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🅱️ Tamil Unicode to Bamini Converter (Background)

⚡ Instantly convert selected Tamil Unicode text to Bamini font from anywhere on your system using a simple keyboard shortcut!

🌟 Features

  • 🖥️ Background Tray App – quietly runs in the system tray.
  • 🔠 Text Conversion – converts Tamil Unicode to Bamini using precise character mappings.
  • ⌨️ Keyboard Shortcut – convert selected text with Ctrl + Alt + B.
  • 🪄 In-place Replacement – replaces the selected text directly (not from clipboard).
  • 🧠 Smart Mapping – based on custom Unicode ➔ Bamini character set logic.
  • 🛠️ Windows Executable – built with electron-packager.
  • 🌐 Cross-platform Ready – designed to migrate to nut.js in future versions for Linux/macOS.

📁 Project Structure

tamil-bamini-converter/
│
├── index.js            # Background Electron logic (tray, shortcut, selection)
├── converter.js        # Tamil Unicode to Bamini conversion logic
├── assets/
│   ├── icon.ico        # App tray & executable icon
│   └── screenshot.png  # Optional screenshot for documentation
├── package.json        # Project metadata and build configuration
└── README.md           # You're here!

🚀 Getting Started

🔧 Prerequisites

⛑️ These are required for robotjs to compile correctly

  • ✅ Node.js v18.x (recommended)
  • ✅ Python v3.x (for node-gyp)
  • ✅ Visual Studio Build Tools Install Build Tools for Visual Studio with the “Desktop Development with C++” workload.

🛠️ Installation

git clone https://github.com/Pakeetharan/unicode-bamini-converter.git
cd unicode-bamini-converter

# Install dependencies
npm install

▶️ Development: Run Locally

npm start

This launches the app to the tray and listens for keyboard input. Try selecting some Tamil Unicode text and press:

Ctrl + Alt + B

A system notification will confirm the conversion. The selected text will be replaced in-place with its Bamini equivalent.

💻 Build the Windows Executable

Build using electron-packager:

npm run package

This will generate an executable in the dist/ folder:

dist/
└── TamilBaminiConverter-win32-x64/
    └── TamilBaminiConverter.exe

To run the executable:

cd dist/TamilBaminiConverter-win32-x64
./TamilBaminiConverter.exe

🔣 Unicode ➔ Bamini Logic

The converter is based on a custom replacement engine written in JavaScript (converter.js). The function maps combinations like:

text = text.replace(/கி/g, "fp");  // Tamil 'கி' => Bamini 'fp'
text = text.replace(/த/g, "j");    // Tamil 'த' => Bamini 'j'

It covers all major Tamil character combinations used in typing.

⚠️ Known Limitations

  • This version only works on Windows.
  • Only text selections (not clipboard contents) are converted.
  • robotjs may not support Unicode properly on non-English layouts.

💻 Tech Stack

Purpose Tool
Desktop Runtime Electron.js
Native Key Handling robotjs
Bundler electron-packager
Icon/Tray .ico assets

📝 License

MIT License © 2025 Pakeetharan Balasubramaniam

🤝 Contributions Welcome!

Feel free to fork, contribute, or suggest improvements:

  • ✅ macOS/Linux support via nut.js
  • 🌐 Auto-launch on boot
  • 🖕 Bamini to Unicode (reverse) converter

🌟 Star this repo if it helped you!

⭐ Unicode to Bamini, made effortless. ⭐