Meaning of the "ch" abbreviation in the "Cancel Ability"-Column of frame data to SSF4?

Heya, didn’t see a “ask stupidly basic question here that don’t really deserve their own thread, get answers” - Thread, so i figured I’d make it a topic :x
(in case it helps, I’m looking at the Cammy frame data, here: http://wiki.shoryuken.com/Super_Street_Fighter_IV_AE/Cammy)

Well, decided to have a look at these things as they’ll tell me how much leniency I have… So well, the canceling of things into specials / supers is explained somewhere where I stumbled across it, so no questions regarding what “su” or “sp” mean :wink:
I would guess ch refers to chain, as in canceling normals into other normals as opposed to having to link them, right?
If so: Are chains set in some way? E.g. you can only cancel in a sequence like lk - lp - c.lp… if so, where do I find the info on that?
Or am I free to cancel any move that has that cancel property into another normal, or just other normals that have the “ch” property?

Also: When can I input the cancel command? Right after I connect with the move, or only after the active frames are over, or something arbitrary specific to each move?

Random bonus question: I have managed to get Dragonpunch (okay cannon spike :slight_smile: ) cancelled into super with just one press of a kick button (and displayed that way with the training mode move list)… I can easily see why I would get a DP when I hit the button before getting the stick into the side position, since well, my last inputs obviously were 623 kick. But just how the hell would I get the cancel? (It’s not a big deal, yesterday’s training session was successful in enabling me to fairly consistently do two QCF motions and pressing a button just as I input forward for the second time, I’m just curious :D)

I don’t know too much but I’ll try to help you out.

It seems like you can chain normals into light versions, or other normals that have “chain” property. You can’t chain (i.e. mash) cr. LP into cl. MP, you have to link it (just an example).

Some characters have “Target Combos”, the contents of which chain into each other.

I don’t know the specifics (are there specifics?) but the easiest way to find out is just to play around with the timing. Some cancels are very strict (must be done immediately) and don’t give you a lot of time to input the next command, much less hit-confirm or anything…

This is due to a mechanic called “Negative Edge”. Basically, it raises your chances of performing a special or super move by accepting button releases as inputs.

Try holding down a kick button, doing 623 and then releasing kick, you’ll see.

So, what most likely happened was, the inputs were 623+kick hold~6236+kick release.

Yeah, that’s probably the easiest way… I was just trying to go at the whole matter as systematically as I can manage. Probably these things are a bit rushed though anyways… it’s still tough for me to execute super simple things under pressure, so I guess I’ll work on those first (:

Thanks a lot for your answers in any case!