[Tuxpaint-devel] Fwd: Tux Paint 'Text' tool Input Method support - can you help!?

[Bill K. <nb...@so...>]

I recently sent private email messages to some of Tux Paint's translators,
asking for help with the new Input Method feature.  Mark K. Kim, who developed
the code behind the new feature sent a follow-up message that I felt was
important to have documented somewhere.  At the very least, archived on these
lists seemed like a good idea. :^)

(Thanks, Mark!)

----- Forwarded message from "Mark K. Kim" -----

Date: Sun, 6 May 2007 19:42:28 -0700
From: "Mark K. Kim"
Subject: Re: Tux Paint 'Text' tool Input Method support - can you help!?

This is how to implement the IM in Tux Paint for most languages:

  1. Find the Unicode values for your Native Language:

     http://www.unicode.org/charts/

  2. Determine the English alphabet sequence(s) that will generate the
     unicodes in step #1.

  3. Make a *.im file using the information from step #1 and #2.

  4. Update im.c with the support for your language.

Step #4 may not be your expertise, in which case one of the coders can
help you.

For most languages, I'm guessing there is a one-keystroke-to-one-
unicode-character correlation.  Hebrew, for example, is one such
language.  These should be pretty straight-forward to code.

Some languages, however, require several keystrokes to be typed to
output a single unicode chracter, such as Japanese and Korean.  These
require a bit more understanding of the language.  Due to the
complexity, such languages require someone who can program and know the
language to program correctly.  Those I can't help you with,
unfortunately.

On Sun, May 06, 2007 at 07:12:07AM -0700, Bill Kendrick wrote:
> (PS to Mark - what kind of considerations should there be for this?
> For example, how does one decide which is/are the best key(s) to use
> for cycling through the modes, for a particular locale?)

Whoever that is coding the IM for the Language in question should know
the answer to that, but here are the details for completeness:

Mode for switching between English and the Native Language (and any mode
within the Native Language, if any) depends on the convention of the
Native Language's keyboard layout.  Here's even more details:

Some language may not even have such concept as different modes.  Many
European keyboards, for example, are similar enough to the English
keyboard that they simply do not have modes.  If there is any key
"missing" on their keyboard, they simply can't use it.  (They could
copy&paste or such to "type" them, however.)  They have "extra" keys
they need for their Native Language, however.

But languages like Korean and Japanese can't simply have their Native
Alphabets on their keyboards.  They need some sort of English-esque keys
for programming in C and typing commands onto the commandline.
Unfortunately there aren't enough keys on a keyboard to accomodate all
of the Native Alphabets as well as the English Alphabets.  So they have
a key to switch between the two languages.

For both Korean and Japanese, their native keyboards have a dedicated
key to switch between their Native Language and English.  For a
Korean-American like myself who wants to type Korean on the American
keyboard lacking a dedicated Korean/English mode-switching key, we use
the Right-Alt key as the Korean/English mode-switching key.

So the Right-Alt key is used as the Korean/English mode-switching key on
keyboards without a dedicated Korean/English mode-switching key.  This
is purely a convention set by the Korean community.  Anyone who is
implementing IM for Tux Paint for their Native Language should do the
same and use whatever convention used by their Native Community for the
mode-switching key.

Hope that helps,

-Mark


----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
-bill!
bi...@ne...
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/