emacle / emacs-smart-input-source

Switch OS-native or Emacs-native input source smartly.

README

About

This package provide several modes to switch OS-native or Emacs-native input source smartly:

• A global mode: smart-input-source-global-respect-mode to respect buffer/mode by proper input source
  1. Respect start: start Emacs with specified language.
  2. Respect evil: switch to English when leaving evil insert mode.
  3. Respect minibuffer: switch to English when enter minibuffer.
  4. Respect prefix key: switch to English for C-c / C-x / C-h and more.
  5. Respect buffer: recover buffer input source when it regain focus.
• A buffer local mode: smart-input-source-follow-context-mode to switch input source smarted according to context. It also has a global version smart-input-source-global-follow-context-mode to enable the mode for all buffers. When to switch input source by following context can be configured easily by a variable, whose default value indicates when entering evil insert mode.
• A buffer local mode: smart-input-source-inline-mode to enable the automatically triggering of a temporary overlay to input English/other language and then back to original input source without switching input sources manually. It also has a global version smart-input-source-global-inline-mode to enable the mode for all buffers.
• A global mode: smart-input-source-global-cursor-color-mode to automatically change cursor color according to current input source.

Features

1. Ease the use of OS-native input source, no need to change use experience.
2. Ease the use of Emacs-native input source, for further compatibility.
3. Support GUI Emacs, as well as Terminal Emacs.
4. Easy to install and configure. No further configuration for GUI Emacs Mac Port with Sogou Input.
5. Automatically change cursor color according to current input source.
6. Respect buffer/mode by proper input source:
   1. Respect start: start Emacs with specified language.
   2. Respect evil: switch to English when leaving evil insert mode.
   3. Respect minibuffer: switch to English when enter minibuffer.
   4. Respect prefix key: switch to English for C-c / C-x / C-h and more.
   5. Respect buffer: recover buffer input source when it regain focus.
7. Support inline English and inline other language region. Features of the inline region (inline english as an example):
   1. Inserting space around none-English characters triggers the region (two consecutive spaces for inline other language region).
   2. In this mode, English will be sticked.
   3. Region is closed when: a. Cursor leaves the region b. Return is pressed. c. Two consecutive space are input (can be configured to one space).
   4. If the region ends with space, none-English input source will be selected, otherwise English input source is retained.
   5. After the close of the region, one space (can be configured) in the head and tail respectively (if exists) of the region will be deleted. But if the whole region is blank, the no character will be deleted.
8. Switch input source according to context:
   1. Pre-configured for entering evil insert mode.
   2. For native emacs user, you can configure by easily set a variable.
9. Input source switching rules are designed carefully, for pure English editing, input source will never be switched to other languages.

Install

Just install smart-input-source from melpa.

Prepare input source manager (ISM)

Emacs-native input method

Here uses rime as an example:

(smart-input-source-ism-lazyman-config nil "rime" 'emacs)

MacOS

The default MacOS input sources are shown in the following.

;; Not needed if your input sources are the same with the default values
(smart-input-source-ism-lazyman-config
 "com.apple.keylayout.US"
 "com.sogou.inputmethod.sogou.pinyin")

Note:

1. Your English input source MAY NOT be the default one. Use command smart-input-source-get in Emacs to get the correct one.
2. According to your use case, EMP or macism should be installed.

GUI Emacs Mac Port (EMP)

EMP is a Emacs distribution enhanced for MacOS. It has builtin native API to interact with MacOS input sources efficiently. EMP can be installed by the following commands:

brew tap railwaycat/emacsmacport
brew install emacs-mac --with-modules --with-rsvg --with-imagemagick --with-natural-title-bar

macism

If your Emacs is not GUI EMP, the pre-configured macism should be installed.

brew tap laishulu/macism
brew install macism

Note:

• The first time when you use macism SOME_INPUT_SOURCE_ID in your app, MacOS will popup a window asking you to grant permission of Accessibility, you can also grant the permission manually following the instructions in macism.
• On a slow computer, macism needs sleep time (in micro seconds) longer than default to work with Accessibility. The default can be overwritten by the following codes.

