[Uim] [Docs] Terminology problems

[Martin Swift]

On Mon, Mar 12, 2007 at 08:46:58PM +0100, Jan Willem Stumpel wrote:
> Martin Swift wrote:
>
> >[ I'm terribly sorry about this horribly long email and hope
> >that it doesn't scare too many readers from making it through.
> >If anyone would like to get an abstract or discuss this live,
> >please let me know. ]
>
> I shall need some time to digest your long message

Don't worry and take your time!

> but I
> especially liked your investigation of 'existing terminology':

Which I should really have included some sources to:

> >Uim:     Input method library
  source: <http://uim.freedesktop.org/wiki/>

> >SCIM:    Input method
  source: <http://www.scim-im.org/about/why_scim>

> >IIIMF:   Input method framework
  source: <http://www.openi18n.org/subgroups/im/IIIMF/>

> >Anthy:   Conversion engine
  source: <http://anthy.sourceforge.jp/>

> >Canna:   Conversion system
  source: <http://packages.gentoo.org/search/?sstring=canna>
  <http://canna.sourceforge.jp/> actually seems to use the term "Input
  system" (日本語入力システム)

> >FreeWnn: Conversion system
  source: <http://packages.gentoo.org/search/?sstring=freewnn>
  <http://www.tomo.gr.jp/wnn/wnn_e.html> uses the term "Kana-Kanji
  translation system"

> >scim-m17n: Input module
> >scim-uim:  Input module
  source:
  <http://lists.freedesktop.org/pipermail/scim/2004-June/000197.html>
  <http://packages.gentoo.org/search/?sstring=scim-m17n>
  <http://packages.gentoo.org/search/?sstring=scim-uim>

At <http://packages.gentoo.org/search/?sstring=scim> some other SCIM
packages are referred to as IMEngines.

> >PRIME:   Input Method Editor
  source: <http://prime.sourceforge.jp/> gives the name as PRedictive
  Input Method Editor (in title element).
  <http://taiyaki.org/prime/> sees to use the term "predictive input
  system" 予測入力システム

My rationale for using the Gentoo Package Database was that the
entries are written by people that I (perhaps unjustly) assume have
considerable knowledge of the projects they create and submit ebuilds
(used by portage, the Gentoo package manager).

I'd be very interested in seeing other (semi-)official use of terms.

I had a look at Anthy terminology and found that on the English
official wiki it was variously referred to as "Conversion system",
"Conversion engine" and "Input system" (the last two actually on the
same page and I didn't even go through all of them).

> This is not really an answer your post, but a side-line: Microsoft
> also uses the term "Input Method Editor", or IME, although I never
> found out what exactly they mean by it: "Japanese IME" is
> obviously a "method", but "Global IME" seems to be a "framework".
>
> I never understood why IME means "Input Method Editor", because
> why is it an "editor"? I suspect that IME is really a Japanese
> abbreviation of "input method".

Interesting suggestion. You mean that Input Method Editor is just a
backronym of an abbreviation?. Still, one could say that an input
method /does/ edit the input; for example changing the latic character
input into kana and the kana to kanji. Sort of similar to a partly
interactive sed.

Cheers,
Martin

-- 
\u270C