trouble configuring fctix

[sacerdos_daemonis]

Because of my hardware I had been using -current for the last couple years. (GMD-64, Radeon, Ryzen) During the past summer a few applications, including fcitx, stopped working.
I recently re-installed my system with OpenBSD 7.2 -release. Most of the applications work again except fctix, which still has the same problems.

While using -current I tried the man page instructions:
"export XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx" to your "~/.xprofile."
That did not work. I then deleted fctix and installed UIM, which I had used for several years prior to switching input systems. It also would not work.

With 7.2 I have tried the same instructions"
"export XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx" to your "~/.xprofile," but no success. The application will eventually open, but will not respond to any mouse clicks or keyboard commands.

fcitx5-configtool states:

## Gtk:
1.  gtk - `${GTK_IM_MODULE}`:

    **Please set environment variable GTK_IM_MODULE to "fcitx" using the tool your distribution provides or add `export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx` to your `~/.xprofile`. See [Input Method Related Environment Variables: GTK_IM_MODULE](http://fcitx-im.org/wiki/Input_metho..._IM_MODULE).**

2.  `gtk-query-immodules`:

    1.  gtk 2:

        Found `gtk-query-immodules` for gtk `2.24.33` at `/usr/local/bin/gtk-query-immodules-2.0`.
        Version Line:

            # Created by /usr/local/bin/gtk-query-immodules-2.0 from gtk+-2.24.33

        **Failed to find fcitx5 in the output of `/usr/local/bin/gtk-query-immodules-2.0`**

        **Cannot find fcitx5 im module for gtk 2.**

    2.  gtk 3:

        Found `gtk-query-immodules` for gtk `3.24.34` at `/usr/local/bin/gtk-query-immodules-3.0`.
        Version Line:

            # Created by /usr/local/bin/gtk-query-immodules-3.0 from gtk+-3.24.34

        Found fcitx5 im modules for gtk `3.24.34`.

            "/usr/local/lib/gtk-3.0/3.0.0/immodules/im-fcitx5.so" 
            "fcitx" "Fcitx5 (Flexible Input Method Framework5)" "fcitx5" "/usr/local/locale" "ja:ko:zh:*" 
            "fcitx5" "Fcitx5 (Flexible Input Method Framework5)" "fcitx5" "/usr/local/locale" "ja:ko:zh:*" 

3.  Gtk IM module cache:

    1.  gtk 2:

        Found immodules cache for gtk `2.24.33` at `/usr/local/lib/gtk-2.0/2.10.0/immodules.cache`.
        Version Line:

            # Created by /usr/local/bin/gtk-query-immodules-2.0 from gtk+-2.24.33

        **Failed to find fcitx5 in immodule cache at `/usr/local/lib/gtk-2.0/2.10.0/immodules.cache`**

        **Cannot find fcitx5 im module for gtk 2 in cache.**

    2.  gtk 3:

        Found immodules cache for gtk `3.24.34` at `/usr/local/lib/gtk-3.0/3.0.0/immodules.cache`.
        Version Line:

            # Created by /usr/local/bin/gtk-query-immodules-3.0 from gtk+-3.24.34

        Found fcitx5 im modules for gtk `3.24.34`.

            "/usr/local/lib/gtk-3.0/3.0.0/immodules/im-fcitx5.so" 
            "fcitx" "Fcitx5 (Flexible Input Method Framework5)" "fcitx5" "/usr/local/locale" "ja:ko:zh:*" 
            "fcitx5" "Fcitx5 (Flexible Input Method Framework5)" "fcitx5" "/usr/local/locale" "ja:ko:zh:*" 

    3.  gtk 4:

        **Cannot find immodules cache for gtk 4**

        **Cannot find fcitx5 im module for gtk 4 in cache.**

4.  Gtk IM module files:

    1.  gtk 2:

        All found Gtk 2 immodule files exist.

    2.  gtk 3:

        All found Gtk 3 immodule files exist.

    3.  gtk 4:

        All found Gtk 4 immodule files exist.

# Configuration:
## Fcitx Addons:
1.  Addon Config Dir:

    Found fcitx5 addon config directory: `/usr/local/share/fcitx5/addon`.

2.  Addon List:

    1.  Found 24 enabled addons:

            Simplified and Traditional Chinese Translation 5.0.12
            Classic User Inteface 5.0.15
            Clipboard 5.0.15
            DBus 5.0.15
            DBus Frontend 5.0.15
            Fcitx4 Frontend 5.0.15
            Full width character 5.0.12
            IBus Frontend 5.0.15
            Lua IME API 5.0.5
            Input method selector 5.0.15
            Keyboard 5.0.15
            KDE Input Method Panel 5.0.15
            Lua Addon Loader 5.0.5
            Status Notifier 5.0.15
            Notification 5.0.15
            Pinyin 5.0.12
            Extra Pinyin functionality 5.0.12
            Punctuation 5.0.12
            Quick Phrase 5.0.15
            Spell 5.0.15
            Table 5.0.12
            Unicode 5.0.15
            XCB 5.0.15
            X Input Method Frontend 5.0.15

    2.  Found 0 disabled addons:

3.  Addon Libraries:

    All libraries for all addons are found.

