TheIntelligent Input Bus (IBus, pronounced as I-Bus) is aninput method (IM) framework formultilingual input inUnix-like operating-systems. The name "Bus" comes from itsbus-like architecture.
The draftSpecification of IM engine Service Provider Interface[2] document from the Northeast Asia OSS Forum[3] Work Group 3 recommends bus-centric IM framework architectures with a bus implementation (similar to dbus). According to the specification,SCIM-1.4 is not considered suitable for further development as it is developed in C++, which usually causesABI transition problems.[4]
Since then, succeeding projects likeIM-BUS (led byJames Su) and SCIM-2 (led byZheng Hu) were started. However, both projects are suspended. Therefore,Huang Peng fromRed Hat established the IBus project to prove the idea of IM-BUS by using Python,D-Bus andGLib rather than implementing the functions recommended by CJK OSS forum. In spite of that, IBus has gained community acceptance, andFreeBSD and many Linux distribution such asFedora andUbuntu already have IBus in their package repositories. In 2009, IBus became the default input method framework in Fedora 11,[5] and replaced SCIM in Ubuntu 9.10.[6]
IBus is developed inC andPython, thus avoiding theC++ABI transition problem ofSCIM <1.4.14.
IBus provides most of its functionality through services. There are three kinds of services:
Input method engine (IME): Actual input method
Configuration: Handles the configuration for IBus and other services such as IME
Panel: User interface such as language bar and candidate selection table
IBus employsD-Bus to communicate among ibus-daemon, services, and IM clients such as terminal emulators, editors and web browsers. ibus-daemon manages all clients and services by receiving registrations from services, and sending D-Bus messages to corresponding services and IM clients.
It implements theXIM protocol, and hasGTK andQt input method modules.
ibus-chewing: An intelligent Chinese Phonetic IME forZhùyīn users. It is based onlibChewing.
ibus-hangul: A Korean IME
ibus-libpinyin: A newer Chinese IME for Pinyin users. Designed by Huang Peng and Peng Wu.
ibus-libthai: A Thai IME based on libthai
ibus-libzhuyin:[12] An engine for theZhùyīn ("bopomofo") input method (an alternative to ibus-chewing)
ibus-m17n: Amultilingualism IME which allows input of many languages using the input methods from m17n-db. See more details in#ibus-m17n.
ibus-mozc: A plugin to the Japanese IME "mozc" developed by Google[13]
ibus-pinyin: An intelligent Chinese Phonetic IME forHanyu pinyin users. Designed by Huang Peng (main author of IBus) and has many advanced features such as English spell checking. Deprecated and replaced with ibus-libpinyin (see above)
ibus-table: An IME that accommodates table-based IMs. See more details in#ibus-table.
ibus-unikey: An IME for typing Vietnamese characters
ibus-m17n is an IME that uses input methods and corresponding icons in the multinationalization database, abbreviated to thenumeronym "m17n". Unlike ibus-table which supports plain tables, m17n input methods also support states, whose labels are displayed on the IBus panel (language bar). M17n input methods also support surrounding text, consequently, languages such asThai and IMs such as plainZhuyin that require this feature are supported through ibus-m17n, as ispinyin with diacritics for thefour tones.
ibus-table, developed by Yu Wei Yu, is an IME that loads tables of input methods which do not need complicated logic to select words.[14] Many structure-based Chinese input methods such asCangjie andWubi are supported this way.
^"Releases/11/FeatureList".The Fedora Project. 8 April 2009. Archived fromthe original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved26 October 2019.A new default input method framework under active development which is designed to overcome the limitations of SCIM.
^"KarmicKoala/TechnicalOverview - Ubuntu Wiki".Ubuntu. 28 October 2009. Archived fromthe original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved26 October 2019.Ubuntu has switched to IBus as preferred input method framework. Unlike the previously used SCIM, IBus is under active development and fixes a number of SCIM's design limitations.
^"Mozc - a Japanese Input Method Editor designed for multi-platform".GitHub. 25 February 2018. Archived fromthe original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved26 October 2019.Mozc is a Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) designed for multi-platform such as Android OS, Apple OS X, Chromium OS, GNU/Linux and Microsoft Windows. This OpenSource project originates from Google Japanese Input.