  (setq smart-input-source-do-set
        (lambda(source) (start-process "set-input-source" nil "macism" source "50000")))
      

• Don’t use Alacritty for TUI Emacs, because it can’t handle deleting as well as Option and Command key properly when input method is on. I just recommend kitty until Alacirtty fixed those long existing bugs.
• If you have problems on granting permission of Accessibility for Emacs, see below:

  Some Emacs “distributions” package together a number of Emacs binaries for various macOS versions in a single folder, and dynamically at runtime chooses the right one for your system. This means that the icon you click to start the program is really a “placeholder” that is not Emacs itself, but rather just starts up Emacs. This “placeholder” often takes the form of a Ruby script. If this is the case, you’ll need to drag the Ruby program on to the list. Ruby comes with macOS by default. You can find the program by opening Finder, and then from the “Go” menu choose “Go to Folder”. Enter “/usr/bin” and you’ll get that folder opened in Finder. In the folder, you’ll find the ruby program that you can drag on to the Accessibility list.

Microsoft Windows

im-select

im-select can be used as a drop-in replacement of macism in Microsoft Windows.

(smart-input-source-ism-lazyman-config "1033" "2052" 'im-select)

However, because even though im-select supports switching different input languages, it does not support multiple input methods in the same lanuage, thus you should ensure that in each input language there is only one input method, just like the following screenshot.

Linux

fcitx

(smart-input-source-ism-lazyman-config nil nil 'fcitx)

fcitx5

(smart-input-source-ism-lazyman-config nil nil 'fcitx5)

ibus

(smart-input-source-ism-lazyman-config "xkb:us::eng" "OTHER_INPUT_SOURCE" 'ibus)

Internals for configuring ISM

The core of the configuring of ISM is the two variables :

(setq smart-input-source-do-get
      #'YOUR_DO_GET_INPUT_SOURCE_FUNCTION)
(setq smart-input-source-do-set
      #'YOUR_DO_SET_INPUT_SOURCE_FUNCTION)

They are provided for EMP and macism by default.

If you have a ISM YOUR_ISM:

• Run YOUR_ISM will output the current input source
• Run YOUR_ISM INPUT_SOURCE_ID will select INPUT_SOURCE_ID.

Then you can simply use YOUR_ISM as a drop in replacement for macism:

(setq smart-input-source-external-ism "YOUR_ISM")

You can configure ISM by yourself, but a convenient command smart-input-source-ism-lazyman-config is also provided for common ISMs.

Configure

The mode is designed carefully, so it’s safe to enable for all buffers even its all in English.

(use-package smart-input-source
  ;; :hook
  ;; enable the /follow context/ and /inline region/ mode for specific buffers
  ;; (((text-mode prog-mode) . smart-input-source-follow-context-mode)
  ;;  ((text-mode prog-mode) . smart-input-source-inline-mode))

  :config
  (smart-input-source-ism-lazyman-config
   ;; "com.apple.keylayout.ABC"
   "com.apple.keylayout.US"
   ;; "im.rime.inputmethod.Squirrel.Rime"
   "com.sogou.inputmethod.sogou.pinyin")

  ;; enable the /cursor color/ mode
  (smart-input-source-global-cursor-color-mode t)
  ;; enable the /respect/ mode
  (smart-input-source-global-respect-mode t)
  ;; enable the /follow context/ mode for all buffers
  (smart-input-source-global-follow-context-mode t)
  ;; enable the /inline english/ mode for all buffers
  (smart-input-source-global-inline-mode t)
  )

Tips:

1. For spacemacs user, if you config it with the hybrid mode, Some of the evil related features may not work. Change it to vim mode instead.

Default behavior for inline english mode and follow context mode

You can change some of the behaviors by configuring related variables, note: inline other language feature is turned off by default.

