Hyphen
Hyphen is a cross-platform Flutter plugin that provides high-quality word hyphenation.
It uses the hunspell/hyphen C library under the hood (via FFI) on native platforms, and a WebAssembly/JS runtime on the Web.
With Hyphen, you can automatically insert hyphenation marks into words based on language-specific rules.
By default, the plugin uses "=" as the separator, but you can configure it to use any custom separator you want.
β¨ Features
- Works on all Flutter platforms: Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux, Web
- Uses battle-tested hyphen dictionaries
- Two hyphenation APIs available:
hnjHyphenate2β classic hyphenationhnjHyphenate3β extended API with additional options
- Unified API β always use the same
Hyphenclass, no matter the platform
π¦ Installing
Add to your pubspec.yaml:
dependencies:
hyphen: ^0.1.4
Then run:
flutter pub get
π Dictionaries
Hyphen requires a .dic file for the language you want to hyphenate.
These are not bundled due to licensing reasons.
π You need to generate or obtain these .dic files yourself.
Where to get dictionary files
Hyphenation dictionaries are created from TeX hyphenation pattern files (commonly available on CTAN and other TeX distribution sources).
π¨ Step-by-step Example: English (US)
-
Download the pattern file
hyphen-en-us.tex -
Run the
substrings.plscript (from hunspell/hyphen):perl substrings.pl hyphen-en-us.tex hyph_en_US.dic UTF-8This generates a file called
hyph_en_US.dic. -
Add the file to your Flutter project:
assets/hyph_en_US.dic -
Declare it in
pubspec.yaml:flutter: assets: - assets/hyph_en_US.dic
π Usage
import 'package:hyphen/hyphen.dart';
Future<void> main() async {
// Load a dictionary from assets
final hyphen = await Hyphen.fromDictionaryPath('assets/hyph_en_US.dic');
// Hyphenate a word
final result = hyphen.hnjHyphenate2('hyphenation', separator: '-');
print(result); // "hy-phen-ation"
// Using the extended API
final result2 = hyphen.hnjHyphenate3(
'hyphenation',
separator: '=',
lhmin: 3,
rhmin: 3,
);
print(result2); // "hyphen=ation"
}
π₯ Platform Notes
- Android/iOS/macOS/Linux/Windows: Uses the native hyphen lib via FFI.
- Web: Uses a WASM build of the hyphen lib via
hyphen.js. - On all platforms, you must provide your own
.dicfile.
β οΈ License
This package is dual-licensed:
- Plugin code (Dart, FFI bindings and wrappers): licensed under MIT.
- Hyphenation engine: incorporates code from Hunspell/Hyphen,
which is licensed under the Mozilla Public License (MPL).
Hyphenation dictionaries come with their own licenses β check the
hunspell/hyphen repo before redistributing.
π€ Contributing
Issues and pull requests are welcome!