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A CLI tool for polishing text with Chinese typography rules

Project description

CJK Text Formatter

A Python CLI tool for polishing text with Chinese typography rules. Automatically formats mixed Chinese-English text, fixes em-dash spacing, normalizes ellipsis, and more.

Features

Universal Rules (All Languages)

  • Ellipsis normalization: Converts . . . or . . . . to ... with proper spacing

Chinese-Specific Rules

Quote & Punctuation:

  • Double quote spacing (“”): Smart spacing that excludes CJK punctuation with built-in visual spacing
  • Single quote spacing (‘’): Same smart rules as double quotes
  • Em-dash conversion: Converts -- (or more dashes) to —— between CJK characters only
  • Em-dash spacing: Fixes spacing around existing —— with context-aware rules
  • Full-width punctuation: Normalizes , . in CJK context
  • Full-width parentheses/brackets: (text)(text) in CJK context

Normalization:

  • Full-width alphanumeric: Converts 123ABC123ABC
  • Consecutive punctuation cleanup: !!! (configurable limit)

Spacing:

  • CJK-English spacing: Auto-adds spaces between Chinese & English/numbers
  • Currency spacing: $ 100$100
  • Slash spacing: A / BA/B
  • Multiple space collapsing: Reduces consecutive spaces (preserves indentation)
  • Trailing space removal: Cleans up line endings
  • Excessive newline collapsing: Limits to max one blank line

File Type Support

  • Plain Text (.txt): Direct formatting
  • Markdown (.md): Preserves code blocks (fenced, indented, inline)
  • HTML (.html, .htm): Formats text content while preserving tags and <code>/<pre> elements

Installation

Requirements

  • Python 3.8 or higher

Install from PyPI

# Basic installation
pip install cjk-text-formatter

# With HTML support (optional)
pip install cjk-text-formatter[html]

Install from Source

git clone https://github.com/xiaolai/cjk-text-formatter.git
cd cjk-text-formatter
pip install -e .

# Or with HTML support
pip install -e ".[html]"

Verify Installation

# Check version
ctf --version

# Show help
ctf --help

# Quick test
ctf "文本English混合"
# Expected output: 文本 English 混合

Usage

Command Line

# Format text directly
ctf "文本English混合"
# Output: 文本 English 混合

# Format with em-dash
ctf "《书名》--作者"
# Output: 《书名》—— 作者

# Read from stdin
echo "文本English混合" | ctf

# Format a single file
ctf input.txt
ctf input.md --output formatted.md

# Format in-place
ctf document.txt --inplace

# Preview changes without writing (dry-run)
ctf document.txt --dry-run

# Format all files in a directory
ctf ./docs/ --inplace
ctf ./docs/ --recursive --inplace

# Format specific file types only
ctf ./docs/ --inplace -e .md -e .txt

Python API

from cjk_text_formatter.polish import polish_text

# Format text
text = "文本English混合,数字123也包含。"
result = polish_text(text)
print(result)
# Output: 文本 English 混合,数字 123 也包含。

# Format with em-dash
text = "《Python编程》--一本好书"
result = polish_text(text)
print(result)
# Output: 《Python 编程》—— 一本好书
from cjk_text_formatter.processors import process_file, find_files

# Process a single file
result = process_file(Path("document.md"))

# Find and process multiple files
files = find_files(Path("./docs"), recursive=True, extensions=['.md', '.txt'])
for file in files:
    result = process_file(file)
    # Do something with result

Configuration

Requires Python 3.11+ (uses built-in tomllib). On Python <3.11, all rules are enabled by default.

Config File Locations

Configuration is loaded with the following priority (highest to lowest):

  1. Custom path: ctf --config /path/to/config.toml
  2. Project root: ./cjk-text-formatter.toml
  3. User config: ~/.config/cjk-text-formatter.toml
  4. Defaults: All rules enabled

Quick Start

# Option 1: Use --init-config (recommended)
ctf --init-config                    # Create config in current directory
ctf --init-config --global           # Create config in ~/.config/

# Option 2: Manually copy example file
cp cjk-text-formatter.toml.example cjk-text-formatter.toml

# View example without creating file
ctf --show-config-example

# List all available rules
ctf --list-rules

# Check where config files are located
ctf --where

Configuration Format

# cjk-text-formatter.toml

[rules]
# Toggle built-in rules on/off
ellipsis_normalization = true
dash_conversion = true
emdash_spacing = true
quote_spacing = true
cjk_english_spacing = true
space_collapsing = true

# Define custom regex rules
[[custom_rules]]
name = "arrow_unicode"
pattern = '->'
replacement = '→'
description = "Use Unicode arrows"

