The Text Services Framework (TSF) is a COM framework and

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

in the

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

that supports advanced text input and text processing. It was introduced in

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...

. The Language Bar is the core

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

for Text Services Framework.

Overview

The Text Services Framework is designed to offer advanced language and

word processing A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Word processor (electronic device), Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicate ...

features to applications. It supports features such as multilingual support, keyboard drivers,

handwriting recognition Handwriting recognition (HWR), also known as handwritten text recognition (HTR), is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwriting, handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens ...

speech recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers. It is also ...

, as well as spell checking and other text and

natural language processing Natural language processing (NLP) is a subfield of computer science and especially artificial intelligence. It is primarily concerned with providing computers with the ability to process data encoded in natural language and is thus closely related ...

functions. It is also downloadable for older Windows operating systems. The Language Bar enables text services to add UI elements to the toolbar and enables these elements when an application has focus. From the Language Bar, users can select the input language, and control keyboard input, handwriting recognition and speech recognition. The language bar also provides a direct means to switch between installed languages, even when a non-TSF-enabled application has focus. Starting with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 and

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

, the RichEdit control supports the Text Services Framework.

Windows Speech Recognition Windows Speech Recognition (WSR) is speech recognition developed by Microsoft for Windows Vista that enables hands-free computing, voice commands to control the desktop metaphor, desktop user interface, transcription (linguistics), dictate text i ...

in Windows Vista is also implemented using the Text Services Framework.

Features

*TSF is extensible. Independent software vendors can write their own text processing feature for TSF. *TSF-enabled applications can receive text input from any text service that supports TSF without having to be aware of any details of the text source. Services built using TSF are globally available to any application. *TSF enables a text service to store

metadata Metadata (or metainformation) is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive ...

with a document, a piece of text, or an object within the document. For example, a speech input text service can store sound information associated with a block of text. *TSF enables text services to provide accurate and complete text conversion, with continuous access to the document buffer. Text services using TSF can avoid separating their functionality into modes for input and modes for editing. This input architecture enables the buffered and accumulating text stream to change dynamically, thereby enabling more efficient keyboard input and text editing. *TSF is device-independent and enables text services for multiple input devices including keyboard, electronic pen or stylus, and

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

ctfmon and CTF

ctfmon (ctfmon.exe) is a process used to activate the Alternative User Input Text Input Processor (TIP) and also the Microsoft Language Bar. Ctfmon is also a component of

and

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

which enables advanced user input services in applications (pen and ink, speech etc.). ctfmon.exe in

has superseded internat.exe (means international) in

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...

, Windows NT 4.0,

Windows 98 Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. It was the second operating system in the 9x line, as the successor to Windows 95. It was Software ...

and

Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the server and business markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RT ...

. CTF means Common Text Framework (codename Cicero) according to the leaked Windows XP source code) and patent text. In August 2019, Google Project Zero discovered and publicly exposed a critical security vulnerability in CTF that dated back to its first release in Windows XP. The vulnerability, known as CVE-2019-1162, allows privilege escalation and security boundary traversal. Microsoft patched this vulnerability in August 2019.

References

External links

Text Services Framework documentation on MSDNText Services Framework blogHow to use the language bar in Windows XPThe Language Bar in Windows XPLanguage Bar Overview: Windows Vista Help
{{Microsoft APIs Windows components Natural language and computing