CONFUSION MATRIX MEDIATED WORD PREDICTION

A system and method for performing an incremental search using a character string returned by a recognizer on a confusion matrix encoded dictionary to predict a word in a handwriting input field of an application program. In the system and method, handwritten characters are input into a data entry field of an application program. The handwritten characters are recognized and assigned a cluster code. The string of characters is characterized by the cluster codes of the individual characters. The cluster codes of the string are compared with strings of cluster codes representing words in a dictionary. All or some of the matching words are displayed to the user, from which a selection can be made.