strans

An input method daemon for CJK text entry on X11.

Inspired by 9front's ktrans. Threads communicate via CSP channels.

Dependencies

• plan9port
• gtk+-3.0 (optional, for GTK IM module)

Build

make
cd xim && make                          # XIM adapter
cd gtk && make docker && make install   # GTK IM module

Run

./strans map font &

For XIM apps:

./xim/strans-xim &
XMODIFIERS=@im=strans xterm

For GTK apps:

GTK_IM_MODULE=strans gedit

Usage

Switch input modes with Ctrl + key:

N  Hiragana
K  Katakana
S  Hangul
T  English
V  Vietnamese (Telex)
E  Emoji

Type romanized input. Select candidates with 1-9 or arrow keys. Tab or Enter to commit.

Architecture

Four threads communicate via CSP channels:

• imthread: keystroke processing, transliteration
• dictthread: dictionary lookup
• drawthread: preedit window rendering
• srvthread: IPC via unix socket

Adapters (strans-xim, im-strans.so) bridge X11/GTK events.

Files

strans.c    input method engine
dict.c      dictionary queries
win.c       xcb window management
font.c      truetype rendering (stb_truetype)
map/        transliteration tables
font/       bundled CJK fonts

References

• https://git.9front.org/plan9front/plan9front/HEAD/info.html
• https://np.mkv.li/kor/9front-ktrans-%ED%95%9C%EA%B8%80-%EB%98%91%EB%B0%94%EB%A1%9C-%EB%A7%8C%EB%93%A4%EA%B8%B0/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telex_(input_method)
• https://gist.github.com/hieuthi/0f5adb7d3f79e7fb67e0e499004bf558