How Do I Use An Input Method Editor in BibleWorks for Chinese and Korean?

An Input Method Editor (IME) is software utility that has been created to enable the input of Far Eastern languages such as Chinese and Korean, among others, with a standard computer keyboard. What would seem a formidable task is made possible by the introduction of an IME. There are IMEs for all Far Eastern languages, and while the basic principles are the same for all of them, the details will, of course, vary from one language to the other. For that matter, there may be more than one IME for the same language, such as Chinese.

How these IMEs are implemented will vary as well, depending on the computer program(s) for which they have been designed. Again, there will be similarities, but there will also be specific instructions that must be followed in order to be able to use them effectively. This applies to usage of the IME in BibleWorks as well. To ensure that the the correct settings are in place for BibleWorks, visit the FAQ titled How Do I Add Language Support for Arabic/Chinese/Korean under Windows XP? If the settings described in that article are not in place, the instructions detailed below may not work as expected.

When a Bible version that requires the use of an Input Method Editor is set as the Search version, the Command Line changes to offer one of three different modes. This condition is signaled by a flashing block in the upper, right-hand corner of the Command Line. The color of the flashing block indicates which of the three modes is active. One cycles through these modes by pressing the Insert key on the keyboard. The modes are as follows:

Green - English language input - All characters entered will be in Roman (English) text.
Red - IME Input - BibleWorks uses the keyboard identified with the active version.
Yellow - Automatic - Control of the keyboard is passed to Windows. The keyboard selected by the Windows Language Bar will be used.
(For more information on this, see BibleWorks Online Help, Chapter 18b.)

To enter a search on the Command Line using the Input Method Editor, take the following steps:

1. Set the Bible version as the Search version.
2. Hit the ESC key to move the input cursor on the Command Line.
3. Make sure that the flashing block is Green for English input.
4. Enter the desired search operator for the search type desired, either a period for the AND search, the forward slash for the OR search or the apostrophe for the PHRASE search.
5. Tap the INSERT key once to switch to the IME for the language version selected.
6. Begin typing characters in the combinations needed to form the desired words.

As you begin typing, a small helper window should appear that displays characters for the keys that have been typed. (These characters will vary, depending on the active IME.)

7. When you have reached the desired point, tap the spacebar to complete the word. The finished word will display in the Command Line.
8. Repeat the process until you have entered the complete search criterion desired.
9. Hit ENTER to invoke the search.

Many good tutorials are available on the Internet that describe the use of IMEs for typed input. Some of them that may assist in relation to BibleWorks are as follows:

Chinese (Pinyin) - http://www.andante.org/ime.html
Korean (Hanegul) - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q130053/

Last Update - ELM/June 1, 2007