Emoji Configuration

There are various ways to input emojis in an input method, such as:

• Using dictionaries to match emojis
• Using OpenCC for word filtering and replacement

Both of the above methods are effective, but here we will focus on the OpenCC approach.

OpenCC

OpenCC, short for "Open Chinese Convert," was originally designed for converting between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

For example, you can use the OpenCC command line to convert a file from Simplified Chinese to Traditional Chinese:

opencc -i simplified.txt -o traditional.txt -c t2s

However, the underlying principle is actually text replacement and expansion, similar to Java's replace function. Therefore, it has also been used for implementing emojis.

Some people online have used OpenCC for ancient poetry or Chinese-English dictionaries, which is also a good approach. However, OpenCC's text replacement mechanism is not suitable for large-scale text libraries.

For example, let's consider an OpenCC file configuration:

露齿笑	露齿笑 😃
哈	哈 😄
哈哈	哈哈 😄
开心	开心 😄
笑	笑 😄 😊

In this case, when you input "露齿笑," it will be transformed into both the word "露齿笑" and the emoji "😃," allowing you to mix emojis with regular text in the input method.

Emoji in Rime (Mint Pinyin)

Now, let's take a look at emojis in Rime with the Mint Pinyin input method. In fact, the emojis in Rime have undergone multiple revisions. For example, in a previous version, Rime introduced emojis from iOS 16, but there were too many emojis. As a result, when you entered the character "花" (flower), the first 15 candidates were all emojis.

In the end, the method used was reverted to a relatively basic version in order to strike a balance.

Customizing Emojis

If you want to customize emojis, the emoji configuration files are located in the OpenCC folder and consist of three files:

.
├── emoji.json
├── emoji.txt
└── others.txt

Here's what each file contains:

• emoji.json: This file contains the mapping rules for emojis. OpenCC will use this JSON file for emoji conversion.
• emoji.txt: This file contains a list of all emojis, with each emoji on a separate line. It serves as the input for the emoji dictionary and is used to generate the emoji.json mapping file.
• others.txt: This file contains forms of special vocabulary.

You can modify these files yourself, but be sure to pay attention to the format, especially the use of tabs and spaces.

Emoji Toggle

There is a toggle switch in the configuration file of the input method, rime_mint.schema.yaml:

switches:
  - name: emoji_suggestion
    reset: 1
    states: [ "😣️","😁️"]

This switch controls the availability of emojis and filters certain characters. The character filtering is done in the following section:

engine:
  filters:
    - simplifier                          # Rime's built-in traditional Chinese simplification
    - simplifier@emoji_suggestion         # Emoji filtering
    - simplifier@transcription_cc         # Simplified and traditional Chinese conversion
    - lua_filter@reduce_english_filter    # Lowering the priority of some English words in the candidates
    - uniquifier                          # Deduplication

Of course, there are specific rules for filtering:

# Emoji module
emoji_suggestion:
  opencc_config: emoji.json
  option_name: emoji_suggestion
  tips: all
  inherit_comment: false

The above content constitutes the Emoji OpenCC in the Rime input method. If you need to make changes, you can refer to the information provided above.