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Input Methods

• Introduction
• Phone Keys
• Full Screen Handwriting
• Common Features
• Input Hinting

Introduction

Qtopia provides two input channels to address the issue of text input, given the lack of both screen real-estate and convenient keyboards typical of mobile devices. The Phone Keys input method is intended for phones with the common 0-9, # and 0 buttons. The Full Screen Handwriting input method is intended primarily for touch screen devices, but can be used with any sort of pointing device, including a mouse. These input methods are not mutually exclusive, and a device equipped with both phone keys and a pointing device can take advantage of either or both.

Phone Keys

Given the standard 0-9, * and # keys, Qtopia uses a dictionary to determine the most likely intended input. For example, the '6' key on most phones translates to 'm', 'n', or 'o'. Simply pressing the key twice will result in a best guess of "no". The '*' key is used to select between different options. In this example , pressing the '*' key will toggle between "no" and "on" - the two matches for the input "66".

Full Screen Handwriting

When a pointing device such as a mouse or touch screen is available, the user can enter text by drawing a character at a time. Qtopia is capable of composing characters out of multiple strokes, for example in the case of 't' or '4', provided the additional strokes are entered quickly. Qtopia uses input hints to guide the input guess, such as in the case of the letter 's' and the number '5', where the strokes may be difficult to differentiate.

Common Features

The user is able to change how the input method interprets input by switching between input modes. WithPhone Keys this is accomplished by pressing and holding the '#' key. Using Full Screen Handwriting, the user enters the mode select stroke, which looks like a triangle pointing upwards, and is drawn from the bottom left counter-clockwise. Other commands to the input method are outlined in the table below:

Input Hinting

An input widget may hint that it would prefer int or phone to indicate that numbers are more likely, or text or words that it would prefer letters. The words hint also suggests that a dictionary can be used to make better guesses at whole words, and allows the user to select from likely interpretations of a series of strokes. The text hint accepts characters one at a time, and is useful when unusual words are being entered, such as names or passwords.

The following table describes the four modes used by input methods to enable or disable capitalization and guide input guessing:

These modes are handled differently depending on the input method used:

• Phone keys: consecutive key presses will cycle through the available characters on that key. For example, pressing the 'a' key 3 times will result in an 'a', changed to a 'b', and finally a 'c' (hence the "abc" symbol for this mode).
• Full Screen Handwriting: the user uses the '*' key or the "Next Guess" stroke to cycle through the guesses for that stroke. For example a 's' might cycle through '5', or even an '8' or a 'g', depending on the user's handwriting.