4.  User Interface:

    Found 2 enabled user interface addons:

        Classic User Inteface
        KDE Input Method Panel

## Input Methods:
1.  `/home/bocere/.config/fcitx5/profile`:

    `/home/bocere/.config/fcitx5/profile` not found.

configtool says fctix5/profile not found, but it does exist. It also makes reference to my system not set to UTF-8.

I do not use a DM. I use startx.

Before I mess around further or try UIM:
Should "export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx" be added to .xinitrc or elsewhere?
Do I need to convert my system to UTF-8?
Do I need to use a DM?

I am curious if anyone has any suggestions for a path to start on, instead of blindly groping for solutions. Unfortunately, everything on the internet concerning fctix is Linux. Again, I am simply asking for suggestions to point me in the correct direction.

[jggimi]

Have you already reviewed /usr/local/share/doc/pkg-readmes/fcitx for provisioning guidance? If yes, and you are still having issues, you might reach out to the port's maintainer, Yifei Zhan, who's email address can be found with $ pkg_info fcitx.

[sacerdos_daemonis]

The readme contains the same information as the man page. I sent a message to the maintainer and am waiting for a reply.

[scottro]

I have a page on inputting Japanese (not Chinese) which includes a section on OpenBSD. https://srobb.net/jpninpt.html#OpenBSD. I did change
GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx to GTK_IM_MODULE=xim

This worked for me in 7.1. I don't have a 7.2 install to play with. Generally, in Free and OpenBSD as well as LInux I use in .xinitrc
export XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx
export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
#export LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8
export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

As mentioned above, I have, at times, had to change export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx to =xim.


That is a FreeBSD system using fcitx, not fcitx5. I have used it successfully in OpenBSD-7.1 with cwm and urxvt terminal. I did have to use nvi, available as a package, rather than OpenBSD's vi.

Again, note this is Japanese, not Chinese, but I did get it to work.

[J65nko]

I never used this software but I wondered about the .xprofile:

While using -current I tried the man page instructions:
"export XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx" to your "~/.xprofile."
That did not work.

I only encountered .profile files but never .xprofile ones

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Originally Posted by sacerdos_daemonis

I do not use a DM. I use startx

The OpenBSD devs have provided xenodm as a secure way to run X, you really should use it.

If you insist on using startx even though it makes your system less secure then environmental variables can be exported from either ~/.xinitrc or ~/.profile. The former would only apply to X, the latter would apply to both the console and X.

But to repeat: you should be using xenodm with the variables exported from ~/.xsession.

EDIT: I've just tested and any variables exported from ~/.profile are carried through to X, even under xenodm.

[sacerdos_daemonis]

Originally Posted by J65nko

I never used this software but I wondered about the .xprofile:


I only encountered .profile files but never .xprofile ones

Thanks for catching that. I was not sure if .xprofile is Linux-specific and is the equivalent of OpenBSD's .profile.



I have not had an abundance of time recently to play around with this issue, so things have moved slowly. I have experimented with fctix, UIM and Ibus. They all have the same behaviour. Without hacking they open but will not change input method. If I add modifiers to .xinitrc or .profile they will either remain unchanged or, especially fcitx, not launch at all.

When I get around to it, the next step will be to experiment with changing locale to UTF-8.

There is also the real possibility that I am not putting the modifiers in the correct place.
With .profile I just added modifiers to the end of the file.

# $OpenBSD: dot.profile,v 1.8 2022/08/10 07:40:37 tb Exp $
#
# sh/ksh initialization

PATH=$HOME/bin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin
export PATH HOME TERM
export XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx
export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
/usr/local/bin/fcitx5 &

With .xinitrc I assume the modifiers would go in the section "start some nice programmes", but I am probably mistaken.

# start some nice programs
exec i3
export XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx
export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
/usr/local/bin/fcitx5 &
if [ "$SSH_AGENT_PID" ]; then
    ssh-add -D < /dev/null
    eval `ssh-agent -s -k`
fi

Probably in the wrong place. My hacking skills are woeful.

[scottro]

Ok, I just did this, again with Japanese on a 7.2 install.
It installs fcitx-anthy, but also installs fcitx5. Previously, I've been able to configure it manually but this time installed fcitx-config-qt-5 or whatever it's called.

I then called it with fcitx-config. It gave me a message that fcitx wasn't running and offered to start it. I then typed anthy in the search section, came up, and I added it to input methods.

I start with xenodm. So I put this in .xsession rather than .xinit.

export XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx
export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

For me, this works perfectly. When I hit ctl+space it changes to Japanese input. It won't work in OpenBSD's vi, displaying gibberish, but if I install nvi, it works fine in nvi. It is also fine in a urxvt terminal.

If I were using .xinitrc I would do

export XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx
export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
fcitx5 -d (and an & if it had trouble starting x but I think -d would do it)
exec i3

In other words, I've always done the exec <windowmanager> line at the end.

[sacerdos_daemonis]

No go. Putting the modifiers before the DM results in the input application not loading and unable to launch.

In the days ahead I shall try changing the system to UTF-8 and see what happens, but I am not optimistic. I suspect my hardware is not capable of running non-English software. It is not the hardware OpenBSD developers use, which is a problem since OpenBSD is a hobby system for the people who make it. Whatever changes were made to the system last summer seem to have made input methods unusable on my hardware.

Thanks anyway for your attempt to help.