Workshops & BoFs/2011/Input methods and Qt5

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This is a proposed workshop for the DesktopSummit 2011

See all proposed sessions, or the Workshops & BoFs webpage for more information.

Title

Input methods and Qt5

Description

The goal of this workshop is to improve the input methods support in Qt. We will start off with a new API proposal, followed by a proper API review during the workshop. The outcome of the workshop will be a series of patches, targeting Qt5.

Features we aim to improve:

  • Better text entry introspection through a generic QFocusable interface (or proxy object, if QObject functionality is required). This removes the QInputContext dependency on QWidget and will help with input method support for QML.
  • Input widget relocation. On handsets or other mobile devices with touch input, cursor visibility needs to be automated, especially when using a virtual keyboard. The concept of an input method area should be introduced so that input context implementations can take care of such relocations.
  • Preedit activation and injection. Explicit API is required, especially when it comes to CJK language support, as such languages heavily depend on input method engines support.
  • A QAction API that allows the input context to send commands to the focused text entry, such as cut, copy and paste.
  • Better focus change detection.
  • Explicit orientation change support.
  • Direct mode support for input context. This will allow to remove the different handling of hardware and software keyboards, thus providing a simpler and unified text input abstraction.
  • On-the-fly validation of preedit. In certain cases, the preedit string is the likely commit string. An application could then start input validation on the fly, which can provide better user feedback.

Hosts

  • Michael Hasselmann (michaelh@openismus.com)
  • Jon Nordby (jonn@openismus.com)

Format

Workshop

Expected number of participants

10-20

Expected duration of Workshop

2h

Participants

Qt developers should indicate whether they can attend this session.

Additional requirements

Not at same time as Input methods and Wayland or Maliit input methods for integrators and developers, please.