EWTS Converter

This JavaScript module implements the conversion between Unicode Tibetan text and Extended Wylie transliteration (EWTS).

Installation

npm install tibetan-ewts-converter

Usage

From node:

let { EwtsConverter } = require('tibetan-ewts-converter')
let ewts = new EwtsConverter()
console.log(ewts.to_unicode("sangs rgyas"))
console.log(ewts.to_ewts("སངས་རྒྱས"))

// retrieve warnings from the last conversion, as an array of strings
let warns = ewts.get_warnings();
if (warns.length > 0) console.log(warns.join("\n"));

Output:

'སངས་རྒྱས'
'sangs rgyas'

ES6 module

Use the ES6 module directly and transpile/pack as needed:

import { EwtsConverter } from 'src/EwtsConverter.mjs';
let ewts = new EwtsConverter();

Options

The constructor accepts an optional object with named options:

• check: generate warnings for illegal consonant sequences and the like; default is true.
• check_strict: stricter checking, examine the whole stack; default is true.
• fix_spacing: remove spaces after newlines, collapse multiple tseks into one, fix case, etc; default is true.
• sloppy: silently fix a number of common Wylie mistakes when converting to Unicode; default is false
• leave_dubious: when converting to Unicode, leave dubious syllables unprocessed, between [brackets], instead of doing a best attempt; default is false
• pass_through: when converting to EWTS, pass through non-Tib characters instead of converting to [comments]; default is false

let ewts = new EwtsConverter({ check_strict: false, leave_dubious: true, sloppy: true });

Code and history

The first version of this code was written in Perl around 2008, followed in 2010 by a Java port at the request of TBRC, now BDRC.

The Java code was then ported to other languages by different groups:

• Python port by Esukhia
• C# port by radiantspace
• Another Python port by radiantspace
• JavaScript ports from BDRC, Ksana Forge and Karmapa Digital Toolbox

This is a new JavaScript port going back to the original Perl code, but incorporating some of the improvements done by various groups. It is written in modern and idiomatic JavaScript as of 2021.

Files

Main conversion library

The raw code that implements the conversion between EWTS and Unicode is contained in the file src/EwtsConverter.mjs, implemented as a pure ES6 module.

Transpiled library

The same library, transpiled by Babel for wider compatibility, is contained in the file lib/EwtsConverter.js.

Should be compatible with all recent browsers as well as Node.

Sample SPA

The files src/index.js and src/ewts.html implement a tiny, self-contained single page app for online conversion bewteen EWTS and Unicode.

This is packed by Webpack into the dist folder, ready to publish.

The online converter can be found on LotsawaHouse.