TOUCHSCREEN KEYBOARD SUPPORT FOR MULTI-BYTE CHARACTER LANGUAGES

The invention relates to the entering, displaying and processing of text of various human languages consisting of multi-byte characters when the text is entered by means of a touchscreen terminal keyboard into a programmed computer system. The computer system includes an operating system and other software providing means for converting inputs from the touchscreen keyboard into displayed characters and a keyboard definition file for processing by the computer system to provide the touchscreen keyboard on the display. The keyboard definition file includes means for specifying a national language and means for supporting inputs of multi-byte character language. A touchscreen support module functions in conjunction with the converting means and a keyboard input module functions in conjunction with the keyboard definition file. The touchscreen support module and the keyboard input module are executed by the computer system to process inputs entered by the user from the touchscreen keyboard to display multi-byte characters of the national language on the display screen. The invention also includes a method for processing and displaying inputs including multi-byte characters of national languages on a touchscreen keyboard.