Formatting and typography

Bitaboom provides over 30 formatting and typography utilities designed for cleaning up scanned manuscripts, OCR output, and general text normalization.

Punctuation normalization

Insert line breaks after punctuation

Add line breaks after sentence-ending punctuation:

import { insertLineBreaksAfterPunctuation } from 'bitaboom';

const text = 'First sentence. Second sentence! Third sentence?';
insertLineBreaksAfterPunctuation(text);
// Returns:
// "First sentence.\nSecond sentence!\nThird sentence?"

Supports: . ! ? ؟ (Arabic question mark)

For comprehensive preformatting in a single pass, use preformatArabicText which is significantly faster for large inputs.

Add spacing around punctuation

Normalize spacing around punctuation marks:

import { addSpaceBeforeAndAfterPunctuation } from 'bitaboom';

addSpaceBeforeAndAfterPunctuation('Text,word'); // returns 'Text, word'
addSpaceBeforeAndAfterPunctuation('Text  ,  word'); // returns 'Text, word'

Handles special cases:

Preserves spacing for quotes and ayah references
Normalizes colons in verse references (e.g., 12:34)
Respects closing brackets and quotation marks

Clean spaces before punctuation

import { cleanSpacesBeforePeriod } from 'bitaboom';

cleanSpacesBeforePeriod('This is a sentence , with extra space .');
// returns 'This is a sentence, with extra space.'

Supports: . ؟ ! , ، ؛ : ?

Remove redundant punctuation

import { removeRedundantPunctuation } from 'bitaboom';

removeRedundantPunctuation('كيف حالك؟.'); // returns 'كيف حالك؟'
removeRedundantPunctuation('ممتاز!،'); // returns 'ممتاز!'
removeRedundantPunctuation('هذا جيد.'); // returns 'هذا جيد.' (unchanged)

Smart quotes and quotation marks

Apply smart quotes

Convert straight quotes to smart quotes:

import { applySmartQuotes } from 'bitaboom';

applySmartQuotes('The "quick brown" fox');
// returns 'The "quick brown" fox'

applySmartQuotes('"Start of text');
// returns '"Start of text'

Fix mismatched quotation marks

Correct various incorrect bracket/quote combinations:

import { fixMismatchedQuotationMarks } from 'bitaboom';

fixMismatchedQuotationMarks('«النص)'); // returns '«النص»'
fixMismatchedQuotationMarks('(النص»'); // returns '«النص»'
fixMismatchedQuotationMarks('«النص'); // returns '«النص»' (auto-closes)

Trim space inside quotes

import { trimSpaceInsideQuotes } from 'bitaboom';

trimSpaceInsideQuotes('" Text "'); // returns '"Text"'
trimSpaceInsideQuotes('« النص »'); // returns '«النص»'

Bracket normalization

Double to single brackets

import { doubleToSingleBrackets } from 'bitaboom';

doubleToSingleBrackets('((text))'); // returns '(text)'
doubleToSingleBrackets('[[note]]'); // returns '[note]'

Replace double brackets with Arabic guillemets

import { replaceDoubleBracketsWithArrows } from 'bitaboom';

replaceDoubleBracketsWithArrows('((text))'); // returns '«text»'
replaceDoubleBracketsWithArrows('(( spaced ))'); // returns '«spaced»'

Fix bracket typos

import { fixBracketTypos } from 'bitaboom';

fixBracketTypos('(«content»)'); // returns '«content»'
fixBracketTypos(')123)'); // returns '(123)'
fixBracketTypos(')456('); // returns '(456)'

Fix curly braces

import { fixCurlyBraces } from 'bitaboom';

fixCurlyBraces('(content}'); // returns '{content}'
fixCurlyBraces('{content)'); // returns '{content}'

Ensure spacing before brackets

import { ensureSpaceBeforeBrackets, ensureSpaceBeforeQuotes } from 'bitaboom';

ensureSpaceBeforeBrackets('text(note)'); // returns 'text (note)'
ensureSpaceBeforeQuotes('text«note»'); // returns 'text «note»'

Remove space inside brackets

import { removeSpaceInsideBrackets } from 'bitaboom';

removeSpaceInsideBrackets('( a b )'); // returns '(a b)'
removeSpaceInsideBrackets('[ text ]'); // returns '[text]'

Character repetition and condensation

Condense ellipsis

import { condenseEllipsis } from 'bitaboom';

condenseEllipsis('This is a test...'); // returns 'This is a test…'
condenseEllipsis('Wait..'); // returns 'Wait…'

Condense asterisks

import { condenseAsterisks } from 'bitaboom';

condenseAsterisks('***'); // returns '*'
condenseAsterisks('* * *'); // returns '*'

Condense colons

import { condenseColons } from 'bitaboom';

condenseColons('This.:. is a test'); // returns 'This: is a test'
condenseColons('.-:-.'); // returns ':'

