[SCIM] How to create a new IME on Linux in about 15 minutes with SCIM and m17n

[LiuCougar]

Thanks a lot for your contribution.

Do you mind to make a html version of this doc? Maybe in scim wiki homepage?

I think it would be helpful if you supply x-sampa.mim for user to download ;)

Regards,
Cougar
On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 01:54:46 +0200, David <david at plm11.pl> wrote:
> *This message was transferred with a trial version of CommuniGate(tm) Pro*
> I would like to share with everybody the result of my test of making new
> input method with m17n and using it with SCIM.
> This was said before on this list, but not so clearly and I was still a
> little confused. I think bringing it all together will help.
> 
> It is so simple, that you can really have a new input method in a matter
> of minutes. But, even though so simple, this method can be very useful.
> 
> In the near future I will need to input some IPA (International Phonetic
> Alphabet). I decided it would be useful to have a simple way to write
> IPA with standard English keyboard. There is a standard for
> transliterating IPA with ASCII symbols - X-SAMPA. Let's create x-sampa IME.
> 
> I would like to quote Mr Kenichi Handa, who explained a few days ago how
> to add new input method to m17n:
> 
> BEGIN QUOTE
> 
> It is fairly easy to add an input method for the m17n
> database (m17n-db) which is used by scim-m17n.  (...)
> 
> This is the main page of the m17n-lib and m17n-db:
>         http://www.m17n.org/m17n-lib/
> 
> This page describes the format of input method data:
>         http://www.m17n.org/m17n-lib/m17n-docs/m17nDBFormat.html#mdbIM
> 
> This page provides short explanations for each input method:
>         http://www.m17n.org/m17n-lib/m17n-docs/m17nDBData.html#mim-list
> 
> When you create a new XXX.mim file, put it under the
> directory where the m17n-db is installed (ususally,
> /usr/share/m17n or /usr/local/share/m17n).  Edit the file
> mdb.dir in the same directory and add this line:
> (input-method LL NAME "XXX.mim)
> LL is a two letter language code of ISO639-1 (e.g. "vi" for
> Vietnamese), NAME to identify the input method.
> 
> That's all.
> 
> END QUOTE
> 
> This is really all you need to know to successfuly  add new input
> method. It is enough to write correct *.mim file, register it in mdb.dir
> and voila...
> er... almost.  I had to reboot twice, before it really worked.  Read on.
> 
> I guess you noticed the words "correct *.mim file".  If you make a
> mistake, SCIM will not load your new input table. How will you know,
> whether it is some misconfiguration or your error? How you can check
> whether your IME can be loaded?
> 
> I did not know that either. To find out I made a copy of a few lines
> from James Su code (scim_m17n_imengine.cpp) responsible for loading
> m17lib IMEs. Please copy these lines to a file , let's call it
> "imelist.cpp":
> 
> -- BEGIN CUT --
> #include <iostream>
> #include <m17n.h>
> 
> int main()
> {
>     MPlist *imlist, *elm;
>     MSymbol utf8 = msymbol("utf8");
>     M17N_INIT();
>     imlist = mdatabase_list(msymbol("input-method"), Mnil, Mnil, Mnil);
>     for (elm = imlist; elm && mplist_key(elm) != Mnil; elm =
> mplist_next(elm)) {
>         MDatabase *mdb = (MDatabase *) mplist_value(elm);
>         MSymbol *tag = mdatabase_tag(mdb);
>         if (tag[1] != Mnil) {
>             MInputMethod *im = minput_open_im(tag[1], tag[2], NULL);
>             if (im) {
>                 std::cout << msymbol_name (im->language);
>                 std::cout << "-";
>                 std::cout << msymbol_name (im->name);
>                 std::cout << "\n";
>             }
>         }
>     }
>     M17N_FINI();
> }
> -- END CUT --
> 
> Compile it with "g++ -lm17n -o imelist imelist.cpp".
> 
> Now, if you run the program "imelist", it will list all the imes that
> SCIM will load. If you make a mistake in your table, it will not get
> listed, so you know you have to correct it.
> 
> Let us continue our example. I decided that my input will be called x-sampa.
> 
> So, we create a file for new input:
> cd /usr/share/m17n
> touch x-sampa.mim
> 
> ... and register it in the database. This is how it looks in "mdb.dir"
> in my case:
> (input-method t x-sampa "x-sampa.mim")
> 
> Now we add a few entries to the table. It looks like this at the moment:
> 
> -- BEGIN CUT --
> 
> ;;; <li> x-sampa.mim
> ;;;
> ;;; Input method for IPA script with ASCII letters.
> 
> (title "x-sampa")
> 
> (map
>   (trans
> 
> ("&" "æ")
> ("C" "ç")
> ("D" "ð")
> ("2" "ø")
> ("X\\" "ħ")
> ("N" "ŋ")
> ("9" "œ")
> ("B" "ƀ")
> ("p_<" "ƥ")
> ("t_j" "ƫ")
> ("t_<" "ƭ")
> ("dz)" "ƻ")
> ("|\\" "ǀ")
> ("|\\|\\" "ǁ")
> ("=\\" "ǂ")
> ("!\\" "ǃ")
>    ))
> 
> (state
>   (init
>     (trans)))
> 
> -- END CUT --
> 
> Learn from the files in m17n directory.
> 
> Well, lets check:
> ./imelist
> 
> (...)
> zh-py
> t-latin-post
> t-unicode
> t-x-sampa
> 
> OK, it's listed. Now, in my case even after reboot I could not use it in
> skim. It was not listed in the "Other" group. I had to go to
> configuration panel, (it was listed there) disable it, save, and
> re-enable it. It still did not work. I closed the skim which immediately
> caused gtk panell to start. GTK configuration panel did not list x-sampa
> at all. I rebooted again, and this time everything was OK. I could
> select my new IME and write a few "words" with it. It works, and
> creating it was simple.
> 
> I think this description lacks a lot, I probabely made mistakes, but I
> was looking for something like this on the net and did not find
> anything. I believe it can help many people, as (you can see for
> yourself) you do not have to be a programmer to be able to quickly
> create quite sofisticated IMEs (even like Chinese or Korean).
> 
> Best regards,
> David
> 
> PS: Critical comments most welcome :-)
> 
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> http://freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/scim
> 



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