retext-smartypants

What is retext-smartypants?

The retext-smartypants package is a plugin for the retext ecosystem that transforms plain ASCII punctuation into typographically correct punctuation. It is useful for converting straight quotes to curly quotes, double hyphens to em dashes, and other similar transformations to improve the readability and appearance of text.

What are retext-smartypants's main functionalities?

Convert straight quotes to curly quotes

This feature converts straight quotes (" and ') to their curly counterparts (“ and ’).

const retext = require('retext');
const smartypants = require('retext-smartypants');
const report = require('vfile-reporter');

retext()
  .use(smartypants)
  .process('"Hello, world!" she said.', function (err, file) {
    if (err) throw err;
    console.log(String(file));
    console.error(report(file));
  });

Convert double hyphens to em dashes

This feature converts double hyphens (--) to em dashes (—).

const retext = require('retext');
const smartypants = require('retext-smartypants');
const report = require('vfile-reporter');

retext()
  .use(smartypants)
  .process('This is an example--with an em dash.', function (err, file) {
    if (err) throw err;
    console.log(String(file));
    console.error(report(file));
  });

Convert triple dots to ellipses

This feature converts triple dots (...) to ellipses (…).

const retext = require('retext');
const smartypants = require('retext-smartypants');
const report = require('vfile-reporter');

retext()
  .use(smartypants)
  .process('Wait... what?', function (err, file) {
    if (err) throw err;
    console.log(String(file));
    console.error(report(file));
  });

Other packages similar to retext-smartypants

typogr

The typogr package provides similar functionality to retext-smartypants by improving the typography of text. It converts straight quotes to curly quotes, double hyphens to em dashes, and more. It is a standalone library and does not require the retext ecosystem.

smartypants

The smartypants package is a JavaScript port of the original SmartyPants Perl library. It provides similar transformations for typographic punctuation, such as converting straight quotes to curly quotes and double hyphens to em dashes. It is a standalone library and can be used independently of retext.

README

retext-smartypants

retext plugin to apply SmartyPants.

Contents

• What is this?
• When should I use this?
• Install
• Use
• API
  • unified().use(retextSmartypants[, options])
  • Options
  • QuoteCharacterMap
• Types
• Compatibility
• Contribute
• License

What is this?

This package is a unified (retext) plugin to apply SmartyPants to the syntax tree. It replaces straight/typewriter punctuation marks and symbols with smart/curly marks and symbols.

When should I use this?

You can use this plugin any time there straight marks and symbols in prose, but you want to use smart ones instead.

Install

This package is ESM only. In Node.js (version 16+), install with npm:

npm install retext-smartypants

In Deno with esm.sh:

import retextSmartypants from 'https://esm.sh/retext-smartypants@6'

In browsers with esm.sh:

<script type="module">
  import retextSmartypants from 'https://esm.sh/retext-smartypants@6?bundle'
</script>

Use

import {retext} from 'retext'
import retextSmartypants from 'retext-smartypants'

const file = await retext()
  .use(retextSmartypants)
  .process('He said, "A \'simple\' english sentence. . ."')

console.log(String(file))

Yields:

He said, “A ‘simple’ english sentence…”

API

This package exports no identifiers. The default export is retextSmartypants.

unified().use(retextSmartypants[, options])

Replace straight punctuation marks with curly ones.

Parameters

• options (Options, optional) — configuration

Returns

Transform (Transformer).

Options

Configuration (TypeScript type).

Fields

• backticks (boolean or 'all', default: true) — transform backticks; when true, turns double backticks into an opening double quote and double straight single quotes into a closing double quote; when 'all', does that and turns single backticks into an opening single quote and a straight single quotes into a closing single smart quote; quotes: false must be used with backticks: 'all'
• closingQuotes (QuoteCharacterMap, default: {double: '”', single: '’'}) — closing quotes to use
• dashes ('inverted' or 'oldschool' or boolean, default: true) — transform dashes; when true, turns two dashes into an em dash character; when 'oldschool', turns three dashes into an em dash and two into an en dash; when 'inverted', turns three dashes into an en dash and two into an em dash
• ellipses ('spaced' or 'unspaced' or boolean, default: true) — transform triple dots; when 'spaced', turns triple dots with spaces into ellipses; when 'unspaced', turns triple dots without spaces into ellipses; when true, turns triple dots with or without spaces into ellipses
• openingQuotes (QuoteCharacterMap, default: {double: '“', single: '‘'}) — opening quotes to use
• quotes (boolean, default: true) — transform straight quotes into smart quotes

QuoteCharacterMap

Quote characters (TypeScript type).

Fields

• double (string) — character to use for double quotes
• single (string) — character to use for single quotes

Types

This package is fully typed with TypeScript. It exports the additional types Options and QuoteCharacterMap.

Compatibility

Projects maintained by the unified collective are compatible with maintained versions of Node.js.

When we cut a new major release, we drop support for unmaintained versions of Node. This means we try to keep the current release line, retext-smartypants@^6, compatible with Node.js 16.

Contribute

See contributing.md in retextjs/.github for ways to get started. See support.md for ways to get help.

This project has a code of conduct. By interacting with this repository, organization, or community you agree to abide by its terms.

License

MIT © Titus Wormer