Implementing an Input Method Application

InputMethodExtensionAbility provides the onCreate() and onDestroy() callbacks, as described below. Override them as required.

  • onCreate()

    This callback is triggered when a service is created for the first time. You can perform initialization operations, for example, registering a common event listener.

    NOTE

    If a service has been created, starting it again does not trigger the onCreate() callback.

  • onDestroy()

    This callback is triggered when the service is no longer used and the instance is ready for destruction. You can clear resources in this callback, for example, deregister the listener.

How to Develop

To implement an input method application, manually create an InputMethodExtensionAbility component in DevEco Studio. The procedure is as follows:

  1. In the ets directory of the target module, right-click and choose New > Directory to create a directory named InputMethodExtensionAbility.

  2. Right-click the InputMethodExtensionAbility directory, choose New > File, and create four files: KeyboardController.ts, InputMethodService.ts, Index.ets, and KeyboardKeyData.ts. The file directory is as follows:

/src/main/
├── ets/InputMethodExtensionAbility
│   └──model/KeyboardController.ts			# Shows the keyboard.
│   └──InputMethodService.ts				# Customizes a class that inherits from InputMethodExtensionAbility and add the required lifecycle callbacks.
│   └──pages
│      └── Index.ets						# Draws the keyboard and adds the input and deletion features.
│      └── KeyboardKeyData.ts			    # Defines keyboard attributes.
├── resources/base/profile/main_pages.json

File Introduction

  1. InputMethodService.ts file:

    In the InputMethodService.ts file, add the dependency package for importing InputMethodExtensionAbility. Customize a class that inherits from InputMethodExtensionAbility and add the required lifecycle callbacks.

    import Want from '@ohos.app.ability.Want';
import keyboardController from './model/KeyboardController';
import { InputMethodExtensionAbility } from '@kit.IMEKit';

export default class InputDemoService extends InputMethodExtensionAbility {

  onCreate(want: Want): void {
    keyboardController.onCreate(this.context); // Initialize the window and register an event listener for the input method framework.
  }

  onDestroy(): void {
    console.log("onDestroy.");
    keyboardController.onDestroy(); // Destroy the window and deregister the event listener.
  }
}

  2. KeyboardController.ts file:

    import common from '@ohos.app.ability.common';
import display from '@ohos.display';
import { inputMethodEngine, InputMethodExtensionContext } from '@kit.IMEKit';

// Call the getInputMethodAbility API to obtain an instance, and then call the other APIs of the input method framework based on the instance.
const inputMethodAbility: inputMethodEngine.InputMethodAbility = inputMethodEngine.getInputMethodAbility();

export class KeyboardController {
  private mContext: InputMethodExtensionContext | undefined = undefined; // Save the context attribute in InputMethodExtensionAbility.
  private panel: inputMethodEngine.Panel | undefined = undefined; 
  private textInputClient: inputMethodEngine.InputClient | undefined = undefined; 
  private keyboardController: inputMethodEngine.KeyboardController | undefined = undefined;

  constructor() {
  }

  public onCreate(context: InputMethodExtensionContext): void
  {
    this.mContext = context;
    this.initWindow(); // Initialize the window.
    this.registerListener(); // Register an event listener for the input method framework.
  }

  public onDestroy(): void // Destroy the instance.
  {
    this.unRegisterListener(); // Deregister the event listener.
    if(this.panel) { // Destroy the window.
      this.panel.hide();
      inputMethodAbility.destroyPanel(this.panel);
    }
    if(this.mContext) {
      this.mContext.destroy();
    }
  }

  public insertText(text: string): void {
    if(this.textInputClient) {
      this.textInputClient.insertText(text);
    }
  }

  public deleteForward(length: number): void {
    if(this.textInputClient) {
      this.textInputClient.deleteForward(length);
    }
  }

  private initWindow(): void // Initialize the window.
  {
    if(this.mContext === undefined) {
      return;
    }
    let dis = display.getDefaultDisplaySync();
    let dWidth = dis.width;
    let dHeight = dis.height;
    let keyHeightRate = 0.47;
    let keyHeight = dHeight * keyHeightRate;
    let nonBarPosition = dHeight - keyHeight;
    let panelInfo: inputMethodEngine.PanelInfo = {
      type: inputMethodEngine.PanelType.SOFT_KEYBOARD,
      flag: inputMethodEngine.PanelFlag.FLG_FIXED
    };
    inputMethodAbility.createPanel(this.mContext, panelInfo).then(async (inputPanel: inputMethodEngine.Panel) => {
      this.panel = inputPanel;
      if(this.panel) {
        await this.panel.resize(dWidth, keyHeight);
        await this.panel.moveTo(0, nonBarPosition);
        await this.panel.setUiContent('inputmethodextability/pages/Index');
      }
    });
  }

  private registerListener(): void
  {
    this.registerInputListener(); // Register an event listener for the input method framework service.
    ...
    // Register a listener for keyboard hiding.
  }

  private registerInputListener(): void { // Register a listener for the enabling and disabling events of the input method framework service.
    inputMethodAbility.on('inputStart', (kbController, textInputClient) => {
      this.textInputClient = textInputClient; // This is an input method client instance, based on which you can call the APIs that the input method framework provides for the input method.
      this.keyboardController = kbController;
    })
    inputMethodAbility.on('inputStop', () => {
      this.onDestroy (); // Destroy the KeyboardController instance.
    });
  }

  private unRegisterListener(): void
  {
    inputMethodAbility.off('inputStart');
    inputMethodAbility.off('inputStop', () => {});
  }
}

const keyboardController = new KeyboardController();

export default keyboardController;

  3. KeyboardKeyData.ts file:

    In this file you can define the content displayed on the soft keyboard.

    export interface sourceListType {
  content: string,
}

export let numberSourceListData: sourceListType[] = [
  {
    content: '1'
  },
  {
    content: '2'
  },
  {
    content: '3'
  },
  {
    content: '4'
  },
  {
    content: '5'
  },
  {
    content: '6'
  },
  {
    content: '7'
  },
  {
    content: '8'
  },
  {
    content: '9'
  },
  {
    content: '0'
  }
]

  4. Index.ets file:

    This file describes the functions of keys. For example, the number keys print numbers in the text box, and the delete key deletes what's entered.

