Features

The IME class is a predefined global window class that implements the user interface portion of the IME. The "IME" class has many of the same characteristics as the predefined common control windows. An IME window instance can be created by the CreateWindowEx function. Like static controls, the IME class window doesn't respond to user input by itself; instead, it receives various types of control messages to realize the entire user interface of the IME. An application can create its own IME windows by using the IME class, or it can obtain the default IME window by using the ImmGetDefaultIMEWnd function. An application that creates its own IME windows or uses the default IME window is considered an IME-aware application, and receives the following benefits (as compared to a similar application in Windows 3.1):

• Including candidates listing windows, each application can have its own window instance of the user interface so that the user can stop in the middle of any operation and change the focus to another application. In the Windows 3.1 Japanese Edition, the user must abandon an operation when changing to another application.
• Because the IME user interface window has the application's window handle, it can provide default behavior for the application. For example, it can move automatically when the application moves, automatically trace the caret position of the window, indicate the mode for each application, and so on.

Even though the system provides only one IME class, there are two types of IME window. One type is created by the system for IME unaware applications. The DefWindowProc function processes messages for this window. The DefWindowProc function's IME user interface is shared by all IME unaware windows of a thread. In this document, this is called the default IME window. The other windows are created by IME aware applications. In this document, windows created by IME-aware applications are called application IME windows.