Virtual Keyboard Implementation Issues in Tizen 2.4 Mobile Native Application

Original Created May 13, 2016 | Regeneration Apr 22, 2026

Question

I'm developing a Tizen 2.4 Mobile native application (not IME model) and trying to implement a virtual keyboard using ELM's Entry widget. I'm facing two specific issues:

Unable to hide the cursor in the Entry widget
The virtual keyboard always appears in portrait mode, even when the application window is rotated to 270 degrees (landscape mode)

Here's my current implementation:

// Window setup
ad->win = add_win(ad->name);
elm_win_rotation_set(ad->win, 270);

// Indicator settings
elm_win_conformant_set(ad->win, EINA_TRUE);
elm_win_indicator_mode_set(ad->win, ELM_WIN_INDICATOR_SHOW);
elm_win_indicator_opacity_set(ad->win, ELM_WIN_INDICATOR_TRANSPARENT);

// Conformant and keyboard creation
ad->conform = create_conform(ad->win);
ad->virtual_kb = create_virtual_kb(ad->conform);

The create_virtual_kb() function:

static Evas_Object* create_virtual_kb(Evas_Object* parent) {
    if (parent == NULL) return NULL;
    
    Evas_Object *vkb = elm_entry_add(parent);
    elm_object_focus_set(vkb, EINA_FALSE);
    evas_object_smart_callback_add(vkb, "changed", vkb_changed_cb, vkb);
    elm_entry_single_line_set(vkb, EINA_TRUE);
    elm_entry_input_panel_return_key_type_set(vkb, ELM_INPUT_PANEL_RETURN_KEY_TYPE_DONE);
    
    return vkb;
}

Are there any sample codes or solutions that address these two specific problems?

Answer

Problem Understanding

The developer is facing two main challenges:

Cursor visibility control in ELM Entry widget
Virtual keyboard orientation mismatch with the application window

Solution Methods

For cursor visibility:
- Use elm_entry_cursor_visible_set() API to control cursor visibility
- Example: elm_entry_cursor_visible_set(vkb, EINA_FALSE);
For keyboard orientation:
- The virtual keyboard orientation is typically controlled by the system and may not automatically follow application rotation
- Consider using the Input Method Editor (IME) model instead of the native UI model for better keyboard control
- Alternatively, you can try forcing the keyboard orientation using elm_win_rotation_with_resize_set()

Code Examples

For cursor visibility:

static Evas_Object* create_virtual_kb(Evas_Object* parent) {
    if (parent == NULL) return NULL;
    
    Evas_Object *vkb = elm_entry_add(parent);
    elm_object_focus_set(vkb, EINA_FALSE);
    elm_entry_cursor_visible_set(vkb, EINA_FALSE);  // Hide cursor
    // ... rest of the code
}

Additional Tips

For more comprehensive keyboard control, consider examining these sample projects:
- Tizen IDE > File > New > Tizen Native Project > Template > Mobile-2.4 > Input Method Editor
- Tizen IDE > File > New > Tizen Native Project > Online Sample > UIX > IME Sample
Note that keyboard behavior might be device-dependent in some cases
For Tizen 2.4, some keyboard features might be limited compared to newer versions