In the Force, about 4,500 FineArt/GoGo Pen Chinese handwriting tools have been in use since 1995. Requiring no training and featuring excellent recognition of characters, GoGo Pen is the most ideal tool for casual/regular users who need to input Chinese data.

But a problem is recognition speeds are not as fast as natural writing pace, the average for the pen being about 15 characters a minute. This is too slow for those frequently using Chinese in their work, and those with large amounts of data to input. So for serious Chinese computing, a proper input method has to be used and learnt to achieve a reasonable speed.

Three Chinese input methods are widely used in the Force. One is Chang Jei; Quick, and Cantonese Pin Yin. All PCs in the Force (both networked and stand-alone) were installed with Chang Jei and Quick Chinese input methods. For Cantonese, software installation is in progress. Both the Cantonese and Quick methods are easy for self-learning but they have the same inconvenience - users have to select the required character from a list of returned characters of the same code on the screen. This reduces the speed of input and interrupts users' flow of thinking as they write.

To achieve maximum input speed for Chinese characters, Chang Jei can do the job only if the user is proficient. However, it is notorious for being difficult to master and its rules are complex.

A recent survey conducted by Information Technology Branch found nearly 80 per cent of Chinese computer users in the Force found it difficult to master, and 60 per cent thought it was hard to learn.

The Chinese Processing Support Team continues to look for better Chinese input methods. One now being evaluated is Qcode, winner of the Gold Award in the latest IT Excellence Awards.

Following a successful pilot run in the Police Translator section, the user-acceptance testing of Qcode (v5) is approaching its final stage and is targeted for use in the Force soon.

Apart from Qcode, other inputs are set for evaluation such as Zhong Huan Chinese. However, the latest on the evaluation list is Q9, claimed to be even simpler and easier to learn than its predecessor Qcode.

So, for further information regarding Chinese input methods used in the Force, please visit the Chinese Computing Homepage on POINT by surfing to http://ux37phq.hpf.gov. hk:8088/bbs/isw/itb/ss4/ss45/index. htm. Any comments or queries should be directed to the Chinese Processing Support Team of ITB at Room 308, Caine House, Police Headquarters, 1 Arsenal Street, Wan Chai.

Or email ap1-ss45-a-itb@police. gov.hk.




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