GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 327056
Keyboard layout indicator for text entry
Last modified: 2007-05-12 17:44:44 UTC
I'm constantly switching between us and swedish keyboard layouts. When presented with a passwod dialog the screen is usually hidden (Ubuntu) which means that it's impossible to see what layout is active. Would it be possible to have the keyboad indicator included with each text entry field? The inclusion of an indicator would also mean that entry fields with diffrent keyboard layout would be distict, mening that I wouldn't have to stop to think about the layout, my brain would instantly connect the correct synapses for the context.
I think this is something that should be explored in gdm first. If it turns out to be a big success, we can later move it to gtk
In order of annoyance (for me): 1. xscreensaver 2. gksudo The gdm login dialog however is usually just used on boot, which means that it always is initialized with the same keyboard layout...
I'm moving this bug to xscreensaver. GDM already has bug 307926 saying that it would be nice for GDM to support multiple-keyboard layouts. So I added a comment to that bug pointing out that if this is implemented, an indicator should make it clear to the user which keyboard layout is chosen. It seems that this bug applies more to xscreensaver since at least in GDM you can tell what keyboard you are using when you are entering your username. In xscreensaver you can't see what you are typing at all.
I still think it would be good for usabillity if it would be more visible what layout is active for any field, not only password fields. Especially since it's different for each window. Eyeballing the keyboard indicator is only done after a typo, not before. It's possible that I'm an extreme case though. I switch very often as I allways write code and mostly any text with a us-layout, quickly switching for IM, mail and some other apps to the swedish layout. Somethimes I even switch everal times for the same text field. A small hint, such as a the color of the text field, the shape of the cursor or a small language icon/tab in some corner of the field would probably be enough. Maybe a flag on the (text)cursor?
*** Bug 344687 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Brian: xscreensaver is a legacy product designed merely for gnome's capplets around the real xscreensaver; we don't handle bug reports against xscreensaver (or its dialogs) itself. gnome-screensaver is probably what you want.
*** Bug 344778 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 329897 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
if you're using xorg.conf keyboard layout switching, you can make it to show on keyboard with Option "XkbOptions" "grp_led:scroll" for example
I suppose this works only if you use two keyboard layouts. I use three, though, so having the indication on the screen makes sense.
There is a plot to add the indicator to the screensaver - but this will hardly happen in 2.16
*** Bug 353545 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 355004 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
As I promised, I provide the patch. William, if you're ok with it - please let me know and I'll apply it.
Created attachment 75464 [details] [review] layout indicator patch for g-ss This is "cvs -u diff" relative to the current CVS. It is small and relatively straightforward, I think.
So, this assumes that the parent of the text entry is an hbox. Since the dialog is themeable this isn't necessarily true. I think it is better to add a placeholder to the default dialog glade file and then add create the widget if that placeholder is present (not null). Probably named something like auth-prompt-kbd-layout-indicator or something. Thanks again for working on this. I imagine it might be good to make the dependency option via configure options but that can always be added later I suppose.
ok, I will think of it, thanks.
Created attachment 75528 [details] [review] new version of the patch New version, with placeholder
Committed to HEAD with a few minor changes: * Don't explicitly set the invisible char in glade * Minor spacing style fixes Thanks Sergey!
Great! Everyone's singing and dancing;)
FWIW, I am singing and dancing. Keep up the good work. ++happy_users;
*** Bug 381256 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 417444 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 434015 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
In the Feisty version of gnome-screensaver (2.18.1), this is extremely non-obvious. I was wondering if there was an easter egg that caused it to first show 'math', and then toggle to '?' when I clicked it. Admittedly, this is a rather contrived case (a self-written layout with no entry in base.xml), but it would be nice if there was some kind of keyboard or keycap entry next to it to indicate that US, Se, or whatever, was referring to your keyboard layout entry. (But thanks for doing it, judging by the number of dupes alone, it's a great feature.)
As far as I am concerned - any added labels or hints or anything is fine. But really this is up to William to decide.