1022339 - (tamil-keyboard) [ta]Tamil Keyboard for Firefox OS

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox OS Graveyard :: Gaia::Keyboard, defect)

Description

[Arun Prakash]

This is tracking bug for Tamil Keyboard for Firefox OS.

We are expecting tamil99 to be included in the build.

Comment 1

[Anivar Aravind]

This is depending on Bug 944641

Comment 2

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: Tamil layout for andriod done by IISc

Comment 3

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: Tamil layout used by Wikimedia ULS

Comment 4

[Arun Prakash]

I think we can use this files to do the layout for Tamil keyboard for Firefox OS.

Comment 5

[Praveen Sridhar]

yes these would be good starting points.

Comment 6

[arky [:arky]]

Just noticed we now have tamil keyboard in gaia. This is not enabled by default. 

https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/blob/master/apps/keyboard/js/layouts/ta.js

Comment 7

[Arun Prakash]

Is there anyway by chance, that i can test this keyboard by making myself a custom build ?

Comment 8

[Jan Jongboom [:janjongboom] (inactive)]

Yep, run:

GAIA_KEYBOARD_LAYOUTS=en,ta APP=keyboard make install-gaia && adb shell stop b2g && adb shell start b2g

Will only flash the keyboard app with the new layout.

Comment 10

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

(In reply to Jan Jongboom [:janjongboom] (Telenor) from comment #9)
> 
> *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 991509 ***

Is it possible to enable Tamil Keyboard layout for FirefoxOS daily build ? If can not why ?
Since Tamil Translation is 100%.

http://mozilla.locamotion.org/ta/firefoxos/

Comment 11

[Jan Jongboom [:janjongboom] (inactive)]

What kind of daily builds? GeeksPhone? If so, create a new thread on their forums asking to add Tamil to their builds. They're pretty quick generally.

Comment 12

[arky [:arky]]

At the moment keyboards are enabled with build time configuration. After some discussion with keyboard module owner we filed a new bug to track this work. 

Please continue this discussion here. 

Bug 1029314 - Also Opt-in keyboard layouts that are required by default locale
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1029314

Thanks!

Comment 13

[arky [:arky]]

We also need to file separate bugs to enabled Tamil (ta) locale for Geekphone and Flame nightly builds.

Comment 14

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

(In reply to arky [:arky] from comment #13)
> Geekphone and Flame nightly builds.
I have filed new bug for the same. Bug - 1029935.

Comment 15

[Arun Prakash]

Verified the keyboard layout and it is not working properly. Unable to type some letters. Also i dont know what is this layout.

Comment 16

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: Fx layout default

Comment 17

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: Fx layout shift

Comment 18

[Arun Prakash]

This layout is not good, I am trying to fix this one. Also the letters at upper case is not working.

Comment 19

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

(In reply to Arun Prakash from comment #18)

Arun, did you try to build your own as suggested above, or how are you trying to fix ?

Comment 20

[Arun Prakash]

First i am changing the layout and then try to make it work. Takes time, i am taking other layouts for reference.

Comment 21

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: 99 front

Comment 22

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: 99 shift

Comment 23

[Arun Prakash]

As you see in the two layouts, the layout seems to be long. If there is anyway to fix this, we can proceed with this. Or we should change to any other layout. The above one is standard keyboard for tamil, which tamil 99.

@thangamani arun: comment on this.

Comment 24

[Rudy Lu [:rudyl] (inactive after 2015/7/3)]

(In reply to Arun Prakash from comment #23)
> As you see in the two layouts, the layout seems to be long. If there is
> anyway to fix this, we can proceed with this. Or we should change to any
> other layout. The above one is standard keyboard for tamil, which tamil 99.
> 
> @thangamani arun: comment on this.

You could specify "width" in the layout file, if you want more than 10 keys in a row. e.g.,
https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/blob/24fe85863d7828e9414ee1ed72454d92a301dbe1/apps/keyboard/js/layouts/ar.js#L10

BTW, are you creating another layout for Tamil or you're going to replace the orignal one with your implementation?

