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elisp: Input Methods

 
 32.11 Input Methods
 ===================
 
 “Input methods” provide convenient ways of entering non-ASCII characters
 from the keyboard.  Unlike coding systems, which translate non-ASCII
 characters to and from encodings meant to be read by programs, input
 methods provide human-friendly commands.  ((emacs)Input Methods,
 for information on how users use input methods to enter text.)  How to
 define input methods is not yet documented in this manual, but here we
 describe how to use them.
 
    Each input method has a name, which is currently a string; in the
 future, symbols may also be usable as input method names.
 
  -- Variable: current-input-method
      This variable holds the name of the input method now active in the
      current buffer.  (It automatically becomes local in each buffer
      when set in any fashion.)  It is ‘nil’ if no input method is active
      in the buffer now.
 
  -- User Option: default-input-method
      This variable holds the default input method for commands that
      choose an input method.  Unlike ‘current-input-method’, this
      variable is normally global.
 
  -- Command: set-input-method input-method
      This command activates input method INPUT-METHOD for the current
      buffer.  It also sets ‘default-input-method’ to INPUT-METHOD.  If
      INPUT-METHOD is ‘nil’, this command deactivates any input method
      for the current buffer.
 
  -- Function: read-input-method-name prompt &optional default
           inhibit-null
      This function reads an input method name with the minibuffer,
      prompting with PROMPT.  If DEFAULT is non-‘nil’, that is returned
      by default, if the user enters empty input.  However, if
      INHIBIT-NULL is non-‘nil’, empty input signals an error.
 
      The returned value is a string.
 
  -- Variable: input-method-alist
      This variable defines all the supported input methods.  Each
      element defines one input method, and should have the form:
 
           (INPUT-METHOD LANGUAGE-ENV ACTIVATE-FUNC
            TITLE DESCRIPTION ARGS...)
 
      Here INPUT-METHOD is the input method name, a string; LANGUAGE-ENV
      is another string, the name of the language environment this input
      method is recommended for.  (That serves only for documentation
      purposes.)
 
      ACTIVATE-FUNC is a function to call to activate this method.  The
      ARGS, if any, are passed as arguments to ACTIVATE-FUNC.  All told,
      the arguments to ACTIVATE-FUNC are INPUT-METHOD and the ARGS.
 
      TITLE is a string to display in the mode line while this method is
      active.  DESCRIPTION is a string describing this method and what it
      is good for.
 
    The fundamental interface to input methods is through the variable
DONTPRINTYET  ‘input-method-function’.  Reading One Event, and *noteInvoking
DONTPRINTYET  ‘input-method-function’.  Reading One Event, and Invoking

 the Input Method.
 

Info Catalog elisp: Coding Systems elisp: Non-ASCII Characters elisp: Locales