Sinhala Unicode Converter

A powerful Dart library for converting legacy Sinhala fonts and Singlish text to proper Unicode Sinhala characters.

Features

  • ✅ Convert legacy Sinhala fonts to Unicode
  • ✅ Convert Singlish (English transliteration) to Sinhala Unicode
  • ✅ Support for multiple font formats
  • ✅ Auto-detection and conversion
  • ✅ Easy-to-use API
  • ✅ Cross-platform compatibility (Flutter/Dart)

Supported Font Types

Font Type Description Constant
FM Abhaya FM Abhaya legacy font SinhalaUnicode.FM_ABHAYA
FM Bamini FM Bamini legacy font SinhalaUnicode.FM_BAMINI
DL Manel DL Manel legacy font SinhalaUnicode.DL_MANEL
Kaputa Kaputa legacy font SinhalaUnicode.KAPUTA
Singlish English transliteration SinhalaUnicode.SINGLISH
Singlish Phonetic Phonetic transliteration SinhalaUnicode.SINGLISH_PHONETIC

Installation

Add this to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  sinhala_unicode_converter: ^1.0.9

Then run:

flutter pub get

Usage

Basic Usage

import 'package:sinhala_unicode_converter/sinhala_unicode_converter.dart';

void main() {
  // Initialize the converter (optional)
  SinhalaUnicode.initialize();
  
  // Convert Singlish to Unicode
  String unicode = SinhalaUnicode.legacyToUnicode(
    'mama sinhala katha karanawa', 
    SinhalaUnicode.SINGLISH
  );
  print(unicode); // මම සිංහල කතා කරනවා
}

Converting Different Font Types

// Convert FM Abhaya font text
String fmAbhayaText = "your_fm_abhaya_text_here";
String unicode1 = SinhalaUnicode.legacyToUnicode(
  fmAbhayaText, 
  SinhalaUnicode.FM_ABHAYA
);

// Convert DL Manel font text
String dlManelText = "your_dl_manel_text_here";
String unicode2 = SinhalaUnicode.legacyToUnicode(
  dlManelText, 
  SinhalaUnicode.DL_MANEL
);

// Convert Singlish phonetic
String phoneticText = "ayubowan";
String unicode3 = SinhalaUnicode.legacyToUnicode(
  phoneticText, 
  SinhalaUnicode.SINGLISH_PHONETIC
);

Auto-Detection and Conversion

The library can automatically detect the input type and convert accordingly:

// Auto-detect and convert
String mixedText = "mama singlish likimi";
String result = SinhalaUnicode.autoDetectAndConvert(mixedText);
print(result); // මම සිංගලිෂ් ලිකිමි

Getting Supported Fonts

List<String> supportedFonts = SinhalaUnicode.getSupportedFonts();
print(supportedFonts);
// Output: [fm_abhaya, fm_bamini, dl_manel, kaputa, singlish_phonetic, singlish]

Flutter Widget Example

Here's how you can use it in a Flutter app:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:sinhala_unicode_converter/sinhala_unicode_converter.dart';

class SinhalaConverter extends StatefulWidget {
  @override
  _SinhalaConverterState createState() => _SinhalaConverterState();
}

class _SinhalaConverterState extends State<SinhalaConverter> {
  final TextEditingController _inputController = TextEditingController();
  String _convertedText = '';
  String _selectedFont = SinhalaUnicode.SINGLISH;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(title: Text('Sinhala Converter')),
      body: Padding(
        padding: EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
        child: Column(
          children: [
            // Font type dropdown
            DropdownButton<String>(
              value: _selectedFont,
              onChanged: (String? newValue) {
                setState(() {
                  _selectedFont = newValue!;
                });
              },
              items: SinhalaUnicode.getSupportedFonts()
                  .map<DropdownMenuItem<String>>((String value) {
                return DropdownMenuItem<String>(
                  value: value,
                  child: Text(value.toUpperCase()),
                );
              }).toList(),
            ),
            
            // Input text field
            TextField(
              controller: _inputController,
              decoration: InputDecoration(
                labelText: 'Enter text to convert',
                border: OutlineInputBorder(),
              ),
              maxLines: 3,
            ),
            
            SizedBox(height: 16),
            
            // Convert button
            ElevatedButton(
              onPressed: () {
                setState(() {
                  _convertedText = SinhalaUnicode.legacyToUnicode(
                    _inputController.text,
                    _selectedFont,
                  );
                });
              },
              child: Text('Convert'),
            ),
            
            SizedBox(height: 16),
            
            // Output
            Container(
              width: double.infinity,
              padding: EdgeInsets.all(16),
              decoration: BoxDecoration(
                border: Border.all(color: Colors.grey),
                borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(8),
              ),
              child: Text(
                _convertedText.isEmpty ? 'Converted text will appear here' : _convertedText,
                style: TextStyle(
                  fontSize: 18,
                  fontFamily: 'NotoSansSinhala', // Use appropriate Sinhala font
                ),
              ),
            ),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Common Examples

Singlish Examples

Singlish Input Unicode Output
mama මම
oya ඔය
api අපි
kiyanna කියන්න
karanawa කරනවා
giya ගිය
enna එන්න
ayubowan ආයුබෝවන්
istuti ඉස්තුති
mama sinhala katha karanawa මම සිංහල කතා කරනවා

FM Abhaya Font Examples

Unicode Sinhala Input FM Abhaya Output
අම්මා wïud

Note: The conversion is from Unicode Sinhala (අම්මා) to FM Abhaya font encoding (wïud).

Error Handling

The library includes built-in error handling:

try {
  String result = SinhalaUnicode.legacyToUnicode(inputText, fontType);
  print(result);
} catch (e) {
  print('Conversion failed: $e');
  // Handle the error appropriately
}

Advanced Features

Custom Font Support

To add support for additional fonts, you can extend the library by creating new mapping files in the mapping directory.

Batch Conversion

List<String> texts = ['mama', 'oya', 'api'];
List<String> converted = texts.map((text) => 
  SinhalaUnicode.legacyToUnicode(text, SinhalaUnicode.SINGLISH)
).toList();

Best Practices

  1. Initialize once: Call SinhalaUnicode.initialize() at the start of your app
  2. Use constants: Always use the provided constants for font types
  3. Handle errors: Wrap conversions in try-catch blocks for production apps
  4. Font rendering: Ensure you have proper Sinhala fonts installed for correct display
  5. Auto-detection: Use autoDetectAndConvert() when you're unsure of the input format

Requirements

  • Dart SDK: >=2.12.0 <4.0.0
  • Flutter: >=2.0.0 (for Flutter projects)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

Development Setup

  1. Clone the repository
  2. Run dart pub get
  3. Make your changes
  4. Run tests: dart test
  5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

  1. Check the GitHub Issues
  2. Create a new issue if your problem isn't already reported
  3. Provide sample input/output for debugging

Made with ❤️ by Sri Lankan developers for the Sri Lankan developer community
Empowering modern Sinhala typing development and digital language preservation

Libraries

mapping/fm_abhaya
mapping/fm_bamini
mapping/fm_dlmanel
mapping/kaputa
mapping/singlish
mapping/singlish_phonetic_unicode
sinhala_unicode_converter