New QuanPin and New ShuangPin Input Methods

This section describes the features in the New QuanPin and New ShuangPin input methods, and how to use some of the features in the zh_CN.EUC and zh_CN.GBK locales.

PinYin is a popular input method in PRC. Various PinYin-based input methods exist. Two of these input methods, New QuanPin and New ShuangPin, provide support for the following features:

• Storing and recalling user-defined phrases

• Dynamically adjusting the frequency of lookup choices

• Typing PinYin strings up to 222 characters with the New QuanPin input method

• Typing ShengMu characters

• Entering GBK Hanzi phrases

These features are described in detail in the following sections.

How to Define Phrases for Later Use

The following describes how to define the phrase ke lin dun and store it for later use.

1. Select the input method.

   Follow the steps in the procedure How to Select an Input Method to select the input method.

2. Type the phrase kelindun without spaces in the typing area.

   The New QuanPin and New ShuangPin input methods insert spaces for you automatically.

   

3. Type the number that corresponds to the candidate you want to select.

   

4. Select the characters of the second and third parts of the phrase.

   

   The new phrase is defined and added to the user dictionary file. The next time you type ke lin dun, you will see the phrase you defined.

   

How to Select Frequently Used Candidates

In the New QuanPin and the New ShuangPin input methods, the candidates that you select are moved to the start of the list to facilitate repeated use.

1. Select the input method.

   Follow the steps in the procedure How to Select an Input Method to select the input method.

2. Type sh yi.

   Notice the order of the five available candidates.

3. Select the fifth candidate.

   

4. Type sh yi again.

   

   Notice that the fifth candidate has moved to the first position because you previously selected it. Frequently used candidates are promoted for faster selection.

Other Input Method Features

The NewQuanPin and New ShuangPin input methods provide support for other useful functionality.

Typing Long PinYin Strings

The New QuanPin input method accepts PinYin strings of up to 222 characters long. The following string is used in the next figure.

>>meiguozhongtongkelindunzhengzaitaolunhaiwanjushiwenti<<

The result is the following Chinese string:

The New ShuangPin input method supports input strings of up to 30 characters.

Typing ShengMu

You can also type ShengMu only. Candidates are supplied for ShengMu, as shown in the following figure.

Entering GBK Hanzi

The zh_CN.GBK locale supports GBK by default, as shown in the following illustration:

The second Chinese character in the following figure is defined only in the GBK standard.

Single GBK candidates are placed at the end of the list of candidates. Press Return to scroll to the GBK area.

For faster selection next time, you can define the GBK candidate as a phrase. For more information, see How to Define Phrases for Later Use.

Both New QuanPin and New ShuangPin support GBK Hanzi by default in the zh.GBK locale. However, because several Hanzi have the same ShengMu (the first part of PinYin), New QuanPin and New ShuangPin do not display GBK candidates if you provide only the ShengMu.

For example, typing the string rong will display GBK candidates because the string is a complete PinYin string. However, typing r alone will not display any GBK candidates because the string is only a ShengMu string.

Keyboard Definitions

This section describes the keyboard definitions that are used for the New QuanPin and New ShuangPin input methods.

Edit Keys

The following table shows the definitions of the edit keys.

The preedit line is a normal X text field.

Page Scroll Keys

The candidates of a PinYin string belong to the following groups:

• G1 – Highest frequency Hanzi + Long (3 or more) Cizu + Double Chinese Cizu

• G2 – GB Single Hanzi

• G3 – GBK Single Hanzi (in the zh_CN.GBK locale)

Some PinYin strings might have more candidates than can be displayed in the same window. In that case, use the keys described in the following table to scroll through the available candidates.

Select Keys

New QuanPin and New ShuangPin use the numeric selection keys.

Separator Characters

In accordance with the national PinYin standard, the separator (') is supported to avoid ambiguous interpretations of PinYin strings. For example, the PinYin string [jiang] can be interpreted as [jiang] or [ji][ang]. Both spellings are valid. In New QuanPin, however, [jiang] is interpreted only as [jiang]. You must use the separator and enter [ji'ang] for the string to be interpreted as [ji] and [ang]. New ShuangPin does not require the use of separators.

Dictionary Files

New QuanPin and New ShuangPin share two dictionary files: PyCiku.dat and Ud.Ciku.dat. In the zh_CN.EUC and zh_CN.GBK locale, the default path names are /usr/lib/im/locale/zh_CN/data/PyCiku.dat and /usr/lib/im/locale/zh_CN/data/UdCiku.dat.

Users cannot normally write to these files. However, because users can affect the way New QuanPin and New ShuangPin work through features such as frequency adjustment and user-defined phrases, you should update the dictionary files frequently.

A user's dictionary is normally located in ~/.Xlocale/PyCiku.dat or ~/.Xlocale/UdCiku.dat. The tilde (~) indicates the home directory of the user who starts the htt command. When you start New QuanPin and New ShuangPin input methods, the system locates and reads the dictionary files in the user's home directory. If a dictionary file is not found, the following system default path is used:

/usr/lib/im/locale/zh_CN/…

New ShuangPin Features

ShuangPin is an abbreviated form of QuanPin. ShuangPinis faster but more difficult to use than QuanPin. New ShuangPin supports all of the features, keyboard definitions, and dictionary files of New QuanPin.

Various ShuangPin keyboard mapping designs exist in PRC. The most popular three designs are ZiRanMa, Chinese Star, and Intelligent_ABC. The New ShuangPin input method supports all three of these keyboard mappings.

New ShuangPin Keyboard Mapping

The following tables contain keyboard mappings for the ZiRanMa, Chinese Star, and Intelligent_ABC keyboards.