entered will end the conversion process and results in the hiragana as typed. If katakana is required, it is usually presented as an option along with the kanji choices. Alternatively, on some keyboards, pressing the button switches between katakana and hiragana. Sophisticated kana to kanji converters (known collectively as input method editors, or IMEs), allow conversion of multiple kana words into kanji at once, freeing the user from having to do a conversion at each stage. The user can convert at any stage of input by pressing the space bar or henkan button, and the converter attempts to guess the correct division of words. Some IME programs display a brief definition of each word in order to help the user choose the correct kanji. Sometimes the kana to kanji converter may guess the correct kanji for all the words, but if it does not, the cursor (arrow) keys may be used to move backwards and forwards between candidate words, or digit keys can be used to select one of them directly (without pressing cursor keys multiple times and pressing Enter to confirm the choice). If the selected word boundaries are incorrect, the word boundaries can be moved using the control key (or shift key, e.g. on iBus-Anthy) plus the arrow keys. Learning systems Modern systems learn the user's preferences for conversion and put the most recently selected candidates at the top of the conversion list, and also remember which words the user is likely to use when considering word boundaries. Predictive systems The systems used on mobile phones go even further, and try to guess entire phrases or sentences. After a few kana have been entered, the phone automatically offers entire phrases or sentences as possible completion candidates, jumping beyond what has been input. This is usually based on words sent in previous messages. See also Japanese language and computers Japanese typewriter List of input methods for Unix platforms Wāpuro rōmaji Wabun Code – Japanese Morse code List of CJK fonts Chinese input methods for computers Wnn Kotoeri ATOK Google Japanese Input References External links Microsoft (Office) IME CJK for Windows XP thru' Windows 7, see Windows#Multilingual support Online Japanese Virtual Keyboard Ajax IME: Web-based Japanese Input Method LiteType: Japanese Interactive Virtual Keyboard How to change between Japanese input methods (direct kana to rōmaji input) on Windows operating systems: ローマ字入力・ひらがな入力切替方法 Input methods Han character input Keyboard layouts Input methods