[[custom_rules]]
name = "multiply_sign"
pattern = '(\d+)\s*x\s*(\d+)'
replacement = '\1×\2'
description = "Use proper multiplication sign"

Built-in Rules

Rule Default Description
Universal Rules
ellipsis_normalization Convert . . . to ...
Quote & Em-dash
quote_spacing Add spaces around “” with smart CJK handling
single_quote_spacing Add spaces around ‘’ with smart CJK handling
dash_conversion Convert -- (2+ dashes) to —— between CJK text only
emdash_spacing Fix spacing around ——
Normalization
fullwidth_punctuation Normalize , . ! ? ; : width
fullwidth_parentheses Normalize ()() in CJK
fullwidth_brackets Normalize []【】 in CJK (off by default)
fullwidth_alphanumeric Convert 123ABC123ABC
Spacing & Cleanup
cjk_english_spacing Space between Chinese & English/numbers
currency_spacing Remove space: $ 100$100
slash_spacing Remove space: A / BA/B
space_collapsing Collapse multiple spaces (preserve indents)
consecutive_punctuation_limit 0 Limit repeats: !!! (0=off, 1=single, 2=double)

Custom Rules

Add your own regex-based transformations:

[[custom_rules]]
name = "rule_name"              # Identifier (required)
pattern = 'regex pattern'       # Regex to match (required)
replacement = 'replacement'     # Replacement text (required)
description = "What it does"    # Optional description

Examples:

# Unicode fractions
[[custom_rules]]
name = "fraction_half"
pattern = '\b1/2\b'
replacement = '½'

# Temperature symbols
[[custom_rules]]
name = "celsius"
pattern = '(\d+)\s*C\b'
replacement = '\1°C'

# Smart quotes
[[custom_rules]]
name = "double_quotes"
pattern = '"([^"]+)"'
replacement = '"\1"'

Config Management Commands

# Create config file from template
ctf --init-config                    # Creates ./cjk-text-formatter.toml
ctf --init-config --global           # Creates ~/.config/cjk-text-formatter.toml
ctf --init-config --force            # Overwrite existing file

# List all available rules with descriptions
ctf --list-rules

# View example config (useful for piping)
ctf --show-config-example
ctf --show-config-example > my-config.toml

# Check config file locations
ctf --where                          # Show search paths and active config

# Validate config file syntax and rules
ctf --validate-config cjk-text-formatter.toml

# Show active configuration
ctf --show-config                    # Shows effective config from all sources
ctf --show-config --config custom.toml  # With custom config

Usage with Config

# Use project config (auto-detected)
ctf input.txt

# Use specific config file
ctf input.txt --config my-rules.toml

# Temporarily disable rules (no config file needed)
ctf input.txt --disable dash_conversion
ctf input.txt --disable quote_spacing --disable emdash_spacing

# Temporarily enable rules
ctf input.txt --enable fullwidth_brackets

# Show what changed (verbose mode)
ctf input.txt --verbose

Validating Config Files

# Validate a config file
ctf --validate-config cjk-text-formatter.toml

# Example output for valid config:
# Validating: cjk-text-formatter.toml
# ✓ Configuration is valid

# Example output for invalid config:
# Validating: cjk-text-formatter.toml
# Errors:
#   ✗ Unknown rule name: 'unknown_rule'. Valid rules: ...
#   ✗ custom_rules[0] (bad_regex): Invalid regex pattern: ...

What gets validated:

  • ✅ File exists and is readable
  • ✅ Valid TOML syntax
  • ✅ Rule names match known built-in rules
  • ✅ Custom rules have required fields (name, pattern, replacement)
  • ✅ Regex patterns compile successfully

Showing Effective Config

# Show which config is active and what rules are enabled
ctf --show-config

# With custom config
ctf --show-config --config my-rules.toml

# Example output:
# Effective Configuration:
#
# Config Source:
#   Project: ./cjk-text-formatter.toml
#
# Built-in Rules:
#   ✓ cjk_english_spacing: True
#   ✗ dash_conversion: False
#   ...
#
# Custom Rules:
#   [1] unicode_arrows
#       pattern: ->
#       replacement: →
#       description: Use Unicode right arrow

Typography Rules

Em-Dash Conversion & Spacing

Dash Conversion (only between CJK characters):

Before After Notes
中文--更多 中文 —— 更多 ✅ Between CJK: converts and adds spaces
中文---更多 中文 —— 更多 ✅ Triple dash (2+): also converts
中文 -- 更多 中文 —— 更多 ✅ With spaces: also converts
text--more text--more ❌ English only: NOT converted
--- --- ❌ Markdown horizontal rule: NOT converted

Em-Dash Spacing (existing —— characters):

