> From: suzmccarth [mailto:suzmccarth@...]


> Rather, the defining characteristic is that there is
> > indirect entry path involving an intermediate textual
> representation,
> > requiring a special UI
>
> UI?

user-interface


> for showing the processing of that intermediate
> > representation.
> >
> > If an input method for Tamil uses some special UI element that shows
> > some intermediate text representation that is processed prior to
> > entering the final text, then it would be, by definition, an IME.
>
> What do you mean by representation?

I mean a string of characters. For instance, a Chinese IME might display
Latin characters such as "ma" which appear only temporarily until the
intended Chinese character has been determined, at which time the Latin
characters are replaced with the Chinese characters.


Peter Constable