nixpkgs/nixos/modules/i18n/input-method/default.xml

<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
         version="5.0"
         xml:id="module-services-input-methods">

<title>Input Methods</title>

<para>Input methods are an operating system component that allows any data, such
  as keyboard strokes or mouse movements, to be received as input. In this way
  users can enter characters and symbols not found on their input devices. Using
  an input method is obligatory for any language that has more graphemes than
  there are keys on the keyboard.</para>

<para>The following input methods are available in NixOS:</para>

<itemizedlist>
  <listitem><para>IBus: The intelligent input bus.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Fcitx: A customizable lightweight input
      method.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Nabi: A Korean input method based on XIM.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Uim: The universal input method, is a library with a XIM
      bridge.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<section><title>IBus</title>

<para>IBus is an Intelligent Input Bus. It provides full featured and user
  friendly input method user interface.</para>

<para>The following snippet can be used to configure IBus:</para>

<programlisting>
i18n.inputMethod = {
  <link linkend="opt-i18n.inputMethod.enabled">enabled</link> = "ibus";
  <link linkend="opt-i18n.inputMethod.ibus.engines">ibus.engines</link> = with pkgs.ibus-engines; [ anthy hangul mozc ];
};
</programlisting>

<para><literal>i18n.inputMethod.ibus.engines</literal> is optional and can be
  used to add extra IBus engines.</para>

<para>Available extra IBus engines are:</para>

<itemizedlist>
  <listitem><para>Anthy (<literal>ibus-engines.anthy</literal>): Anthy is a
      system for Japanese input method. It converts Hiragana text to Kana Kanji
      mixed text.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Hangul (<literal>ibus-engines.hangul</literal>): Korean input
      method.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>m17n (<literal>ibus-engines.m17n</literal>): m17n is an input
      method that uses input methods and corresponding icons in the m17n
      database.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>mozc (<literal>ibus-engines.mozc</literal>): A Japanese input
      method from Google.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Table (<literal>ibus-engines.table</literal>): An input method
      that load tables of input methods.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>table-others (<literal>ibus-engines.table-others</literal>):
      Various table-based input methods. To use this, and any other table-based
      input methods, it must appear in the list of engines along with
      <literal>table</literal>. For example:
<programlisting>
ibus.engines = with pkgs.ibus-engines; [ table table-others ];
</programlisting>
  </para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>To use any input method, the package must be added in the configuration,
  as shown above, and also (after running <literal>nixos-rebuild</literal>) the
  input method must be added from IBus' preference dialog.</para>

<simplesect>
  <title>Troubleshooting</title>
  <para>If IBus works in some applications but not others, a likely cause of
  this is that IBus is depending on a different version of
  <literal>glib</literal> to what the applications are depending on. This can
  be checked by running <literal>nix-store -q --requisites &lt;path&gt; | grep
  glib</literal>, where <literal>&lt;path&gt;</literal> is the path of either
  IBus or an application in the Nix store. The <literal>glib</literal>
  packages must match exactly. If they do not, uninstalling and reinstalling
  the application is a likely fix.</para>
</simplesect>
</section>

<section><title>Fcitx</title>

<para>Fcitx is an input method framework with extension support. It has three
  built-in Input Method Engine, Pinyin, QuWei and Table-based input
  methods.</para>
<para>The following snippet can be used to configure Fcitx:</para>

<programlisting>
i18n.inputMethod = {
  <link linkend="opt-i18n.inputMethod.enabled">enabled</link> = "fcitx";
  <link linkend="opt-i18n.inputMethod.fcitx.engines">fcitx.engines</link> = with pkgs.fcitx-engines; [ mozc hangul m17n ];
};
</programlisting>

<para><literal>i18n.inputMethod.fcitx.engines</literal> is optional and can be
  used to add extra Fcitx engines.</para>

<para>Available extra Fcitx engines are:</para>

<itemizedlist>
  <listitem><para>Anthy (<literal>fcitx-engines.anthy</literal>): Anthy is a
      system for Japanese input method. It converts Hiragana text to Kana Kanji
      mixed text.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Chewing (<literal>fcitx-engines.chewing</literal>): Chewing is
      an intelligent Zhuyin input method. It is one of the most popular input
      methods among Traditional Chinese Unix users.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Hangul (<literal>fcitx-engines.hangul</literal>): Korean input
      method.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Unikey (<literal>fcitx-engines.unikey</literal>): Vietnamese input
      method.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>m17n (<literal>fcitx-engines.m17n</literal>): m17n is an input
      method that uses input methods and corresponding icons in the m17n
      database.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>mozc (<literal>fcitx-engines.mozc</literal>): A Japanese input
      method from Google.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>table-others (<literal>fcitx-engines.table-others</literal>):
      Various table-based input methods.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</section>

<section><title>Nabi</title>

<para>Nabi is an easy to use Korean X input method. It allows you to enter
  phonetic Korean characters (hangul) and pictographic Korean characters
  (hanja).</para>
<para>The following snippet can be used to configure Nabi:</para>

<programlisting>
i18n.inputMethod = {
  <link linkend="opt-i18n.inputMethod.enabled">enabled</link> = "nabi";
};
</programlisting>
</section>

<section><title>Uim</title>

<para>Uim (short for "universal input method") is a multilingual input method
  framework. Applications can use it through so-called bridges.</para>
<para>The following snippet can be used to configure uim:</para>

<programlisting>
i18n.inputMethod = {
  <link linkend="opt-i18n.inputMethod.enabled">enabled</link> = "uim";
};
</programlisting>

<para>Note: The <xref linkend="opt-i18n.inputMethod.uim.toolbar"/> option can be
  used to choose uim toolbar.</para>

</section>
</chapter>