Re: Input methods

["Matthias Clasen" <matthias clasen gmail com>]

On 3/23/06, Joachim Noreiko <jnoreiko yahoo com> wrote:
>
> The questions I need to answer are:
> * why would a user use this menu?
> * what happens when they use it?
> * in particular, how do each of the options work? How
> does a user, say, type in Amharic characters once they
> have selected the Amharic input method? Is it just
> like setting the keyboard language?
>
> So... correct me if I'm wrong, but is this just an
> alternative way of setting your keyboard language if
> you're running GNOME on something other than Linux and
> X.org, and the regular pref tool doesn't work?

An input method is a way of entering characters which may not
be directly enterable with a single key on your keyboard, it is not directly
related to your "keyboard language" or keyboard layout. The keyboard layout
determines what key event are being generated when you press certain keys,
an input method decides how to turn those events into characters. Examples
are typing "C-S-u 1 2 3"  to enter the ģ character (this way of entering
Unicode characters is part of the default GTK+ input method support), or
typing "Multi-key / o" to enter an "o with stroke" character.

I am not aware of tables or other documentation explaining the key sequences
understood by the input methods we ship with GTK+, which is one of the
reasons why it is a good idea to use a desktopwide framework like iiimf or scim.

Matthias