Jyutping IME can be set to require the tone number...

[querido]

NJStar 6...

Google Input Tools' fuzzy input is very convenient for practical purposes. And other IMEs, which begin offering candidates after just part of the Jyutping - and don't even permit entering the tone number - are convenient too. But when I was studying Mandarin I never objected to entering complete Pinyin, figuring that it was helping to cement my knowlege. I don't mind if anyone explains that this is not as important as it seems, but I think it is.

 

I found a Jyutping IME that can be set for different degrees of hinting and partial matching. On the strictest setting it shows no candidate list until the complete Jyutping is entered, including the tone number. 

Less strictly, it can be set to begin offering candidates after only x (configurable) characters of the Jyutping. Also, it can optionally hint the next letter in the Jyutping; enter the first letter in the Jyutping and the list is shown, and for every candidate the next letter of the Jyutping is also shown, and this continues all the way until it hints the tone number. So with the least strict settings one can proceed by remembering just the first letter of the Jyutping. That's pretty versatile. The candidates are also frequency-ordered, and the ordering reflects one's usage over time. So even if I couldn't remember that first letter I could probably try a few randomly, and then it would walk me through the rest.

 

The bad news, I guess, is that it is found in NJStar 6 which we don't talk about much. The above capability was added in the last year, I think. The good news is that it continues to work after the demo expires.

 

[More good news is that I figured out how to make the popup dictionary and the dictionary lookup show Jyutping, but these features stop working after a while in the free version.] 

 

By the way, it can do this with Pinyin too.

[stapler]

Kind of an aside, but are there also good (besides this one) inputs that can be set to require tone input (for Mandarin)? I'm currently using Google pinyin, and the only input I've found that can be set to force tones are 注音 inputs

[querido]

I don't recall another one that can require the tone number.

Pleco permits typing the tone number (which then shortens the candidate list). 

[Demonic_Duck]

Pleco has an IME now?

[querido]

Oops, I was thinking about its look-up.

[querido]

This IME can show simplified and traditional in the same candidate list.

 

The character set used in the IME candidate list (and also in the document) can be set to simplified, traditional (without Cantonese extensions like hai2 喺), traditional+Cantonese extensions, or everything at the same time.

 

The User Interface can be set to English, Simplified, Traditional, or French. :-)

 

It accepts a lot of other methods, eight common ones plus these: 

[querido]

I told you that hints could be included in the candidate list. But look! Here is hinted Cangjie5! See the little letters beside the candidates? It's unfortunate that the hints are English letters instead of the components, so one should have a chart visible too. As with the others, this hinting can be toggled with a keypress.

 

[querido]

It can be set to require the full Cangjie5 code before showing the candidate list*. Compared to something that requires that one know a character's every stroke (and in order too) this is a lower standard, but it *is* the right standard if what you're aiming for is exactly this - input with Cangjie5 - rather than input with handwriting.

 

*Correction: It *will* show characters it thinks you've already fully specified while you're still typing in the full code for the character you want.