Variables and commands

About input source

Variable	Description	Default
smart-input-source-english	Input source for English	com.apple.keylayout.US
smart-input-source-other	Input source for other language	com.sogou.inputmethod.sogou.pinyin
smart-input-source-external-ism	External input resource manager	macism
smart-input-source-do-get	Function to get the current input source	determined from the environment
smart-input-source-do-set	Function to set the input source	determined from the environment
smart-inpu-source-change-hook	Hook to run after input source changes	nil
smart-input-source-auto-refresh-seconds	Idle interval to auto refresh input source from OS	0.2, nil to disable

Note:

• To save energy, actual interval to refresh input source from OS in a long idle period is increased automatically.

Command Name	Description
smart-input-source-ism-lazyman-config	Configure input source manager
smart-input-source-get	Get the input source
smart-input-source-set-english	Set the input source to English
smart-input-source-set-other	Set the input source to other language
smart-input-source-switch	Switch the input source between English and other language

About cursor color mode

Variable	Description	Default
smart-input-source-default-cursor-color	Default cursor color, also used for English	nil (from envrionment)
smart-input-source-other-cursor-color	Cursor color for other input source	green

About respect mode

Variable	Description	Default
smart-input-source-respect-start	Switch to specific input source when mode enabled	~’english~
smart-input-source-respect-evil-normal-escape	esc to English from evil normal sate	t
smart-input-source-respect-prefix-and-buffer	Handle prefix key and buffer	t
smart-input-source-respect-go-english-triggers	Additional trigger to save input source and go English	t
smart-input-source-respect-restore-trigger	Additional trigger to restore input source	nil
smart-input-source-prefix-override-keys	Prefix keys to be respected	~’(“C-c” “C-x” “C-h”)~
smart-input-source-prefix-override-recap-triggers	Functions trigger the recap of the prefix override	see variable doc
smart-input-source-prefix-override-buffer-disable-predicates	Predicates on buffers to disable prefix overriding	see variable doc

About language pattern

Variable	Description	Default
smart-input-source-english-pattern	Pattern to identify a character as English	[a-zA-Z]
smart-input-source-other-pattern	Pattern to identify a character as other	\cc , see emacs manual
smart-input-source-blank-pattern	Pattern to identify a character as blank	[:blank:]

About follow context mode

Variable	Description	Default
smart-input-source-follow-context-fixed	Context is fixed to a specific language	nil
smart-input-source-follow-context-aggressive-line	Aggressively detect context across blank lines	t
smart-input-source-follow-context-hooks	Hooks trigger the context following	see variable doc

About inline mode

Face Name	Description	Default
smart-input-source-inline-face	Face for the inline region overlay
smart-input-source-inline-not-max-point	Insert new line when the whole buffer ends with the region	t
smart-input-source-inline-tighten-head-rule	Rule to delete the head spaces	1
smart-input-source-inline-tighten-tail-rule	Rule to delete the tail spaces	1
smart-input-source-inline-single-space-close	1 space to close the region, default is 2 spaces/return	t
smart-input-source-inline-with-english	enable the inline english region feature	t
smart-input-source-inline-with-other	enable the inline other language region feature	nil
smart-inpu-source-inline-english-activated-hook	Hook to run after inline english region activated	nil
smart-inpu-source-inline-english-deactivated-hook	Hook to run after inline english region deactivated	nil
smart-inpu-source-inline-other-activated-hook	Hook to run after inline other language region activated	nil
smart-inpu-source-inline-other-deactivated-hook	Hook to run after inline other language region deactivated	nil

How to

How to get the input source id

After input source manager is configured, you can get your current input source id by the command smart-input-source-get.

How the package know the input source change.

1. If your input source is switched from smart-input-source, then everything should be OK naturally. And your smart-input-source-auto-refresh-seconds can even be set to nil.
2. If your input source is switched from OS, to detect the switch timely, smart-input-source-auto-refresh-seconds should not be too large.
3. To save energy, if the input source is switched from OS during a long idle period of Emacs, the package won’t be aware in time. Then you can manually inform the package by doing anything in Emacs to exit the long idle period, or invoke the command smart-input-source-get directly.