Input Methods

Input Method (IM) is a mechanism to input specific characters which are not provided on input devices like a keyboard to the various desktop applications. IM is required for some languages such as Chinese, Indic, Japanese, Korean, and Thai because these languages contain a much larger set of characters than what is available on the input devices. IM converts combinations of keystrokes from input devices to language-specific characters, and sends the information back to the focused application.

Input Method has two main components, the IM Framework and the IM Language Engine. The IM Framework is a software component providing functions that enable cooperation between the IM Language Engine and user applications. The IM Language Engine is a software component which takes keystroke combinations from the IM Framework and converts them to specific language characters to send them back to the IM Framework.

IBus is the default IM Framework on the Oracle Solaris desktop system. IIIMF is available in the installation repository as a secondary IM Framework.

By default, Input Method is activated only when you log in into the following languages:

• Chinese (Simplified)

• Chinese (Traditional)

• Japanese

• Korean

• Indic

• Thai

For other languages, if necessary, IM can be activated manually through the Input Method Framework Selector.

How to Activate and Deactivate Input Methods

The Input Method Framework Selector (imf-selector) is a configuration tool used for selecting the preferred Input Method Framework and enabling or disabling them for the desktop session.

1. Choose System→Preferences→Input Method Selector.

   The Input Method Framework Selector window appears.

2. Select the Enable Input Method Framework option and select the preferred Input Method Framework from the list
   
3. Click the OK button to save selection.

How to Change Input Method Framework in Trusted Extensions

1. Log in to a Trusted Extensions Failsafe session.
2. Invoke the imf-selector command from the terminal and select the input method framework.
3. Log out of the Trusted Extensions Failsafe session.
4. Log in to Oracle Solaris Trusted Extensions session. Use the imf-selector in each labeled workspace and select the input method framework.

   The selected input method framework is used for all labeled workspaces at the next login.

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   Note - When an IBus input method framework is selected with default configuration, the input method status panel is shown when the input method is activated by the trigger key. When IIIMF is selected, the input method status panel is shown in a small independent window.

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About IBus

Intelligent Input Bus (IBus) for the Linux and Unix operating systems is a powerful multilingual Input Method Framework working with many open-source IM language engines. IBus uses bus-like architecture to process communication between the IBus IM Framework and the IM language engines. This process runs per user session. There is no shared process between different user desktop sessions.

IBus Configuration

IBus is configured per user by the IBus Preference tool (ibus-setup). To access this tool, choose System→ Preferences→ Input Method - IBus. The following tasks describe some major configuration changes you can make.

How to Add New Language Engine

1. Click the Input Method tab in the IBus Preferences window.
2. Select the preferred IM language engine.
3. Click Add.

How to Add New Input Method Trigger Key

1. Click the General tab in IBus Preferences window.
2. Click the ... button on the Enable or disable label. Then click ... button on Key code label and information dialogue pops up. Now press the preferred key combination for trigger key and click Close button on information dialogue. Then press Add and OK button on Select Keyboard shortcut for trigger window.
3. Trigger key is used to activate IBus on focused application. If IBus is not activated, characters from input devices are sent straight to the focused application. The default trigger keys are shown in the Enable or disable label.

How to Configure the Language Panel Location

1. In the IBus Preference tool, select a configuration from the Show Language Panel menu.

   There are three possible locations for language panel position.

   • Embedded in menu (default) - Language panel is embedded in notification area of GNOME panel

   • When active - Language panel is shown as independent window only when Input Method is activated

   • Always - Language panel is always shown as independent window.

2. Click OK.

How to Add a New Language Engine in IBus

1. Choose System→Preferences→ Input methods – IBus.
   
2. IBus Preferences window opens, click on the Input Method tab
   
3. Select the Select Input Method and select the desired input method.
   
4. Click the Add button to add it to the selected list.
   
5. To make the new input method the default, click the Up button. Move the selection to the top of the list.
   
6. Log out and log back in to use the currently selected input method as the default.

Language Engines Available on the IBus Input Method Framework

The following Language Engines are available on the IBus Input Method Framework.

• Installed by default during installation process for the desktop

  • Anthy - Japanese

  • Chewing - Traditional Chinese

  • Hangul - Korean

  • IBus-Sayura -- Sinhala

  • IBus-XKBC - Keyboard Emulation IM Engine framework

  • SunPinyin - Simplified Chinese

  • Various Language Engines based on multilingualization. For more information, see http://www.m17n.org

• Optional Language Engines

  • Pinyin - Simplified Chinese Language Engine

  • Various Language Engines based on IBus table framework

Input Method for Indic Languages

The following table summarizes the available input methods for Indic languages.

Table 4-1 Input Method for Indic Languages

IBus XKBC IM Engine

IBus XKBC emulates keyboard layout using the XKeyboard Configuration Database. All keyboard layouts available in XkeyboardConfig, including keyboard layout variants, can be emulated on the IBus IM Framework. IBus XKBC is available in the Other language category in the IBus Preference tool. The IBus XKBC help provides detailed configuration information.

IBus Virtual Keyboard (ibus-keyboard)

IBus Virtual Keyboard is a graphical keyboard emulator based on theIBus XKBC Language Engine. It displays a graphical keyboard in a window, and enables the user to input characters to the focused application by clicking key icons. As with IBus XKBC, the IBus Virtual Keyboard supports various keyboard layouts and variants for emulation. To launch the IBus Virtual Keyboard, choose Virtual Keyboard from the IBus menu in the GNOME panel, as shown in the following figure.

To display the configuration menu for the virtual keyboard, right-click on the Virtual Keyboard application window.

Figure 4-1 Virtual Keyboard

Internet Intranet Input Method Framework

The Internet Intranet Input Method Framework (IIIMF) is another IM Framework in Oracle Solaris 11, which has been supported since Solaris 9. IIIMF runs per user instead of as a shared system-wide process. The configuration tool for the IIIM is the Input Method Preference Editor (iiim-properties). To access the tool, choose System→Preferences→ Input Method - IIIM.

IIIMF has two very powerful Japanese language engines, ATOK and Wnn. The following procedure describes how to use the ATOK or Wnn language engines with IIIMF.

How to Use the ATOK and Wnn Language Engines With IIIMF

1. Install the following packages by using the Package Manager GUI or the pkg command:

   • IIIMF core package: system/input-method/iiim

   • ATOK package: system/input-method/iiim/atok

   • Wnn package: system/input-method/iiim/wnn

   To list the IIIMF Language Engines available for installation, run the following command:

   $ pkg list -a system/input-method/iiim/*

2. Select IIIMF in your desktop session using the Input Method Framework Selector.

   IIIMF will be used for your desktop session at the next login. (The desktop session needs to be restarted.)

3. If you are using the Wnn language engine is used,
   1. Invoke the jserver and dpkeyserv servers by issuing the following command. (Service Management privilege needed.)

      # svcadm enable wnn8/server

   2. Select the Wnn IM Language Engine in the Input Method Preference Editor (iiim-properties) tool.