Editing Wubi method (section)

== Implementation of specific details ==

Many implementations employ further, multiple-word optimizations.  Usually, a commonly used digraph (two character word) in which both characters have short form two-keystroke representations can be combined into a single, four keystroke representation which generates two characters rather than one.  There are also a few 3-character [[shortcut (computers)|shortcut]]s, and even one rather longer, politically motivated one.{{clarification needed|date=December 2020}} Some examples of these are provided in the examples section below.

Another common feature is the use of the 'z' key as a wildcard.  The Wubi method was actually designed with this feature in mind; this is why no components are assigned to the z key.  Basically, one can type a z when unsure what the component should be, and the input method will help complete it.  If one knew, for example, that the character ought to start with "kt", but was unsure what the next component should be, typing "ktz" would produce a list of all characters starting with "kt".  In practice though, many input method engines use a tabular lookup method for all table based input systems, including for Wubi. This means that they simply have a large table in memory, associating different characters to their respective representations.  The input method then simply becomes a table lookup.  In such an implementation, the z key breaks the paradigm and as such is not found in much generalized software (although the Wubi input method commonly found in Chinese Windows implements the feature). For this same reason, the multiple character optimization described in the previous paragraph is also relatively rare.

Some input methods, such as [[xcin]] (found on many UNIX-like systems), provide a generic wildcard functionality which can be used in all the table based input systems, including pinyin and virtually anything else.  Xcin uses '*' for auto-complete and '?' for just one letter, following the conventions pioneered in UNIX file globbing. Other implementations have their own conventions.