how to use ibus?

[beemzet]

Hi all,

I want to use russian, korean and english with iBus. These are the shortcuts to control ibus:
Enable or Disable: Control + space
Next input method: Control + Alt + space

Input methods are Russian-kbd and Korean-Hangul, in the order presented.


Now, when I want to type in russian, then I have to hit Control + space, but when I want to use Korean I have to hit Control + Alt + space. And when I want to switch to english, I have to hit Control + space, which, in my opinion, is inconsistent. Is there a way that I can set up ibus to function the same way as windows or mac os x?

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

[khughitt]

I'd also be interested to see if anyone is successfully using this on Ubuntu 9.04/9.10, specifically for Traditional Chinese Pinyin input?

[jastonas]

What is Ibus?

[khughitt]

ibus (http://code.google.com/p/ibus/) is software for inputting foreign characters (Chinese, Korean, etc), similar to SCIM.

I've actually been using it for the past several months, and I really like it.

[davescafe]

I am completely new to IBus, but I need to input Korean and so I have been experimenting with IBus tonight. I am using Ubuntu 9.10.

Start IBus
Navigate to the menu:

System >> Preferences >> IBus Preferences

You will see a message which reads:

IBus daemon is not started. Do you want to start it now?

Click, "Yes"
After clicking yes, I received the following message:

IBus has been started! If you can not use IBus, please add below lines in $HOME/.bashrc, and relogin your desktop.
export GTK_IM_MODULE=ibus
export XMODIFIERS=@im=ibus
export QT_IM_MODULE=ibus

I have not been able to see any difference that these lines make in the ~/.bashrc file. I added these lines and rebooted and then did some testing. Then I took the lines out, rebooted again, and tested again. The behavior of IBus is the same for me either way.

IBus Preferences
Here is what I selected for Korean input:
General (tab)
Check: Show input method name on language bar
Input Method (tab)
Select an input method: Korean >> han2
Click the button: Add

PROBLEM: IBus doesn't start automatically when I restart my computer
Here is how I solved the problem:
Go to the menu:
System >> Preferences >> Startup Applications
Click the button: Add
Name: IBus daemon
Command: /usr/bin/ibus-daemon -d
Comment: start IBus daemon when Gnome starts

IBus usage tips

• Input methods can be selected by clicking on an icon (of a keyboard and a tiny globe) in the notification area (the upper right part of the top edge panel)
• If you click on the icon and it says, "No input window" that just means that there is no window currently selected where text can be entered. Open up a text editor or click some place where text can be entered, and then go back to the IBus icon. You should see the selection of input methods.

Edit: added full path to ibus-daemon

[Frantic_Earthling]

Davescafe, many thanks for your tip on how to get iBus to start automatically. Works perfectly!



PROBLEM: IBus doesn't start automatically when I restart my computer
Here is how I solved the problem:
Go to the menu:
System >> Preferences >> Startup Applications
Click the button: Add
Name: IBus daemon
Command: /usr/bin/ibus-daemon -d
Comment: start IBus daemon when Gnome starts

[alexyz]

edit: actually below is wrong. You do not need to run ibus as a startup program if you set it to the default input system: System > Administration > Language Support

I was having trouble with the iBus panel applet. When auto-started, the daemon was running, input worked, but no panel applet. When I ran it manually the panel applet showed up. Fixed after I did this setting in iBus preferences:

General (tab)
Check: Show input method name on language bar

In other words, you MUST select "show input method name on language bar" to make the applet show up when auto-started. Apparently this is not necessary when running it manually.

huh, is that THE davescafe??

[T4K3Z0U]

I have not been able to see any difference that these lines make in the ~/.bashrc file. I added these lines and rebooted and then did some testing. Then I took the lines out, rebooted again, and tested again. The behavior of IBus is the same for me either way.

Could you tell me where exactly those 3 lines of text go? I have searched and searched, but don't have any file/folder labeled .bashrc hidden or otherwise. I have no clue what I should do.
SCIM isn't working for me which is why I am trying IBus.

• If you click on the icon and it says, "No input window" that just means that there is no window currently selected where text can be entered. Open up a text editor or click some place where text can be entered, and then go back to the IBus icon. You should see the selection of input methods.

I get this message in the search bar on google and in Open Office. So it seems for now, I do not have the ability to use other languages.

I'm running 9.10

[bruno.braga]

I'd also be interested to see if anyone is successfully using this on Ubuntu 9.04/9.10, specifically for Traditional Chinese Pinyin input?

I did actually, after some work (just follow what people wrote here). If you want it to work without rebooting or logging out, just restart the ibus daemon:

$ killall ibus-daemon 2>/dev/null
$ ibus-daemon -d &