Comment 25

[Arun Prakash]

> 
> You could specify "width" in the layout file, if you want more than 10 keys
> in a row. e.g.,
> https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/blob/
> 24fe85863d7828e9414ee1ed72454d92a301dbe1/apps/keyboard/js/layouts/ar.js#L10

Let me try this.
> 
> BTW, are you creating another layout for Tamil or you're going to replace
> the orignal one with your implementation?

I am trying to replace the original.

Comment 26

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

(In reply to Arun Prakash from comment #23)
> As you see in the two layouts, the layout seems to be long. If there is
> anyway to fix this, we can proceed with this. Or we should change to any
> other layout. The above one is standard keyboard for tamil, which tamil 99.


Arun, We can use the ios7 Tamil 99 layout as the reference. Since its looks perfect. 
I will attach the screenshots now.

please refer the attachements.

Comment 27

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

Attachment: iOS7-Tamil99-Default.png

iOS Tamil99 Layout - Default

Comment 28

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

Attachment: iOS7-Tamil99-SHIFT.png

iOS Tamil99 Layout - SHIFT

Comment 29

[Arun Prakash]

> 
> You could specify "width" in the layout file, if you want more than 10 keys
> in a row. e.g.,
> https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/blob/
> 24fe85863d7828e9414ee1ed72454d92a301dbe1/apps/keyboard/js/layouts/ar.js#L10
> 
> 
Thanks, this helps.

Comment 30

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: FX at IOS style default

Comment 31

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: FX at IOS style shift

Comment 32

[Arun Prakash]

Shift layout seems to be more packed! We are able to type now. But the next question is ime? I want to map it to characters, if anybody can help me it will be good.Now the layout file is here : https://github.com/arunprakash/gaia/commit/896f64a3572b6a6af08a27effb52e4a569d1e0ce

Comment 33

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

(In reply to Arun Prakash from comment #32)
> Shift layout seems to be more packed!

Nice Work Arun! I appreciate your effort.
It looks very good. Lets keep this layout.

Comment 34

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: default.png

Comment 35

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: shift.png

Comment 36

[Arun Prakash]

Just got an idea when looking into the keyboard layout provided in 
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.smc.inputmethod.indic
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.androidtweak.inputmethod.indic
based on inscript.

The result is success, as i am able to type all character in tamil. I am amazed with the support provided to tamil in Firefox OS. Hats off to developers.

@thangamani arun: The recent layout works like charm. Tamil99 layout requires ime, which needs to be hardcoded, which i dont have any clue. What shall we do? shall we stick to this and make the tamil99 as another layout later?

Comment 37

[Arun Prakash]

Latest working layout is here : 
https://github.com/arunprakash/gaia/commit/07a3debfde3c3599228ffb10d681fd21542c3707

Comment 38

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

(In reply to Arun Prakash from comment #36)
> @thangamani arun: The recent layout works like charm. Tamil99 layout
> requires ime, which needs to be hardcoded, which i dont have any clue. What
> shall we do? shall we stick to this and make the tamil99 as another layout
> later?

Arun, Congrats on your effort in bringing the layout.

Let us use Indic Keyboard layout, since the FireofxOS Mobile release in India is nearing.
Later, when we get some support from other developers then we can bring Tamil99 along with this.

Comment 39

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

(In reply to Arun Prakash from comment #37)
> Latest working layout is here : 
> https://github.com/arunprakash/gaia/commit/
> 07a3debfde3c3599228ffb10d681fd21542c3707

Did you merge these changes to Mozilla Main Repository ?

Comment 40

[Arun Prakash]

(In reply to அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar from comment #39)
> (In reply to Arun Prakash from comment #37)
> > Latest working layout is here : 
> > https://github.com/arunprakash/gaia/commit/
> > 07a3debfde3c3599228ffb10d681fd21542c3707
> 
> Did you merge these changes to Mozilla Main Repository ?

Still now no. now i am giving pull request, let us see.
Concerned people kindly approve the pull request.

