Input Kanji by their pronounce.
One can input a very long sentence, and then press CHANGE key, the method
will check the break point of sentence, change it word by word correctly.
The input method is also know the Grammatic of Japanese Language, so it
can change correctly in case the change depends on Gramma.

I have heard some one made  a system Named Cwnn(Wnn is a Japanese Kanji
Input Server), which not change Chinese word by word, but you just input
a sentence in PinYin, press a CHANGE KEY (like Ctrl-N), and then get the
chinese sentence. I have not seen it but it sounds not too bad.

Xiaodan Tang                            Tel   : (81)-3-3293-4717
OpenSystem Division                     Fax   : (81)-3-3293-4725
LIFEBOAT, Inc. Tokyo, Japan             E-mail: [email-masked]

---

From: Curtis Smith <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 93 00:01:25 EST

In response to the request for more information on the column-row (hang-lieh)
input method I love so much, it was developed by E-Ten Information, the largest
Chinese system in Taiwan (as I'm sure you know). I was the standard input
method for E-Ten up untill only recently, when it was replaced by the Wang-
hsing (Forget the form) system, an auto-discriminatory BoPoMoFo system, which
now shares the lime-light with the row-column, one being RIM, and one PIM.
There are two versions, one using forty keys for input (10x4) and one thirty
keys (10x3), the later being pushed by E-Ten as a replacement. I use the former
out of habit. The keyboard is divided into ten columns numbered 1 - 10, each
representing a certain stroke (ex. 1 = horizontal stroke, 2 = pieh diagonal
stroke, ... 5 = downward hook to the right, as in the third stroke of wu3, 5,
etc.) One the keyboard, the 1 col. is the "1", "q", "a", & "z" column, etc.
The "pure," or single stroke row is the a - l, or second to bottom row. These
keys represent only that stroke. The second row is the q - p row, which repre-
sents the stroke for that column plus a "1" or "2" stroke. The third (1 - 0)
row is the col. stroke plus a "3", "4", "5", or "6" stroke, and the fourth (z-
/) row is the col. stroke plus a "7", "8", "9", or "0" stroke. The keyboard
is thus layed out so that when you type a character, you type the stroke or
two-stroke combinations of the character as it would be written. The entire
character must be entered within four strokes, so for some characters, you
do have no choice but to do some abreviations, as in the ts'ang-chieh system.
All in all, though, it is very intuitive (as much so as writing Chinese is
to you). The key-strokes are done in a 2-d array of sorts, and there are abre-
viations, (ie the 1:3 key, or the "1" key) can represent the character for
dragon, as it begins with a "1"-stroke, has a lot of stuff, and ends in a "3"-
stroke.
I'm sorry if this is not clear, but I was cut off twice for half an hour, and
only by pure luck was able to finish this letter. I you have any questions, ple
ase write.

Curtis Smith