CJKOS function help

[nanananayeah]

hi everyone,

i have a palm smartphone with the intention of downloading pleco. but right now i can't seem to figure out exactly how to use the CJKOS function. i really have a lot of questions that the manual that came with the phone is not detailed enough to answer... just stuff like what does CJK Keyboard [abc] [123] mean? this is not my question, i understand that there are different input methods, i just need some detailed explanations on what they all are, how they work, the differences between them and how best to use this function. perhaps most of this is obvious to most people but because i can't read or write chinese well yet giving me an input method with either 'none' or two choices both in chinese characters is not too helpful...

if anyone knows if there is a downloadable guide or a website with a thorough explanation of each function, i would love to know!

thanks a lot!

[roddy]

Are you sure you actually need CJKOS at the moment? Plecodict is self-contained and will run perfectly well without CJKOS. You would need CJKOS though for reading / writing Chinese in other applications - ie SMS, webpages, etc.

[nanananayeah]

that's my problem... sms' come with question marks in the middle of the hanzi and i know its something to do with which type of characters are being recognised - simplified/traditional and i also want to know by which methods i can enter the characters; writing, pinyin etc. and how to do it. i just can't capably use the CJKOS without a manual.

actually i found this place http://dyts.com/en/ but even so, it seems like you need to download the software and all i need is the manual on how to use it.

i will get pleco, but i don't want to invest in it until i am sure my "smart" phone works properly. maybe i am just not "smart" enough to use it after all.. what's the point of getting pleco if your phone can't even recognise the sms' that you want to read?

thanks!

[ipsi()]

Ok, a quick run-down of what you need to do:

Did your phone come with CJKOS installed? If so, then this should be a bit easier.

The ABC/123 bit is simply about when the CJKOS soft-keyboard should appear. Just leave the ABC one highlighted in blue, and ignore the 123 one.

Which phone do you have? I have a 680, for comparison. This mostly only matters when installing it.

You should select GB2312 if you are using Simplified Chinese, or Big5 if you're using traditional. As far as I can tell, you can't remove the '?'s now they've appeared, so you'll need someone to resend them to you to make sure they're working.

I would also suggest ticking the box on the first screen label "Smart Detect Char Set". Display should be set to Auto as well.

That should (hopefully) make it possible for you to read Chinese in SMS messages and the like.

To write Chinese, use {option_button} plus {space} in a text-entry box, or open the menu, and select keyboard. For this to work, you must have "Enable CJK Keyboard" checked under "Input" in the CJKOS program, and you must have "abc" highlighted in blue. That's how it works on my 680.

Once we know if you bought the phone with CJKOS on it or not, and which smartphone it is, we should be able to help you a bit more.

[nanananayeah]

ok thanks! thats all very helpful. i have a palm centro with CJKOS already installed V4.63 http://www.palm.com/hk/ie/products/smartphones/centro/

maybe it would be helpful if i just explain what i have:

CJKOS board

- char set: chinese GB

- display set: chinese big 5

* i used this configuration so that i can read and write simplified characters but also recognise traditional

Enhance board

- horizontal word spacing in CJK and sort records in CJK both checked

Input board

- "abc" highlighted as per your suggestion

- input method: currently None is highlighted and have a choice of 2 sets of chinese characters.. not sure what they mean

- lookup: currently None is highlighted and have a choice of 2 sets of chinese characters.. not sure what they mean

- Seek at Once, Autosend and Phrase Assocation are all checked

when i go to write a message i can write in roman alphabet but nothing else seems to happen and there are a bunch of icons at the top that i don't know how to use.

your advice much much appreciated

[ipsi()]

Right, that's a good start. Unfortunately, CJKOS does struggle a bit if you want to have both Simplified and Traditional at the same time.

However, in your case, I think you may be alright. You'll need to select one of the input methods before you can start writing in Chinese.

I would actually set it to "Char Set: Chinese GB", "Display: Auto", and "Smart Detect Char Set: ticked", as that will allow you to view traditional characters in SMSs, and some other places, while allowing you to write in Simplified.

Assuming you want to use Pinyin, select 拼音 (which is, in fact, Pin1yin1), and you should be good to go. Make sure that's selected for both Input Method and Lookup (I don't know if it matters, but it's a good idea just in case). If you don't have that, then I'm not sure what they could be.

Other choices could be 符号、双拼、五笔、假名。Or those are the choices I have, at any rate.

[nanananayeah]

hi there, ok i did everything you said, and selected the first out of the four set of two characters in the last line - i guess that is also pinyin? i can't read them and i am not too clear on looking up using radicals in a normal dictionary.

when i try to reply to an sms though, after pressing option and space and going to the new screen 1) when i try to write 'wo' it stops after the w and only gives me choices for punctuation and when i try to write, the characters that come up are nonsense, like just symbols... god i really need a manual!

again, your advice much appreciated.

[ipsi()]

Ok, sounds like you might have 符号 selected (which is symbols), rather than 拼音. You want 拼音. The only other option would be 漢語拼音, if you have Big5 selected.

But you should have 拼音 selected.

If you're still struggling to figure out what you've got selected, I'd suggest googling for some free HWR recognition stuff. It probably won't be very good, but it should hopefully let us determine what choices you have.

You should probably download CJKOS if you haven't already, as there's a manual contained in there which may help you.

Also, although this screenshot is kinda old, it does show what you should have selected:

http://www.dyts.com/images/cjkshow8.gif

Hope this all helps you some.

[nanananayeah]

hi! thanks for all your help so far. ok i changed the setting for input method and lookup to the only other available option which seems fine although i still can't write characters with my stylus. just tried with simple character like 一二口 etc. all that comes up are little pictures. also, when i enter the pinyin, for example, for wo 我, although wo is a really commonly used character, on the choice at the bottom, it comes up like number 9 and yi 一 i need to scroll through about 2 screens. is there a way to make it more intelligent?

thanks!!

[ipsi()]

CJKOS, by itself, won't allow you to write characters on the screen. If the manual says you can, then I'd suggest waiting for someone else to give you a hand, as I don't use that on my device.

Anyway, to make it more intelligent, I would recommend the following options:

Seek at once

Phrase Input

Phrase Association

Reverse

Smart Prioritize Word

Phrase

Leave "Match Precisely" OFF. With the above checked it all seems to work fine for me. If things seem a bit odd, try turning off Reverse and Phrase.

Also, I just noticed that it was 全拼。 I have no idea why I thought it said 拼音 (unless it did, and it magically changed on me). Sorry for the confusion.

[nanananayeah]

awesome, all the above seems to work, and it seems to prioritise the characters by most often used all by itself. excellent. writing function has worked for me in the past, but doesn't work now, although i have heard from other friends that the stylus/screen function is not particularly good for writing anyway. i'll figure it out some day! if i have any other questions, i'll try to let you know. in the meantime, i am really very grateful for your help and the time you took to explain things to me and looking forward to pleco-ising.

cheers!