Handwriting Recognition Overview With the handwriting-recognition feature, you can use your handwriting instead of a keyboard to enter

text. You can write by using a handwriting input device, such as a digital pen or stylus, or by moving your mouse pointer. The computer converts your handwritten words to typed characters, and then inserts the text exactly where you want it. Programs that support handwriting recognition in Windows XP include the following:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later. Handwriting is supported in text boxes that are displayed in Web pages, but not on the Address bar. Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0 or later. All Microsoft Office XP programs. Other programs that are enabled to use the Microsoft handwriting-recognition engine.

The handwriting-recognition engine is language-specific. The engine is currently available for the following languages: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean. Engines for other languages will become available. Handwriting Recognition Requirements To use handwriting recognition, you need the following:

A writing tool. The minimum requirement for a writing tool is a mouse. To write with your mouse, press and hold down the primary mouse button, and then move the mouse pointer to form characters. The recommended tool is a handwriting input device, such as a pen stylus and tablet, connected to your computer through a serial port or USB port. Graphics tablets that are used with three-dimensional (3-D) drawing or computer-aided design (CAD) programs can also be used. The Microsoft handwriting-recognition engine installed on a Windows XP-based computer.

How to Install Handwriting Recognition If you recently purchased a new computer, the handwriting-recognition engine may have been installed by the computer manufacturer. If this is the case, no further installation is necessary. If you installed Microsoft Office XP, or if you purchased a new computer on which Office XP is installed, the handwriting-recognition engine is included, but it may not be installed. After the handwriting-recognition engine is installed, handwriting recognition is added as a text service, and the Language bar is displayed on your desktop.

How to Determine Whether the Handwriting Recognition Engine Is Installed

To determine whether the handwriting recognition is installed on your computer, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options, and then clickRegional and Language Options. 2. Click the Languages tab. 3. Under Text services and input languages, click Details. 4. Under Installed services, click Add. If Handwriting recognition is listed as an option in the Add Input Language dialog box, the handwriting-recognition engine is installed. If it is not listed, the engine is not installed. How to Install Handwriting Recognition if Microsoft Office XP Is Installed 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs. Click Change or Remove Programs, click Microsoft Office XP, and then click Change. Click Add or Remove Features, and then click Next. In the Features to install list, expand Office Shared Features. Expand Alternative User Input. Click the box to the left of Handwriting, and then click Run from My Computer. Click Update. When you are prompted, insert the Office XP CD-ROM into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, or click Browse to locate the Office XP installation files, and then click OK. The handwriting-recognition engine is installed. How to Add Handwriting Recognition as a Text Service When handwriting recognition is installed, it is normally added automatically as a text service. Follow these steps to add handwriting recognition only if you removed it as a text service and you want to add it again. To add handwriting recognition as a text service, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options, and then clickRegional and Language Options. 2. Click the Languages tab. 3. Under Text services and input languages, click Details. 4. Under Installed services, click Add. 5. In the Input language list, click the language for which you want to add handwriting recognition. 6. Click to select the Handwriting recognition check box. 7. Click the handwriting program that you want to use, and then click OK. If you want to add additional handwriting programs, click Add, click to select

the Handwriting recognition check box, click the handwriting program that you want, and then click OK. Click OK twice more. Handwriting recognition is added as a text service for the language that you specified. How to Remove Handwriting Recognition as a Text Service To remove handwriting recognition as a text service, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options, and then clickRegional and Language Options. 2. Click the Languages tab. 3. Under Text services and input languages, click Details. 4. Under Installed services, click Handwriting Recognition under the language that you want it removed from, click Remove, and then click OK twice. Handwriting recognition is removed for the language that you specified. NOTE: If you remove handwriting recognition, it is not deleted from your hard disk. It is removed as a text service and is no longer loaded into memory. You can add (and remove) handwriting recognition again at any time. To completely remove the handwriting-recognition engine from your hard disk, either consult the documentation of the program in which it was installed, or use the Add/Remove Programs feature in Control Panel. Troubleshooting

If the East Asian languages are not displayed in the Input language list when you click Add in Text Services and Input Languages (click Start, click Control Panel, click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options, click Regional and Language Options, and then click Details on the Languages tab), the fonts for the languages may not be installed. To resolve this issue, install the East Asian language files. For more information about how to install the East Asian language files in Windows XP, click Start, click Help and Support, type install east Asian language files, and then press ENTER to view the topic. After you install handwriting recognition, you may find that the performance of your computer is reduced. Handwriting recognition requires computer memory and can affect your computer's performance. To work around this behavior, temporarily remove handwriting recognition as a text service when you are not using it. See the "How to Remove Handwriting Recognition as a Text Service" section of this article for more information about doing

this. NOTE: If you remove handwriting recognition, it is not deleted from your hard disk. It is removed as a text service and is no longer loaded into memory. You can add (and remove) handwriting recognition again at any time. Handwriting recognition is used most often to describe the ability of a computer to translate human writing into text. This may take place in one of two ways, either by scanning of written text or by writing directly on to a peripheral input device. The first of these handwriting recognition techniques, known as optical character recognition (OCR), is the most successful in the mainstream. Most scanning suites offer some form of OCR, allowing users to scan in handwritten documents and have them translated into basic text documents. OCR is also used by some archivists as a method of converting massive quantities of handwritten historical documents into searchable, easilyaccessible digital forms. The second group of handwriting recognition techniques, often referred to as on-line recognition, has experienced an ebb and flow in popularity. In the 1990s, Apple Computers released a handheld device called the Newton which made use of the first widely available handwriting recognition interface. By using a small stylus, the user was able to write directly on the Newton's screen and (in theory) have their letters recognized and converted to text. In practice, the software the Newton used to attempt to learn user handwriting patterns was less than ideal, and as a result its popularity was never great.

some code around to subclass UIGestureRecognizer to define a "check" gesture. It recognizes touch beginning, moving southeast, then moving northeast to draw a checkmark. Perhaps you could define letter shapes as specific gesture recognizers and then attached your whole alphabet of recognizers to a view and see what you get.