1. A user interface apparatus for a computing system, said apparatus comprising: a display device displaying a graphical keyboard image; an input source comprising a designating device, said input source providing an input comprising key information and path information, said key information representing a key of said graphical keyboard image, said path information representing a series of points designated by said designating device, wherein said path information comprises a direction of displacement of said designating device; an output generator, responsive to said key information and said path information provided by said input source, for producing a keycode data defing an output character by applying a modifier corresponding to said path information to an input character corresponding to said key information, with said modifier being determined according to said direction of displacement; and a buffer, wherein said keycode data produced by said output generator is stored in said buffer.