Install scim
Execute these commands in your console:
tar xzvf scim-x.y.z.tar.gz
cd scim-x.y.z
Unpack the source and change your current directory into the newly extracted directory. Then configure it:
./configure –prefix=/usr
It is highly recommanded to install scim into a system wide dir, like /usr.
Now you are ready to build and install scim:
make
make install
The second command needs to be executed as root.
You can now install other optional packages from the SCIM project. If you prefer the KDE desktop environment then read on to learn how to install skim, otherwise you can go to the System configuration howto.
Using the XIM (X input method) protocol
Being the least optimal approach this combination will work in every distribution/environment as long as you have X. Set the three variables according to the commands below:
export XMODIFIERS=@im=SCIM #case matters for this variable!
export GTK_IM_MODULE=xim
export QT_IM_MODULE=xim
The enviroment variable XMODIFIERS specifies the XIM server to talk to. The last two lines are telling your system to disable everything except the native XIM protocol (X built-in) and to enable it throughout your system. Because the XIM protocol has a lot of limitations (for example, it may freeze your entire X when something goes wrong with the input method server), this combination of settings is generally not recommended.
Higher level input method protocol support
Alternatively to the above method, you can ask your GTK/Qt applications to make use of the GTK/Qt im-module, which are specifically designed to meet modern input method requirements. The GTK im-module support is a built-in feature in scim, while Qt im-module support is in a separate package, called scim-qtimm.
The Qt im-module support is experimental right now and the qt-immodule patch is not included in most Linux distributions. If you can not find a Qt with im-module support built-in for your favorite distribution, chances are that you have to setup your Qt to work with XIM (like other X based apps). In that case, XMODIFIERS must be setup correctly for any KDE/Qt apps to work with SCIM.
This time we should set our variables to these values:
export XMODIFIERS=@im=SCIM #case matters for this variable!
export GTK_IM_MODULE=scim
export QT_IM_MODULE=scim
XMODIFIERS will be used in all X applications (via an older XIM protocol), such as xpdf. It does not have other more advanced input method abstract layers.
Default input methods of GTK/Qt im-module are set by the last two lines. Please set them as above. Even if the necessary support does not exist, these two lines should have no side effects at all on your system.
