Editing Input method (section)

{{Short description|Method for generating non-native characters on devices}}

[[File:Typing 있습니다 in Dubeolsik keyboard layout.gif|thumb|An animation shows how an input method produces [[Korean language and computers|Korean texts]].]]
An '''input method''' (or '''input method editor''', commonly abbreviated '''IME''') is an [[operating system]] component or program that enables users to generate characters not natively available on their [[input device]]s by using sequences of characters (or mouse operations) that are available to them. Using an input method is usually necessary for languages that have more [[grapheme]]s than there are keys on the keyboard.

For instance, on the computer, this allows the user of [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] [[Keyboard layout|keyboards]] to input [[Chinese characters|Chinese]], [[Japanese writing system|Japanese]], [[Hangul|Korean]] and [[Indic script|Indic]] characters. On hand-held devices, it enables the user to type on the [[Telephone keypad|numeric keypad]] to enter [[Latin alphabet|Latin alphabet characters]] (or any other alphabet characters) or touch a screen display to input text. On some operating systems, an input method is also used to define the behavior of the [[dead key]]s.