7. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising assigning Unicode values to a plurality of non-textual shapes, the Unicode values including the individual value that is assigned to the recognized non-textual shape.
4. A method comprising: displaying an input panel having user-selectable modes, the user-selectable modes comprising at least a text input mode and a shape input mode, wherein: at least the text input mode and the shape input mode are displayed concurrently on the input panel, and the user selects from the user-selectable modes displayed on the input panel before entering digital ink to the input panel; receiving the digital ink as input to the input panel after the user selects from the user-selectable modes displayed on the input panel; providing the digital ink to a recognition service that recognizes the digital ink; receiving a recognition result from the recognition service, the recognition result comprising recognized text or a recognized non-textual shape; determining whether the user has selected the text input mode displayed on the input panel or the shape input mode displayed on the input panel; in a first instance, responsive to determining that the user has selected the text input mode displayed on the input panel, providing the recognized text to a text processing application, wherein the recognized text corresponds to one or more handwritten characters entered by the user via the digital ink while the input panel is in the text input mode; and in a second instance, responsive to determining that the user has selected the shape input mode displayed on the input panel, providing the recognized non-textual shape to a non-textual shape processing application that is different from the text processing application, wherein the recognized non-textual shape corresponds to a sketched shape that is entered by the user via the digital ink while the input panel is in the shape input mode, and wherein at least the providing the recognized text to the text processing application and the providing the recognized non-textual shape to the non-textual shape processing application is performed by a computing device, and wherein, in the second instance, the recognition result comprises an individual value that is assigned to the recognized non-textual shape.