Character search by components (not radical search)

[etm001]

Hi,

I'd like to search for characters by components, either:

• Typing pinyin "riyue" returns 明.
• Type/selecting 日 and 月 returns 明.

There's radical search but it's not the fastest way to search by components (lots of scrolling, hunting for characters, etc.)

I believe Sogo IME allows for this by typing "u[character components]", i.e., "u日月" returns 明 as a suggestion. I don't believe either the Google or iOS IMEs support this functionality. (On a Mac, after entering 日月, you can press "shift+space" to show the Structure window which contains possible matches.

Thanks!

 

[mikelove]

Lots of requests for this over the years, the main problem we haven't managed to solve yet is how to input the components - picking a second one out of a large table isn't really any faster than searching for a matching character in a radical index, and while using known characters might work for 明 there are an awful lot of characters it doesn't work for. And TBH our handwriting input is accurate enough now that we're uncertain whether this is something worth putting a lot of effort into - it makes sense in an IME on a non-touchscreen device but we aren't currently supporting any of those.

 

[ACardiganAndAFrown]

Lots of requests for this over the years, the main problem we haven't managed to solve yet is how to input the components - picking a second one out of a large table isn't really any faster than searching for a matching character in a radical index, and while using known characters might work for 明 there are an awful lot of characters it doesn't work for. And TBH our handwriting input is accurate enough now that we're uncertain whether this is something worth putting a lot of effort into - it makes sense in an IME on a non-touchscreen device but we aren't currently supporting any of those.

How about zisea/yedict's two-part (两分) system?

zisea.com/zslf.htm

They have 两分字元 for each character on look-up as well.

It isnt perfect but it's somewhat intuitive.

When handwriting input fails that's always my next choice for finding characters - then copying them into Pleco.

 

[mikelove]

Interesting, but seems like it might be considerably less convenient on a 4.7-inch screen.