Qt InputMethods Module

The Qt InputMethods module offers a range of input methods suitable for different use cases. This module is based on the Base module.

The following configure line can be used to build the Base and InputMethods module only:

    ./configure -modules inputmethods -device xyz

Note that not specifying a device profile would result in the reference device being build.

Feature description

The Qt Extended InputMethods module provides the variety of input methods suitable for different use cases. New input method plug-ins can be added by implementing the QtopiaInputMethod interface. Together with input/output related classes it builds the framework for input method plug-ins. For more architecture details see the IM class overview.

Feature	Details
Phone Keys	This input methods is intended for use with keypad buttons using the standard 0-9, * and # keys. A dictionary is used to determine the most likely intended input.
Full Screen Handwriting	This input method can be used when using a pointing device such as a mouse or touchscreen. Text is entered by drawing a character at a time. Multiple strokes can be used to compose characters.
Virtual keyboards	Virtual keyboards show a simplified keyboard on the screen. The user enters text by clicking on the appropriate buttons. Qt Extended offers two types of virtual keyboards: The predictive keyboard is designed for fingers which are less accurate than pointing devices. It uses a dictionary to resolve possible ambiguities. The Standard Keyboard shows a qwerty keyboard. Pressing a key on the keyboard creates a key event for that key and passes it on to the focus widget.
Input hinting	An input widget may hint what type of input it expects. This enables input methods to provide more targets input forms. A hint may for example be `words` (dictionary can be used), `phone` (phone number is expected) or `text` (name or password). Depending on the input method the actual behaviour may differ.
Dictionary lookup	Qt Extended incorporates language specific dictionaries. This allows spell checking, guessing of input (e.g. when using PhoneKeys) or can be used to remove ambiguities in the case of the predictive keyboard.

The InputMethod module includes the following software components:

The exact list of components included in this module can be found in $QPEDIR/src/module_inputmethods.pri.

The test plan for the InputMethod module summarizes the Quality Assurance procedures for this module. The results of these test are available here.

The following table contains all classes and services which are part of this module:

InputMethodSelector	Provides the user-visible aspects of the Input Method system
InputMethod	The InputMethod service
InputMethods	Implementation of Qt Extended server input method handling
PkIM	Input method based on a standard telephone keypad. Also provides full screen handwriting input
QIMPenChar	Handles a single character for the stroke recognition libraries
QIMPenCharSet	Maintains a set of related characters

Qt Extended 4.4.3