Condense dashes

import { condenseDashes } from 'bitaboom';

condenseDashes('This is some ---- text'); // returns 'This is some - text'
condenseDashes('--'); // returns '-'

Condense underscores and tatweel

import { condenseUnderscores } from 'bitaboom';

condenseUnderscores('This is ـــ some text __'); 
// returns 'This is ـ some text _'

Condense periods

import { condensePeriods } from 'bitaboom';

condensePeriods('This . . . is a test'); // returns 'This. is a test'

Whitespace normalization

Normalize spaces

Collapse multiple spaces/tabs to single space:

import { normalizeSpaces } from 'bitaboom';

normalizeSpaces('This   is a   text'); // returns 'This is a text'
normalizeSpaces('Tab\t\tseparated'); // returns 'Tab separated'

Clean multilines

Remove horizontal whitespace from line edges:

import { cleanMultilines } from 'bitaboom';

cleanMultilines('  line1  \n  line2  '); // returns 'line1\nline2'
cleanMultilines('\t\tindented\t\t'); // returns 'indented'
cleanMultilines('text\n \n \n'); // returns 'text\n\n\n'

This function handles various Unicode horizontal whitespace characters including regular spaces, tabs, non-breaking spaces, and other Unicode whitespace.

Reduce multiple line breaks

To double
To single

import { reduceMultilineBreaksToDouble } from 'bitaboom';

const text = 'This is line 1\n\n\n\nThis is line 2';
reduceMultilineBreaksToDouble(text);
// returns 'This is line 1\n\nThis is line 2'

import { reduceMultilineBreaksToSingle } from 'bitaboom';

const text = 'This is line 1\n\nThis is line 2';
reduceMultilineBreaksToSingle(text);
// returns 'This is line 1\nThis is line 2'

Clean literal newlines

Replace literal \n and \r strings with actual newlines:

import { cleanLiteralNewLines } from 'bitaboom';

cleanLiteralNewLines('A\\nB'); // returns 'A\nB'
cleanLiteralNewLines('Text\\rMore'); // returns 'Text\nMore'

Reference formatting

Normalize slashes in references

import { normalizeSlashInReferences } from 'bitaboom';

normalizeSlashInReferences('127 / 11'); // returns '127/11'
normalizeSlashInReferences('Page 5 / 6'); // returns 'Page 5/6'

Text case utilities

Title case conversion

import { toTitleCase } from 'bitaboom';

toTitleCase('hello world'); // returns 'Hello World'
toTitleCase('SHOUTING TEXT'); // returns 'Shouting Text'
toTitleCase('mixed CASE text'); // returns 'Mixed Case Text'

Detect all uppercase

import { isAllUppercase } from 'bitaboom';

isAllUppercase('HELLO WORLD'); // returns true
isAllUppercase('Hello World'); // returns false
isAllUppercase('TITLE123'); // returns true (ignores numbers)
isAllUppercase('   '); // returns false (no letters)

Styling removal

Strip bold styling

import { stripBoldStyling } from 'bitaboom';

const boldText = '\u{1D5D4}\u{1D5D5}\u{1D5D6}'; // Mathematical bold ABC
stripBoldStyling(boldText); // returns 'ABC'

Strip italic styling

import { stripItalicsStyling } from 'bitaboom';

const italicText = '𝘼𝘽𝘾';
stripItalicsStyling(italicText); // returns 'ABC'

Strip all styling

import { stripStyling } from 'bitaboom';

// Removes both bold and italic Unicode styling
const styledText = getMixedStyledText();
stripStyling(styledText); // returns plain text

Advanced formatting

Format by sentence

Join sentences while keeping footnotes on separate lines:

import { formatStringBySentence } from 'bitaboom';

const input = `First sentence.
(1) A footnote.
Second sentence.`;

formatStringBySentence(input);
// Returns:
// "First sentence.\n(1) A footnote.\nSecond sentence."

Footnotes are identified by:

Arabic numerals: (1), (2), etc.
Eastern Arabic numerals: (۱), (۲), etc.

Detection utilities

Detect single-word lines
Detect punctuation-only

import { hasWordInSingleLine } from 'bitaboom';

hasWordInSingleLine('word'); // true
hasWordInSingleLine('two words'); // false
hasWordInSingleLine('line1\nword\nline3'); // true

import { isOnlyPunctuation } from 'bitaboom';

isOnlyPunctuation('...'); // true
isOnlyPunctuation('123'); // true (digits count as punctuation)
isOnlyPunctuation('hello'); // false

Real-world patterns

Clean OCR manuscript output

import {
  cleanSpacesBeforePeriod,
  condenseEllipsis,
  normalizeSpaces,
  reduceMultilineBreaksToDouble,
  fixMismatchedQuotationMarks,
  applySmartQuotes
} from 'bitaboom';

function cleanManuscript(text: string): string {
  let result = text;
  
