Patent US 7,809,550

A method by which a user (who needs no knowledge of character configuration or Pinyin spelling) brings to an electronic device an unknown, user-chosen Chinese or other Oriental character/characters. The method is comprised of entering one or more easy-to-remember symbols (e.g., B, X, 4, 5, lantern, pointer, familiar to users of Western languages and found in all Chinese characters), and a character's stroke and optional stroke range number. The resulting output of character text is then available for use in other software programs, e.g., Microsoft Word. Also, output of a character's associated Pinyin spelling and translation precludes the need for further queries through other hard-copy or electronic translation devices. In addition, other system modes are used for: write-in's, browsing, inputting and retrieving of user-generated words, measure words, games, and dictionary. A single operation from first input to final output can be accomplished, on average, in less than one minute.