LanguageSelectorImprovements

Differences between revisions 7 and 8
⇤ ← Revision 7 as of 2006-02-04 09:57:27 →
Size: 2138
Editor: 82
Comment: fix launchpad link
← Revision 8 as of 2006-02-22 11:14:35 → ⇥
Size: 2667
Editor: p54A652EB
Comment: added suggestions by mark
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
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Language selector should offer a way to set the system-wide keyboard as well. Language selector should offer more suppot than installing langauge-packs and setting /etc/environment. It should take care of setting a a system-wide keyboard and the required input methods, fonts and dictionaries as well.
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Once the system is installed it's not easy to setup a system wide default keyboard (e.g. for gdm). Once the system is installed it's not easy to add a new language, there is too much hand-holding needed and configurations that need to be changed by hand.
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Bob switched to dvorak and wants to have this layout system-wide. Bob switched to dvorak and wants to have this layout system-wide. The computer is used by a new user how speaks arabic and wants fonts, input methods, dictionaries etc setup.
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Langauage selector needs to be modified.  Langauage selector needs to be modified.
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Key ideas: There are various different goals here:
 1. Keyboard selection
 1. Input methods
 1. Font selection
 1. Dictionaries
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 * The default layout should be automatically suggested from the selected language. === Keyboard selection ===
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 * The default keyboard layout should be automatically suggested from the selected language.
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=== Input methods ===

=== Font selection ===

=== Dictionaries ===

Summary

Language selector should offer more suppot than installing langauge-packs and setting /etc/environment. It should take care of setting a a system-wide keyboard and the required input methods, fonts and dictionaries as well.

Rationale

Once the system is installed it's not easy to add a new language, there is too much hand-holding needed and configurations that need to be changed by hand.

Use cases

Bob switched to dvorak and wants to have this layout system-wide. The computer is used by a new user how speaks arabic and wants fonts, input methods, dictionaries etc setup.

Scope

Langauage selector needs to be modified.

Design

There are various different goals here:

  1. Keyboard selection
  2. Input methods
  3. Font selection
  4. Dictionaries

Keyboard selection

  • The default keyboard layout should be automatically suggested from the selected language.
  • relationship between language and layout
  • simple list of those relationships to choose default
  • list includes only what is installed, rather than the entire set of languages (and you click 'add...' to install more)
  • unsure if there's a standard place to store the selection of relationships

Example how others do it: ["http://www.muhammadanism.org/Unicode/text_services_input_languages_xp.gif"]

Input methods

Font selection

Dictionaries

Implementation

There are three things to do here:

  1. change gdm so that it reads a gconf (root) variable to setup it's keyboard
  2. have a sensible way to configure the keyboard in language-selector
  3. make sure that the user gets the updated keyboard if he hasn't configured his own

gdm

The gdm keyboard setting can be applied using: 

setxkbmap - layout ... -model ... -option .. -print | xkbcomp - :0.0

Finding available keyboard

The gnome-control-center keyboard capplet has code to figure the list of available keyboards and already maps keyboard layout and languages.

users keyboard

It should just work, if no settings are done by the user, the layout shouldn't changed.

Code

Data preservation and migration

Outstanding issues

BoF agenda and discussion

CategorySpec

LanguageSelectorImprovements (last edited 2008-08-06 16:26:47 by localhost)