Simplified Chinese Input Method (ZIM-UCS)

General Programming Concepts: Writing and Debugging Programs

Simplified Chinese Input Method (ZIM-UCS)

The UCS-2 code set consists of almost all character groups. For the ZH_CN locale, there are three character groups:

ASCII (English)
Glyphs
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) Characters (unification characters)

The CJK character set contains 20,992 character positions, but only 20,902 positions are assigned to Chinese characters.

The pronunciation of Chinese is represented by phonetic symbols called Bo-Po-Mo-Fo. There are 25 phonetic symbols. Chinese characters are represented by one to three phonetic symbols.

UCS-ZIM features the following characteristics:

Four commonly used input methods:
Tsang-Jye. An input method based on the construction of Chinese characters.

PinYin (including legend). An input method based on phonetic combinations.

English-to-Chinese. An input method based on word-by-word translation from English to Chinese.

ABC (Chinese Word Conversion). An input method based on phonetic combinations and Chinese words.
Half-width and full-width character input. Supports ASCII characters in both single-byte and multibyte modes.
Auxiliary pop-up window to support all the candidate lists. PinYin, English-to-Chinese, and ABC generate a list of possible characters that contain the same sound symbols or radicals. Users select the desired characters by pressing the conversion key.
Over-the-spot pre-editing drawing area. Allows entry of radicals in reverse video area that temporarily covers the text line. The complete character is sent to the editor by pressing the conversion key.

The UCS-ZIM files are in the /usr/lib/nls/loc directory.

The UCS-ZIM keymap is in the /usr/lib/nls/loc/ZH_CN.UTF-8.imkeymap directory.

Chinese (CJK) Character Processing

UCS-ZIM is invoked by pressing one of the input method keys. Each radical or phonetic symbol is assigned to a key. The user inputs radicals or phonetic symbols to an over-the-spot pre-editing area. For Tsang-Jye and five stroke input, a character is generated when the conversion key is pressed. PinYin, English-to-Chinese, and ABC input generate a list of candidates that appear in a pop-up window. The user chooses the desired character by selecting the candidate number. Invalid input generates a beep and an error message. The glyphs can be input using the ABC input method.

The following special keys for the UCS-Chinese input method are defined on the Simplified Chinese 101-key keyboard.

Special UCS-Chinese Keys
Key Function	Keysym	Description of Function
Tsang-Jye Shift key	XK_Tsang_Jye	Invokes Tsang-Jye input method.
Phonetic Shift key	XK_Pin_Yin	Invokes the phonetic input method.
Legend Shift key	XK_Legend	Under phonetic input method, invokes phonetic legend mode.
English-to-Chinese Shift key	XK_English _Chinese	Invokes the English-to-Chinese input method.
ABC Shift key	XK_ABC	Invokes ABC input method.
Five Stroke Shift key	XK_Five_Stroke	Invokes Five Stroke input method.
IM Set Option key	XK_IMED_Set _option	Under phonetic and ABC input method, invokes territory set mode.
Half/Full-Width Toggle Shift key	XK_Half_Full	Toggles between half-width and full-width.
Conversion Shift key	XK_Convert	Converts radical and phonetic symbols into characters. Displays the candidates, if needed.
Non-Conversion Shift key	XK_Non _Convert	Interprets a phonetic symbol as a character.
English/Numeric key	XK_Alph_Num	Invokes ASCII mode.
User-Defined Shift key	XK_User _Defined	Invokes User defined input method.

Related Information

National Language Support Overview for Programming, Input Method Overview.

Understanding the ISO Code Sets in AIX Kernel Extensions and Device Support Programming Concepts.