Before After Rule
文本——内容 文本 —— 内容 Regular CJK text: spaces on both sides
《书名》——作者 《书名》—— 作者 After : no space before ——, space after
作者——《书名》 作者 ——《书名》 Before : space before ——, no space after
(注释)——内容 (注释)—— 内容 After : no space before ——, space after
内容——(注释) 内容 ——(注释) Before : space before ——, no space after

CJK-English Spacing

Before After
中文English 中文 English
数字123 数字 123
100个item 100 个 item

Quote Spacing (Smart CJK Punctuation Handling)

The quote spacing rule intelligently avoids adding spaces when quotes are adjacent to CJK punctuation that already has visual spacing built-in:

Before After Rule
文本"引用"文本 文本 "引用" 文本 Regular text: add spaces for readability
文本,"引用"。 文本,"引用"。 Punctuation ,。: NO space (already has visual spacing)
《书名》"引用"(注) 《书名》"引用"(注) Brackets 《》(): NO space (already has visual spacing)
前文——"引用"——后文 前文 —— "引用" —— 后文 Em-dash ——: ADD space (curly quotes need spacing)
English"中文"123 English "中文" 123 Alphanumeric: add spaces for readability

CJK punctuation excluded from quote spacing:

  • Terminal punctuation: ,。!?;:、
  • Book title marks & corner brackets: 《》「」『』
  • Brackets: 【】()〈〉

Note: Em-dash (——) is NOT excluded - spaces are added between em-dash and quotes because curly quotes lack built-in visual spacing.

Ellipsis Normalization

Before After
. . . ...
wait . . . more wait... more
end . . . . end...

Development

Running Tests

# Run all tests
pytest

# Run with coverage
pytest --cov=cjk_text_formatter

# Run specific test file
pytest tests/test_polish.py -v

Project Structure

cjk-text-formatter/
├── src/
│   └── cjk_text_formatter/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       ├── polish.py        # Core polishing logic
│       ├── processors.py    # File type processors
│       ├── config.py        # Configuration management
│       └── cli.py           # Command-line interface
├── tests/
│   ├── test_polish.py       # Polish function tests
│   ├── test_processors.py  # File processor tests
│   ├── test_config.py      # Configuration tests
│   └── test_config_validation.py
├── pyproject.toml           # Package configuration
└── README.md

Adding New Rules

To add a new typography rule:

  1. Add tests in tests/test_polish.py:

    def test_new_rule(self):
        assert polish_text("input") == "expected_output"
    
  2. Implement the rule in src/cjk_text_formatter/polish.py:

    def _new_rule(text: str) -> str:
        # Implementation
        return text
    
  3. Add to pipeline in polish_text():

    def polish_text(text: str) -> str:
        text = _normalize_ellipsis(text)
        text = _new_rule(text)  # Add your rule
        # ... rest of pipeline
        return text.strip()
    

Options

Processing Options

Option Short Description
--output PATH -o Output file path
--inplace -i Modify files in place
--recursive -r Process directories recursively
--dry-run -n Preview changes without writing
--extensions EXT -e File extensions to process (e.g., -e .txt -e .md)
--verbose -v Show summary of changes made

Configuration Options

Option Short Description
--config PATH -c Use custom config file
--disable RULE Temporarily disable a specific rule (repeatable)
--enable RULE Temporarily enable a specific rule (repeatable)
--init-config Create example config file and exit
--global Use with --init-config to create global config
--force Use with --init-config to overwrite existing
--list-rules List all available rules with descriptions and exit
--show-config-example Print example config to stdout and exit
--where Show config file locations and exit
--validate-config PATH Validate config file syntax and rules, then exit
--show-config Show effective configuration and exit

Other Options

Option Short Description
--version Show version and exit
--help Show help message and exit

Examples

Format Chinese-English Mixed Content

$ ctf "Python是一门编程语言,有3.11版本。"
Python 是一门编程语言,有 3.11 版本。

Format Book Titles with Em-Dash

$ ctf "《人生》--路遥著"
《人生》—— 路遥著

Batch Process Markdown Files

# Format all markdown files in docs/ and subdirectories
ctf ./docs/ --recursive --inplace -e .md

# Preview changes first
ctf ./docs/ --recursive --dry-run -e .md

Process with Preserved Code Blocks

Markdown code blocks are automatically preserved:

$ cat document.md
# 标题Title

文本English混合

\`\`\`python
# This code won't be formatted
text--more
\`\`\`

$ ctf document.md --inplace
$ cat document.md
# 标题 Title

文本 English 混合

\`\`\`python
# This code won't be formatted
text--more
\`\`\`

License

MIT License

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Add tests for new functionality
  4. Ensure all tests pass: pytest
  5. Submit a pull request

Author

Created by Xiaolai for the TEPUB project.

Originally developed as part of TEPUB, a tool for EPUB translation and audiobook generation.

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