TestIME

I found out that there is an incomprehensible problem when I input Korean to SDL2 with Ibus on Linux. It would not be easy to analyze either side, so I decided to simply recreate this bug with python.

After finishing this work, I thought that if I organize the results well, it could be used as a test tool, so I continued to work on it.

Run

python3 testime.py

Also you can run a batch test from the command line.

python3 -m test.batch_test
python3 -m test.batch_test IBus 2bulsik
python3 -m test.batch_test IBus 3bulsik
python3 -m test.batch_test Fcitx 2bulsik
python3 -m test.batch_test Fcitx 3bulsik

Todo

• gui log
• view text and preedit text in different color
• backspace handling
• finish keysym, keycode and modifiers conversion
• fcitx
• batch test set on GUI
• batch test set on command line
• cursor positon
• lookup table position(?)
• other language and IME(?)

System and tools version

• ubuntu 20.04
• ibus 1.5.22
• fcitx version: 4.2.9.7
• python 3.8.2
• pip3 install pyside2

IBus

IBus have the following conventions:

• Input method engine (IME): Actual input method.
• Configuration: Handles the configuration for IBus and other services such as IME.
• Panel: User interface such as language bar and candidate selection table.

IBus is almost standard input protocol, so I thought it would be well managed, but there's no protocol description. Furthermore python source code in github was also old version, so it dosen't work.

• It's hard to understand for me because IBus highly depends on GLib/Gnome.
• it hides the dbus protocol.

After a few attempts I give up making a protype with IBus and I decided to make it with direct DBus protocol. TT

DBus library and python bindings

many dbus implementations

• libdbus
• GDBus
• QtDBus
• sd-dbus

python bindings

• dbus-python
• pydbus
• GDbus python binging
• QtDBus with PyQt5 / PySide2
• pysdbus

After several trials and errors, I selected dbus-python and PySide2.

DConf (for future reference)

I want to know current status of IBus hangul and contol with DBus if possible. But it seems to store setting data using DConf instead of DBus property.

dconf list /org/freedesktop/ibus/engine/hangul/
auto-reorder
hangul-keyboard
hanja-keys
initial-input-mode
switch-keys
word-commit

Reference

• https://seoyoungjin.github.io/ibus/text%20input/IBus/
• https://lispholic.tistory.com/38
• http://0pointer.net/blog/the-new-sd-bus-api-of-systemd.html