  // Fix punctuation spacing
  result = cleanSpacesBeforePeriod(result);
  
  // Normalize repetitions
  result = condenseEllipsis(result);
  result = normalizeSpaces(result);
  
  // Fix line breaks
  result = reduceMultilineBreaksToDouble(result);
  
  // Fix quotes
  result = fixMismatchedQuotationMarks(result);
  result = applySmartQuotes(result);
  
  return result;
}

Normalize academic footnotes

import {
  formatStringBySentence,
  ensureSpaceBeforeBrackets,
  removeSpaceInsideBrackets
} from 'bitaboom';

function normalizeFootnotes(text: string): string {
  let result = text;
  
  // Ensure proper bracketing
  result = ensureSpaceBeforeBrackets(result);
  result = removeSpaceInsideBrackets(result);
  
  // Format sentences and footnotes
  result = formatStringBySentence(result);
  
  return result;
}

Create display-ready text

import {
  normalizeSpaces,
  cleanMultilines,
  toTitleCase,
  stripStyling
} from 'bitaboom';

function prepareForDisplay(rawText: string, titleCase = false): string {
  let result = stripStyling(rawText);
  result = normalizeSpaces(result);
  result = cleanMultilines(result);
  
  if (titleCase) {
    result = toTitleCase(result);
  }
  
  return result.trim();
}

Combining with Arabic processing

import {
  replaceEnglishPunctuationWithArabic,
  fixTrailingWow,
  cleanSpacesBeforePeriod,
  normalizeSpaces,
  fixMismatchedQuotationMarks
} from 'bitaboom';

function normalizeArabicText(text: string): string {
  let result = text;
  
  // Arabic-specific
  result = replaceEnglishPunctuationWithArabic(result);
  result = fixTrailingWow(result);
  
  // General formatting
  result = cleanSpacesBeforePeriod(result);
  result = normalizeSpaces(result);
  result = fixMismatchedQuotationMarks(result);
  
  return result;
}

Performance considerations

When processing large texts or batches, individual formatting functions can be slow. For comprehensive Arabic text cleanup, use the optimized preformatArabicText function which combines many of these operations in a single pass.

For single transformations

Use individual functions when you only need specific formatting:

const result = normalizeSpaces(text);

For multiple transformations on small text

Chain functions for readability:

const result = normalizeSpaces(cleanSpacesBeforePeriod(text));

For comprehensive Arabic formatting

Use the preformatting pipeline:

import { preformatArabicText } from 'bitaboom';
const result = preformatArabicText(text);

All formatting functions handle edge cases gracefully, including empty strings, null values, and extreme Unicode characters.

Get Started

Guides

Examples

​Punctuation normalization

​Insert line breaks after punctuation

​Add spacing around punctuation

​Clean spaces before punctuation

​Remove redundant punctuation

​Smart quotes and quotation marks

​Apply smart quotes

​Fix mismatched quotation marks

​Trim space inside quotes

​Bracket normalization

​Double to single brackets

​Replace double brackets with Arabic guillemets

​Fix bracket typos

​Fix curly braces

​Ensure spacing before brackets

​Remove space inside brackets

​Character repetition and condensation

​Condense ellipsis

​Condense asterisks

​Condense colons

​Condense dashes

​Condense underscores and tatweel

​Condense periods

​Whitespace normalization

​Normalize spaces

​Clean multilines

​Reduce multiple line breaks

​Clean literal newlines

​Reference formatting

​Normalize slashes in references

​Text case utilities

​Title case conversion

​Detect all uppercase

​Styling removal

​Strip bold styling

​Strip italic styling

​Strip all styling

​Advanced formatting

​Format by sentence

​Detection utilities

​Real-world patterns

​Clean OCR manuscript output

​Normalize academic footnotes

​Create display-ready text

​Combining with Arabic processing

​Performance considerations

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Punctuation normalization

Insert line breaks after punctuation

Add spacing around punctuation

Clean spaces before punctuation

Remove redundant punctuation

Smart quotes and quotation marks

Apply smart quotes

Fix mismatched quotation marks

Trim space inside quotes

Bracket normalization

Double to single brackets

Replace double brackets with Arabic guillemets

Fix bracket typos

Fix curly braces

Ensure spacing before brackets

Remove space inside brackets

Character repetition and condensation

Condense ellipsis

Condense asterisks

Condense colons

Condense dashes

Condense underscores and tatweel

Condense periods

Whitespace normalization

Normalize spaces

Clean multilines

Reduce multiple line breaks

Clean literal newlines

Reference formatting

Normalize slashes in references

Text case utilities

Title case conversion

Detect all uppercase

Styling removal

Strip bold styling

Strip italic styling

Strip all styling

Advanced formatting

Format by sentence

Detection utilities

Real-world patterns

Clean OCR manuscript output

Normalize academic footnotes

Create display-ready text

Combining with Arabic processing

Performance considerations