IMEInd Utility Tool

A Windows utility that detects and displays the current Input Method Editor (IME) status when an editable control receives focus.

Features

• Auto-detection: Monitors UI Automation focus changes to detect when editable controls are focused
• IME Status Display: Shows a toast notification with current IME (EN, CHS, CHT, JA, KO, etc.)
• Smart Positioning: Toast appears near the text cursor or control location
• Lightweight: Runs in the background with minimal resource usage (120ms polling interval)

Requirements

• Windows OS
• .NET 8.0 or later

Build

dotnet build -c Release

Run

.\bin\Release\net8.0-windows\IMEInd.exe

Or simply:

dotnet run -c Release

How It Works

1. Uses UI Automation API to monitor focus changes across all applications
2. Filters for editable controls (Edit, Document, or controls supporting ValuePattern/TextPattern)
3. Polls keyboard layout (HKL) every 120ms to detect IME changes
4. Displays a semi-transparent toast overlay for 800ms showing the current IME status

Technical Details

• Framework: .NET 8.0 Windows Forms + WPF (for UI Automation)
• UI Automation: Monitors AutomationFocusChangedEvent system-wide
• IME Detection: Uses Win32 API (GetKeyboardLayout) to identify active input method
• Display: Topmost, borderless WinForms window with auto-hide timer

Future Enhancements

• Add TSF (Text Services Framework) integration for detailed IME names (e.g., "Microsoft Pinyin" vs "CHS")
• Per-monitor DPI awareness
• Application whitelist/blacklist
• Customizable toast appearance (colors, fonts, duration)
• Fade-in/out animations

Attribution

• Tray icon: See licenses/icon.pdf for icon attribution and license information.