call()
Summary
The call() statement calls an external library.
Syntax
store(callDefinitionStore) "myimx.dll:KeyEvent"
... > call(callDefinitionStore)Parameters
callDefinitionStore
: The store which defines the external library function. The format of
the store is discussed below.
Description
The call() statement calls an Input Method Extension (IMX) DLL.
Functionally it behaves like the use() statement, and can be
used anywhere the use() statement is valid except after the begin
statement.
As the call() statement originated on Microsoft Windows, the
definition is based on Windows requirements. The store given must be
referencing a function in an external DLL, which should be installed as
part of a package into the same path as the keyboard.
On Javascript-based platforms, including web, Android and iOS, the
callDefinitionStore value is interpreted slightly differently. The DLL
filename is ignored, which means each called function must have a unique
name (i.e. you cannot reference two DLLs from the same keyboard that
have the same function name). The compiler will locate a file with the
name of the function and a '.call_js' extension, and will embed the
source from this file into the compiled keyboard. In the example above,
to compile for KeymanWeb, the file 'KeyEvent.call_js' must exist in the
same folder as the .kmn file. The .call_js file must be encoded in UTF-8
(with or without UTF-8 BOM).
The IMX functionality supports both 32-bit and 64-bit DLLs. A 64-bit DLL should be named with a .x64.dll extension, rather than just .dll.
The specification for the Windows DLL is available in the IMX documentation. The specification for Javascript IMX functions is available in the IMX Web documentation.
Examples
Example: Using call()
store(DLLFunction) "myimx.dll:KeyEvent"
+ any(key) > call(DLLFunction)Platforms
The call() statement can be used in keyboards on the following
platforms.
| Windows | macOS | Linux | Desktop web | Mobile web | iOS | Android |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Version history
Keyman 8.0: Added support for x64.
Keyman 8.0: Added support for web IMX.
The call statement was introduced in Keyman 6.0.
