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.

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 m17n

• 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 usingthe 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.

GNOME Keyboard Preferences

The Oracle Solaris 11 Desktop has more than 400 keyboard layouts available for more than 100 languages. Multiple keyboard layout variants are available for almost every language. Regardless of the keyboard layout model and physical layout, you can always configure and use any keyboard layout available in the Oracle Solaris 11 Desktop. Use the GNOME Keyboard Preferences tool to set and customize keyboard preferences such as keyboard model, layout, variant, and so on.

How to Set Keyboard Preferences and Customization

1. Choose System->Preferences->Keyboard.
   
2. Click the Layouts tab.

   The Layouts tab provides all necessary tools to set and customize the keyboard layout. You can add up to 4 different keyboard layouts and easily switch between them by using the Keyboard Layout Indicator menu in the panel or by setting a keyboard shortcut to switch between them.

   In the Layouts tab you can also customize different settings of your keyboard, such as keyboard model, specific keyboard layout variants or you can set special behavior for specific keys such as Shift, Alt, Meta, Super, Hyper, CapsLock, etc.

   The layout at the top of the list in the Layouts tab is the default layout. You can move layouts up and down in the list by using the Move Up and Move Down buttons.

   The following illustration shows the Layouts tab.

   
   

Keyboard Layout Options and Default Behavior

The following list shows the most common transactions performed in the Layouts tab in the Keyboard preferences window:

How to Add and Remove Keyboard Layouts

1. Select the desired keyboard layout by Country or by Language.
2. Click the Add button.
3. To remove a layout, select the keyboard layout you want to delete from the list.
4. Click the Remove button.

How to Add EuroSign to Certain Keys

1. Click the Options button.
2. Choose Adding EuroSign to Certain Keys.
3. Choose the desired key or keys.
4. Click the Close button.

How to Set Key Sequence to Kill the X Server

1. Click the Options button.
2. Choose Key Sequence to Kill the X Server.
3. Choose Control + Alt + Backspace.
4. Click the Close button.

How to Set a Keyboard Shortcut to Switch Between Selected Keyboard Layouts

In case you use more than one keyboard layout, you can assign a shortcut to switch between them easily.

1. Click the Options button.
2. Choose Key(s) to Change Layout.
3. Choose the desired key or keys for the shortcut.
4. Click the Close button.

GNOME Keyboard Layout Indicator (Keyboard Selector)

Keyboard Layout Indicator is automatically activated and visible on the panel when two or more keyboard layouts are selected as shown in the following figure. When only one keyboard is selected (default behavior), the Keyboard Layout Indicator is not visible on the panel.

Figure 4-2 Keyboard Layout Indicator

When the Keyboard Layout Indicator menu is activated and visible on the panel you can switch between selected keyboard layouts by using the mouse. Single click to immediately switch to the next keyboard layout. Right-click to open a menu with three options:

• Groups – Contains a list of selected keyboard layouts.

• Keyboard Preferences – Launches the Keyboard Layout Preferences window

• Show Current Layout – Launches a window with an interactive application showing the current keyboard layout.

Keyboard Layout Settings Using the X Keyboard Extension (setxkbmap)

You can use the setxkbmap(1), a command to set and customize all keyboard layout settings in the X Server from the command line rather than using the GNOME Keyboard Layout Preference tool.

The setxkbmap command maps the keyboard to use the keyboard layout determined by the options specified on the command line. Configurable options of the setxkbmap command include geometry, keyboard model, layout symbols, layout variant, rules, and the like.

The following example shows how to set two keyboard layouts (US/English and French) from the command line:

$ /usr/bin/setxkbmap us,fr

For more information, see the setxkbmap(1) man page.