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Multiple compatibility issues with Google Japanese Input (IME) in vim with WSL #13681

@robqliu

Description

@robqliu

Windows Terminal version

1.14.1962.0

Windows build number

10.0.19044.0

Other Software

$ vi --version
VIM - Vi IMproved 8.2 (2019 Dec 12, compiled Oct 01 2021 01:51:08)
Included patches: 1-2434
Extra patches: 8.2.3402, 8.2.3403, 8.2.3409, 8.2.3428

inside WSL (debian)

Steps to reproduce

  1. Install Google Japanese Input IME
  2. Open up vim within Terminal and launch a WSL session (I'm on debian, but I doubt it matters?)
  3. Hit alt + shift and then observe the issues described below.

Expected Behavior

Sorry for combining multiple issues into one ticket. I can split it up if it helps.

  1. The first issue is that the normal hotkey for swapping to japanese input is not swapping to the last used "mode". For instance, Google Japanese Input has multiple modes (Hiragana, Full-width Katakana, Full-width alphanumeric, etc.). What I've observed is that alt + shift swaps between your most recently used IMEs and it preserves the mode in Google Japanese Input for me... unless I'm using Terminal, in which case it seems to always go to Half-width alphanumeric. It's worth noting that this is true even when I'm not in vim/when I'm just on the command line in bash.
  2. Related to (1), if I use alt + ` , it normally cycles through all of the "modes". When I'm in Terminal, it seems to only cycle between Half-width alphanumeric and Direct Input.
  3. Possibly related to the above issues, once I'm using Google Japanese Input, I expect it to swap between my usual mode, Hiragana, and Direct Input Mode when I swap modes in vim. For instance, I often am in Hiragana mode when I'm typing (i.e. Insert Mode in vim). When I want to navigate text, I swap to Normal mode in vim and it magically swaps to Direct Input as is necessary for moving around. As you can see in the gif, it stays in Hiragana mode.

For what it's worth, (1) matters a lot less than (2) or (3) since I can stay with the Google Japanese Input IME for the most part without issue. In particular, once I swap to Hiragana manually (or via ctrl + caps lock) then (2) actually stops being an issue? Or at least it lets me cycle between Hiragana and Direct Input which is what I care about. (3) is super annoying because I basically have to train different muscle memory when I use Terminal vs gvim or even git bash for windows.

Actual Behavior

As described above, I would like the behavior here to match other apps:

  1. alt + shift into Google Japanese Input should pick the most recently used "mode" in that IME
  2. alt + ` should cycle through all of the modes
  3. It should swap between the most recently used mode (e.g. Hiragana) and Direct Input when going between Insert mode and Normal mode in vim

bug

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    Area-InputRelated to input processing (key presses, mouse, etc.)Issue-BugIt either shouldn't be doing this or needs an investigation.Needs-TriageIt's a new issue that the core contributor team needs to triage at the next triage meetingProduct-TerminalThe new Windows Terminal.

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