Chewing (Input Method)
| File:Libchewingpng | |
| Original author(s) | Chewing core team |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Chewing core team |
| Stable release | 0.3.2
/ December 1, 2008 |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Unix-like, Windows MacOS |
| Available in | Chinese |
| Type | input method |
| License | GNU Lesser General Public License |
| Website | Chewing project website |
The Chewing(酷音) input method is an intelligent Zhuyin input method. It is one of the most popular input methods among Traditional Chinese Unix users.
Chewing was a project established by Lu-Quan Gong (龔律全) and Kang-Ben Chen (陳康本), sponsored by Tsan-sheng Hsu (徐讚昇) from Sinica [1]. Their research result (the program) is publish under GPL.
Chewing core team extends their work and actively maintain the project.
Motivation
Chewing was inspired by several other propriety intelligent Zhuyin input methods under Microsoft Windows, namely, Wang-Xin (忘形) by Eten, Microsoft New Zhuyin (微軟新注音), and Nature Zhuyin (自然注音）.
Since Zhuyin-based input methods are the most popular among Traditional Chinese computer users, an intelligent Zhuyin method is a necessity for Unix-like systems in order to attract more users. There was a similar input method, bimsphone (詞音), which was bundled in XCIN. However, it does not have convenient [Application programming interface|API] for further development.
Original chewing (the one developed by Gong and Chen) is no longer maintained, only works with XIM , nor does it have generic API for input frameworks[2]. Jim Huang, et. al. form the Chewing core team and extend Gong and Chen's work. Thus the chewing core team renames the project as "new" chewing (新酷音) to differentiate from the original one. Nevertheless, its English name is still "chewing".
Goals
- Split the logic and view.
- Support multiple operating systems, and input framework.
- Provide an universal API for input framework and further development.
Supported Systems
Chewing has been adopted by various input frameworks in Unix-like systems, such as:
There are also chewing input method for Windows (win32-chewing) and MacOS (SpaceChewing via OpenVanilla).