If you have installed a Unicode font package to be used by the TIGERSearch software, TIGERSearch will be able to display any Unicode character which is supported by the font package. However, typing in Unicode characters is a different story. So how can you type in a Unicode character in the corpus query editor, e.g. the Greek capital letter Omega?
Input methods of the operating system
On most platforms, specialized tools have been developed for this purpose. These tools are usually called input methods. As e.g. Greek characters do not exist on a German keyboard, these charaters are typed in as an abbreviation. For example, the string Omega might be used as an abbreviation for the Greek character that will be automatically expanded if the abbreviation has been typed in. Please consult the manual of your operating system to find out which tools are available for your platform.
Input methods of TIGERSearch
For the TIGERSearch software we have developed Java-based input methods for 16 European languages (in alphabetic order): Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek (classic and modern), Hungarian, Italian, Latin, Norwegian, Portugese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.
These input methods are automatically plugged into the TIGERSearch software suite during the installation process. In subsection 3.3, chapter IV you will find detailed instructions how to use the TIGERSearch input methods for typing in Unicode characters in your corpus queries. A description of the language mapping tables (file europe.pdf) is placed in the doc/pdf/ subdirectory of your TIGERSearch installation.
Readers who are interested in the implementation of the input methods should consult the TIGERSearch homepage for additional information.