Comment 41

[Arun Prakash]

Pull request created : https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/pull/21408

Comment 42

[Arun Prakash]

Once this pull request is accepted, we can close this bug.

Comment 43

[Praveen Sridhar]

Great job with the layout! Sorry I was not in the loop. I'll chip in with the mappings for tamil99 as a separate layout if needed.

Comment 44

[Rudy Lu [:rudyl] (inactive after 2015/7/3)]

(In reply to Arun Prakash from comment #41)
> Pull request created : https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/pull/21408

Arun, thanks for your effort.
In general, we paste the pull request link into an attachment and ask for review.
BTW, I would second Preveen's opinion on making this another layout for Tamil, so may need to name it as ta-99.js or something.
Thanks.

Comment 45

[Rudy Lu [:rudyl] (inactive after 2015/7/3)]

Attachment: Patch to add Tamil 99

I'll attach an attachment for your pull request as an example.
Is this ready for review?

Comment 46

[Arun Prakash]

Attachment: Tamil Layout

(In reply to Rudy Lu [:rudyl] from comment #45)
> Created attachment 8454316 [details] [review]
> Patch to add Tamil 99
> 
> I'll attach an attachment for your pull request as an example.
> Is this ready for review?

This is not tamil99 keyboard. This is normal layout for tamil. We want this to be replaced with the current one, so it is named as ta.js. 

It is ready for review.

Comment 47

[Arun Prakash]

Is it reviewed?

Comment 48

[Rudy Lu [:rudyl] (inactive after 2015/7/3)]

Comment on attachment 8454316 [details] [review]
Patch to add Tamil 99

Not Tamil 99, thanks for the clarification.

Comment 49

[Rudy Lu [:rudyl] (inactive after 2015/7/3)]

Comment on attachment 8454351 [details] [review]
Tamil Layout

I have one question,

 -  Can't this layout co-exist with our current Tamil layout? 
    I am not sure if we need to replace it.
    Also ni Luke since he is the author of the original Tamil layout. 

(If we want to supply 2 layouts for Tamil, we might need 2 different names for these layouts.) 

Besides, please address the comments I made on github pull request.

--
Arun Kumar,

Could you please help review the UI of this patch, since you know Tamil, right?
Thanks.

Comment 50

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

Hi Rudy,

I had reviewd the layout and found that there are 2 letters missing and removed the repeating letters from the layout file with pull request: https://github.com/arunprakash/gaia/pull/1

Arun Praksh: Please check once again and commit my pull request.

Comment 51

[Luke Chang [:lchang] (inactive)]

Hi Rudy,

AFAIK, there are more than one common type of Tamil keyboard layout that can be found from internet [1]. The current layout we implemented in Gaia is based on the feature request from Tarako [2]. As you can see, Google Input Tools [3] also make five types of Tamil virtual keyboard coexist there.

According to above, although I'm not a native user of Tamil language, I personally prefer leaving these two layouts coexist in FxOS to let users have choice.


[1] http://tamil.indiatyping.com/index.php/tamil-keyboard
[2] Bug 991509 attachment 8403958 [details] and attachment 8403959 [details]
[3] http://www.google.com/intl/en/inputtools/try/

Comment 52

[Arun Prakash]

There are many layouts available for Tamil. The reason we are asking for replacement of existing layout is, there Grantha letters which we use very very less frequently in the default layout. The layout which we are proposing is the alteration of current one as per Inscript layout(Indian Government Standard).

Another reason is that, we have to include two more layouts (Tamil99 and phonetic). These layouts are more actively used by Tamil Community. These keyboards are onhold because we have some problem with writing ime as of now. So too many layout will not be good.

Comment 53

[Rudy Lu [:rudyl] (inactive after 2015/7/3)]

Arun, Luke,

Thanks for the feedback.
As we have build time configuration to determine which keyboard layout we should include in the build, I don' think "too many layouts" would be an issue.

