[griffith-lug] Re: scim/skim chinese (and other non-latin/heiroglyphic) char input methods on debian/linux
- From: Bernard Gray <bernard_gray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Bernard Gray <bernard_gray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 15:28:27 +1000
Hi All,
I've been investigating chinese character input methods on the our linux
desktops for one of our export sales people - it turns out there was a lot
of disparate information all over the web, so I've tried to consolidate and
break it down into easier to understand pieces. I figured some of you may
be interested in the results.
The stuff below will get you started with any qt or gtk apps on a debian
based distro (except for OpenOffice on debian sid - apparently it's fine on
Debian Sarge, and Ubuntu Intrepid).
Description:
scim is an input method for non-latin characters on US and similar
keyboards.
skim is a kde frontend to scim which gives you a taskbar and small floating
icon where you can switch language. It will also work on gnome and any
other DE with taskbar support
You will need to make sure you have font packs installed for the languages
you want to use, this guide only covers chinese fonts
Installation:
Step 1 - Install required packages:
Generic scim:
apt-get install scim-bridge-agent scim-modules-socket scim-uim
Chinese scim tables:
apt-get install scim-pinyin scim-tables-zh
Other lang tables:
apt-get install scim-tables-additional
Qt/KDE skim:
apt-get install scim-bridge-client-qt scim-qtimm skim
Gtk/Gnome scim:
apt-get install scim-gtk2-immodule scim-bridge-client-gtk
Chinese Fonts:
apt-get install ttf-arphic-gkai00mp ttf-arphic-gbsn00lp ttf-arphic-bsmi00lp
ttf-arphic-bkai00mp
Step 2 - start the skim taskbar applet:
In kde it's under k-menu -> utilities -> skim
I right-click the icon, choose configure and set the following:
panel -> main toolbar -> check "Always Show" [3]
panel -> system tray icon -> check "Enable quit action in right click
menu"
Step 3 - test it out:
To test a gtk app (eg firefox), run the following as the normal user:
GTK_IM_MODULE=scim firefox
for a qt app (eg kate):
QT_IM_MODULE=scim kate
Once the app starts, you can enable the alternate input methods by hitting
ctrl+space - the floating skim bar should alternate between
English/Keyboard and UIM-direct - when you see UIM-direct you can change to
your input language of choice by left clicking the UIM-direct button and
choosing from the menu.
Step 4 - make it permanent:
as the normal user, run:
im-switch -s skim
restart x (or reboot the machine) and ctrl+space switch should work for any
text input field in any application :)
Note: make sure you are not exporting the above *IM_MODULES variables
anywhere once you have setup im-switch.
A quick glance at the rest of the languages supported by this setup -
Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Thai, Vietnamese and a stack more. Please feel free
to pass this on if you know of anyone who might find it useful -
Regards,
Bernie
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