Features
JISHOP/iPhone has a tab-based interface. In the current version, there are the following tabs:
The Kanji Search tab is used for searching in the kanji database.
The search parameters are specified in the top part of the window:
- In the Word box, you can provide the reading (onyomi or kunyomi) of the kanji you're looking for, either in rōmaji or in kana. If you know the Japanese spelling of the word, you can provide it there as-is.
- The four cells in the second row contain the selected radicals.
- The Search button runs the search by the specified parameters (reading, radicals, etc.).
The lower part of the main window is occupied by the radical table. From version 2.00 on, it can run in one of the two modes:
- In Wide mode, the table is divided into pages. A page contains all radicals with the same stroke count. You can scroll between pages by means of the arrow buttons in the table header. The traditional iPhone-style panning gesture only performs vertical scrolling within a page.
- In the Classic mode, the structure of the table is practically identical to that of JISHOP/Windows. Radicals are arranged in columns by stroke count, except for the table bottom. Stroke count is displayed in the table header.
If you tap and hold a radical in the table, the table will collapse - all radicals will disappear, except for ones that are related to the one tapped. In JISHOP/PC you can get the same result by right-clicking a radical twice. The relation between radicals is defined loosely; two radicals are considered related if:
- They look alike
- One contains the other
- One historically evolved from the other
- One if an abbreviation of the other
- They often go together
To restore the full table, click the 
button in the toolbar.
The "Categories" button also performs a table collapse, but it lets you collapse a table by a semantic or graphic radical category - top radicals, enclosing radicals, people, animals, katakana characters, etc.
The 
button switches the table into the radical info mode.
In this mode, clicking on a radical would bring up a panel with a brief note about a radical - usage, placement, phonetic value,
similar or related radicals:
To leave the info mode, tap the button again.
JISHOP also supports searching by word meaning (i. e. English translation).
To use it, you have to click the 
Details button:
To change even more search parameters, click the "More" button:
The meaning of those parameters is:
- The "Stroke count" box lets you limit your search to kanji with the specified number of strokes. It's handy if you're used to traditional Chinese character dictionaries.
- Checking the "Deep decompositions" box turns on searching by deep decomposition of kanji into radicals. It's useful when you're looking by primitive strokes. For example, if you're looking for the "dot" radical, you won't normally find the "dog" kanji. But with deep decomposition enabled, you will.
- Checking the "Nonstandard decompositions" box makes JISHOP consider non-standard decompositions of kanji into radicals. Some popular misconceptions and radical misidentifications are covered by this option.
- Checking the "Full spec" box makes the search only look for characters that consist precisely of the selected radicals. Without this check, radical search finds all kanji that contain the selected radicals and maybe other radicals as well.
- Dismiss the box by clicking the OK button.
When you click "Search", JISHOP first goes through its kanji list. The matching kanji are displayed on the Results tab. If not a single kanji was found, and either meaning or reading was specified, the app searches the compound words dictionary for the same reading/meaning, and displays the results on the Compounds tab.
The reading can be specified either in rōmaji , or in hiragana, or in katakana. You can specify long vowels either with a colon, or as "ou/uu".
You can also provide the Japanese word directly in the "Word" box.
The Results tab contains the list of the found kanji and the dictionary entry for one of those.
You can select a kanji in the list by tapping on its line. If only one kanji is found, there's no list. The name of the kanji in the list is its most basic meaning; it does not necessarily cover the full range of possible translations. To see all possible translations, navigate to the dictionary entry of the kanji.
The layout of the dictionary entry is identical to that of the JISHOP/PC; you can find the description in the JISHOP/PC's manual. All kanji in the entry are hyperlinks - if you tap a kanji with your finger, the kanji's own dictionary entry will be displayed. Clicking the large kanji image will activate the Compounds tab and place the kanji into a search cell.
JISHOP/iPhone supports retrieval and display of online
Stroke Order Diagrams (SODs), like the Strokes plugin does for JISHOP/PC.
To see the SOD, tap the
button. The SODs are normally taken from the Internet,
so for this command you must have an active connection.
To use SODs while disconnected, you need to download them all first. For that, tap the "Offline" button. This will cause JISHOP to download and store locally all known SODs. The download process takes place in the background; you may work with the dictionary as usual. Revisit the Offline button to check the progress.
The command bar of the Results tab contains the following commands:
Displays the previous kanji (like Back in a Web browser)
Displays the next kanji (like Forward in a Web browser)
Decompose; activates the radical table, with only radicals that
comprise the current kanji shown- Displays the window with auxillary information about the kanji
- its bushu, code numbers, and lookup references for some notable dictionaries out there
Adds the current kanji to the Favorites list- Words - activates the Compounds tab, places the current kanji into a search box
- Strokes - brings up the SOD of the kanji, if one exists.
The Compounds tab is used for searching in the compound words dictionary.
you can
mark the kanji as easy or hard. To delete or rearrange the kanji in the favorites, use the "Edit" button in the top right corner.