    Add the path to this file to the src field in the resources/base/profile/main_pages.json file.

    import { numberSourceListData, sourceListType } from './keyboardKeyData';
import keyboardController from '../InputMethodExtensionAbility/model/KeyboardController';

@Component
struct keyItem {
  private keyValue: sourceListType = numberSourceListData[0];
  @State keyBgc: string = "#fff"
  @State keyFontColor: string = "#000"

  build() {
    Column() {
      Flex({ direction: FlexDirection.Column,
        alignItems: ItemAlign.Center, justifyContent: FlexAlign.Center }) {
        Text(this.keyValue.content).fontSize(20).fontColor(this.keyFontColor)
      }
    }
    .backgroundColor(this.keyBgc)
    .borderRadius(6)
    .width("8%")
    .height("65%")
    .onClick(() => {
      keyboardController.insertText(this.keyValue.content);
    })
  }
}

// Component used for deletion.
@Component
export struct deleteItem {
  @State keyBgc: string = "#fff"
  @State keyFontColor: string = "#000"

  build() {
    Column() {
      Flex({ direction: FlexDirection.Column,
        alignItems: ItemAlign.Center, justifyContent: FlexAlign.Center }) {
        Text("Delete").fontSize(20).fontColor(this.keyFontColor)
      }
    }
    .backgroundColor(this.keyBgc)
    .width("13%")
    .borderRadius(6)
    .onClick(() => {
      keyboardController.deleteForward(1);
    })
  }
}

// Numeric keyboard
@Component
struct numberMenu {
  private numberList: sourceListType[] = numberSourceListData;

  build() {
    Flex({ direction: FlexDirection.Column, alignItems: ItemAlign.Center, justifyContent: FlexAlign.SpaceEvenly }) {
      Flex({ justifyContent: FlexAlign.SpaceBetween }) {
        ForEach(this.numberList, (item: sourceListType) => {// First row on the numeric keyboard
          keyItem({ keyValue: item })
        }, (item: sourceListType) => item.content);
      }
      .padding({ top: "2%" })
      .width("96%")
      .height("25%")

      Flex({ justifyContent: FlexAlign.SpaceBetween }) {
        deleteItem()
      }
      .width("96%")
      .height("25%")
    }
  }
}

@Entry
@Component
struct Index {
  private numberList: sourceListType[] = numberSourceListData

  build() {
    Stack() {
      Flex({
        direction: FlexDirection.Column,
        alignItems: ItemAlign.Center,
        justifyContent: FlexAlign.End
      }) {
            Flex({
              direction: FlexDirection.Column,
              alignItems: ItemAlign.Center,
              justifyContent: FlexAlign.SpaceBetween
            }) {
              numberMenu({
                numberList: this.numberList
              })
            }
            .align(Alignment.End)
            .width("100%")
            .height("75%")
          }
      .height("100%").align(Alignment.End).backgroundColor("#cdd0d7")
    }
    .position({ x: 0, y: 0 }).zIndex(99999)
  }
}

  5. Register the InputMethodExtensionAbility in the module.json5 file corresponding to the Module project. Set type to "inputMethod" and srcEntry to the code path of the InputMethodExtensionAbility component.

    {
  "module": {
    ...
    "extensionAbilities": [
      {
        "description": "inputMethod",
        "icon": "$media:icon",
        "name": "InputMethodExtAbility",
        "srcEntry": "./ets/InputMethodExtensionAbility/InputMethodService.ts",
        "type": "inputMethod",
        "exported": true,
      }
    ]
  }
}

Verification

  1. Run the hdc command to display the dialog box for switching between input methods: hdc shell aa start ability -a InputMethod -b com.ohos.inputmethodchoosedialog

  2. In the dialog box for switching between input methods, switch the input method to the demo application.

  3. When you touch any edit box, the demo application should start.

Constraints

To protect the InputMethodExtensionAbility against abuse, the invoking of APIs in the modules listed below is restricted in the InputMethodExtensionAbility.

NOTE

  • If a restricted module is imported, no error is reported during compilation, but an incorrect value (undefined) is returned during running, which renders the imported module ineffective.
  • Currently, access to the @ohos.multimedia.audio (Audio Management) module is allowed, but subject to the following rules:
    • Users who deny the recording permission should still be allowed to use the non-voice-input features of the input method application.
    • Recording-related services are allowed only when the InputMethodExtensionAbility is in the foreground. For example, perform recording only when the soft keyboard is in the foreground and the user is proactively using the voice input method; stop recording when the application is switched to the background.
    • Applications will be subject to increasingly stringent measures against violations with the preceding rules, and any violation may result in service exceptions.
  • Strictly comply with the functional constraints of the basic access mode. In this mode, you should provide only basic typing features, not interaction with online services in any form. The system will gradually introduce measures for compliance with the basic access mode, including but not limited to running the Extension process as an independent process and in sandbox mode, preventing the Extension process from creating subprocesses, and restricting inter-process communication and network access. Violations may result in service exceptions.