ATOK
| Developer(s) | JustSystems |
|---|---|
| Stable release |
ATOK 2013
/ February 8, 2013 |
| Operating system | Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS and Solaris |
| Type | Input method editor |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | ATOK.com |
ATOK (エイトック /ˈetoku/ or /ˈeɪtɔːk/) is a Japanese input method editor (IME) produced by JustSystems, a Japanese software company.
ATOK is an IME with roots from 1983 and DOS, but it now supports a large number of platforms including Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS.
Sun Microsystems chose ATOK as their input method when running under the JP locale in Solaris 10 and above, enhancing Sun's already strong Japanese language support. For embedded systems, JustSystems has developed +ATOK. Some Japanese mobile phones, PDAs, video game consoles (PSP, PS3 and Wii), digital video recorders, automotive navigation systems come with +ATOK.
Once ATOK meant Automatic Transfer Of Kana-kanji. Now, it means Advanced Technology Of Kana-kanji Transfer. It is occasionally taken to stand for Awa-TOKushima, site of the headquarters of JustSystems, or ASCII TO Kanji.
Functions
Functions vary between versions for different platforms, and the following list is not exhaustive.
- Search kanji from phonetic input - both using romaji keyboard and kana keyboard.
- Search kanji by radical.
- Drawing pad for handwriting recognition.
- Reverse retrieval of phonetic input - both to kunyomi and onyomi.
- Text templates for standard phrases, address labels and Japanese emoticons.
- Real time auto-completion of text - both Japanese and English. (Example: type "fun" and you immediately get a list of words starting with "fun": function, fun, fund, funk...).
- Character information, JIS and Unicode codes, pronunciations, related characters.
- Japanese date formats.
- Character palette for input of special symbols, accented Latin, Russian, etc.
- Customizable input keys and keyboard shortcuts for the different functions.
As of March 2013, the latest version for Windows is ATOK 2013; for Macintosh, ATOK 2012; and for Linux, ATOK X3. ATOK is also available for iOS, Android and other smartphone platforms.
See also
- Ichitaro - a Japanese word processor produced by Justsystems. ATOK comes bundled with this.