I would second Luke on we should keep the original Tamil layout as is, and make your patch as a new layout of Tamil.
For this to happen, we would need to have proper names for these layouts.
Could you or Arun Kumar help think of good naming for these layouts?

Thanks a lot.

Comment 54

[Arun Prakash]

@thangam : pull request merged.
@Rudyl : What should we do for making this as separate layout?

Comment 55

[Rudy Lu [:rudyl] (inactive after 2015/7/3)]

(In reply to Arun Prakash from comment #54)
> @thangam : pull request merged.
> @Rudyl : What should we do for making this as separate layout?
You would need to create another file under apps/keyboard/js/layouts/.

Comment 56

[Rudy Lu [:rudyl] (inactive after 2015/7/3)]

Praveen, any chance you know how to make this bug move forward?
I am flagging you for help because I think you worked on adding more keyboard support for India languages, and Tamil is one of them.

I guess the main question would be:
Is it reasonable to keep more than one layouts for Tamil?
    If yes, how could we name these layouts so that the user would know which layout is which?
    If no, then how could we choose the better one that is default to our OS?

Thanks.

Comment 57

[அருண் குமார்-Arun Kumar]

Hi Rudy,

I can help you in providing the layout names for Tamil keyboards.

The existing layout named as "Tamil - Inscript"
Recent layout can be named as "Tamil - Typewriter"

Please keep the recent layout as Deafult layout(Tamil - Typewriter) for Tamil.

@ArunPrakash: Act quick on this to proceed further. Still we do not have keyboard on FxOS for Tamil.

Thanks
Arun Kumar

Comment 58

[Praveen Sridhar]

(In reply to Rudy Lu [:rudyl] from comment #56)
> Is it reasonable to keep more than one layouts for Tamil?

I think it is reasonable to have more than one layouts beacause that is exactly the case with keyboards in other platforms. It is always good to give users a choice, so that they can use the layout they're comfortable with.

>     If yes, how could we name these layouts so that the user would know
> which layout is which?

As Arun has suggested, we can use a good naming format, suggested by the community.

>     If no, then how could we choose the better one that is default to our OS?

The decision for the default layout IMHO should rest with the local mozillian community, since they will be in touch with the users of the layout and can get quick feedback.

Comment 59

[srik.lak]

Hi,

To my knowledge, the most used Tamil layouts **on desktops** are phonetic(which requires IME as there are some rules) and Tamil 99(which also needs IME ideally for some combinations, but bare minimal T99 doesn't need one). 

I want to have these 2 layouts for Tamil. If someone can point me to links which tells me

1. How to test modified layout js files using emulator 
2. How to test the same using a real phone. (I have a Intex Cloud FX)
3. How to get started with writing IMEs

I can be of some help in getting these layouts. Thanks

Comment 60

[Jan Jongboom [:janjongboom] (inactive)]

Go to http://janjongboom.com/gaia-keyboard-demo/ and you can load a layout file to test in the browser. For full IMEs you'll have to look at the current implementations in https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/tree/master/apps/keyboard/js/imes. We don't have any guides for that in place.

Comment 61

[Arun Prakash]

This is long time pending. Will work with Thangamani Arun and fix it soon.
Removing need info for now.

Comment 62

[Delphine Lebédel [:delphine - Use needinfo]]

Hello! Any progress on this? Tamil keyboard has been requested on 1.4 and onwards (2.0, 2.1 and master). Thanks!

Comment 63

[Delphine Lebédel [:delphine - Use needinfo]]

[Blocking Requested - why for this release]:
Tamil has been requested by partners on 1.4 and onwards. Putting the blocking flag for 2.0 since there's no more blocking flag 1.4
Please get into 1.4 branch and onwards. Thanks!

Comment 64

[Wesly Huang (EPM)]

[Blocking Requested - why for this release]:

[Triage] Considering current 2.0 timing and the need from partner, nom. to 2.1 (or even 2.2?) instead for consideration.

Comment 65

[bhavana bajaj [:bajaj]]

Clearing blocking nom, refer to comment in : https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1114866