Three separate areas of an application subwindow are involved in entering characters. These areas are typically displayed, named, and used as follows:
Preedit area--Highlighted (reverse video or underlined) entry display area
Status area--Area indicating the current input/conversion mode
Lookup choice area--Area displaying multiple character choices
The highlighted (reverse video or underlined) preedit area displays characters as they are typed or converted. It holds formations of text before it is converted to an ideogram or symbol and put in the text block being assembled for the application.
The lookup choice area displays multiple Chinese or special character choices available for conversion of the character(s) or radical(s) in the preedit area. In the above example, it is a pop-up menu.
The status area shows which input conversion mode is in effect. In the above example, it is located in the lower left corner of the window margin.