Bug 150390 – [GTK][WK2] Expose GtkIMContext

• Component: WebKitGTK
• Status: RESOLVED INVALID

[Tomas Popela]

Expose the GtkIMContext in WebKit 2. Evolution is using it in composer (for saving the input history if inputs methods are active and for adding the input methods to the context menu).

[Tomas Popela]

Created attachment 263673 [details]
Patch

[WebKit Commit Bot]

Thanks for the patch. If this patch contains new public API please make sure it follows the guidelines for new WebKit2 GTK+ API. See http://trac.webkit.org/wiki/WebKitGTK/AddingNewWebKit2API

[Martin Robinson]

Instead of exposing internal API, it would be worth considering how we can expose  API to accomplish everything you need.

[Carlos Garcia Campos]

(In reply to comment #3)
> Instead of exposing internal API, it would be worth considering how we can
> expose  API to accomplish everything you need.

I agree.

[Tomas Popela]

(In reply to comment #3)
> Instead of exposing internal API, it would be worth considering how we can
> expose  API to accomplish everything you need.

OK, so we need to add two signals (the best place for it from Evolution' POV would be the WebProcess especially the WebKitWebEditor, but I didn't look if it is possible yet) that will mimic the GtkIMContext' preedit-start[0] and preedit-end signals[1].

The last thing was the gtk_im_multicontext_append_menuitems[2] functionality, but we decided that we won't include that code in WK2 port of Evolution.


[0] - https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/GtkIMContext.html#GtkIMContext-preedit-start
[1] - https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/GtkIMContext.html#GtkIMContext-preedit-end
[2] - https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/GtkIMMulticontext.html#gtk-im-multicontext-append-menuitems

[Carlos Garcia Campos]

Instead of explaining how evolution uses the IM context, it would be better to explain what for. Understanding the use case is key to provide a good API.

[Tomas Popela]

(In reply to comment #6)
> Instead of explaining how evolution uses the IM context, it would be better
> to explain what for. Understanding the use case is key to provide a good API.

I already wrote that in the first post:

"for saving the input history if inputs methods are active and for adding the input methods to the context menu"

I will describe the first use case as: 
If there is an active input method and the user writes a text with it he usually needs to write a sequence of characters to get a desired character. The thing is that we have a callback on HTML "input" event, where we are saving the undo/redo history and this callback needs to be suppressed when there is active GtkIMContext's preedit phase.

The second case is self-explanatory.

[Tomas Popela]

I'm closing this as Martin pointer me to [0] that perfectly fits our needs.

[0] - https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/CompositionEvent