Configuration Overrides and Customization

Customization is easy to understand. The Mint Input Method is based on the Rime Input Method framework, which is essentially a set of Rime Input Method configurations. Different Rime clients have a large number of personalization configurations. Although the Mint Input Method has already made a lot of settings, there are still many configurations that have not been activated; users can configure them according to their preferences.

As for overrides, it means that the Mint Input Method has already configured the Rime Input Method client, but it may not meet your preferences, so you can override it.

Rime's Personalized Configuration Files

Rime's configuration is generally divided into two types:

• Input method application configuration: This is generally used to set the appearance of the client, and each client may be different. For example: on macOS (Squirrel) and Windows (Weasel), you can set the appearance of the input method and vertical input, etc.
• Input method scheme configuration: This is used to set the internal configuration of the input method scheme; for example: setting the form of the period when inputting in half-width, input method page turning shortcut keys, etc.

Generally speaking, if you want to customize the display of the appearance, then set the "input method application configuration", on macOS it is squirrel.yaml and squirrel.custom.yaml; on Windows it is weasel.yaml and weasel.custom.yaml.

If you want to override the content and method of input, then it is to set the "input method scheme configuration", which is divided into "global input settings (default)" and "input scheme settings (scheme)"; similarly, as a setting, there are also custom files with custom and schema files without custom.

Why are there both with custom and without custom?

In fact, those without custom are configuration customizations, used to implement configurations; those with custom are configuration overrides, used to override some configurations without custom; other contents inherit configurations without custom.

Input Method Application Configuration

First, let's look at the application configuration. This makes it easy for us to modify the appearance of the input method.

Taking the Mint Input Method as an example, we have already installed the Mint Input Method. If you are on macOS, you can open the squirrel.yaml file. The Mint Input Method is already based on the official configuration: Squirrel source code configuration

If your project does not have a squirrel.yaml file, then it will use the official configuration. Similarly, if you are on Windows and do not have a weasel.yaml file, then it will use: Weasel source code configuration

Content reference (excerpt from the squirrel.yaml file for reference):

style:
  # 选择皮肤，亮色与暗色主题
  color_scheme: mint_light_blue
  color_scheme_dark: mint_dark_blue
  
  # 预设选项。如果皮肤没写，则使用这些属性；如果皮肤写了，使用皮肤的。
  text_orientation: horizontal  # horizontal | vertical
  andidate_list_layout: stacked # stacked | linear  候选项排列方向（如果你想调整为横屏，可以调整这个）
  
  # 内嵌预编辑
  inline_preedit: true
  # 选中框 圆角半径
  hilited_corner_radius: 0
  # 窗口边界高度，大于圆角半径才生效
  border_height: 0
  # 窗口边界宽度，大于圆角半径才生效
  border_width: 0
  # 外边框 圆角半径
  corner_radius: 10
  # 色彩空间： srgb | display_p3
  color_space: srgb
  line_spacing: 5
  spacing: 10
  #candidate_format: '%c. %@'
  #base_offset: 6
  # 全局字体及大小
  font_face: "PingFang SC"
  font_point: 16
  # 序号字体及大小
  label_font_face: "PingFang SC"
  label_font_point: 16
  # 注字体及大小
  comment_font_face: "PingFang SC"
  comment_font_point: 14

The internal comments are comprehensive, and you can refer to them if you're interested.

You can directly modify this file and then redeploy. You can also modify the custom file (if it doesn't exist, you can create it in the same directory without custom).

If you want to modify the custom file, please note:

• You need to use patch to describe at the beginning;
• When overwriting some content, you need to use "" to point to the specific content.

For example: If you want to change the layout of Squirrel to horizontal, you can write squirrel.custom.yaml like this:

patch:
  "style/horizontal": false

Counterexample:

patch:
  style:
    # This will clear the content inside style, leaving only one horizontal configuration
    horizontal: false

Input Method Scheme Configuration

Next, let's look at the "Input Method Scheme Configuration". The global configuration of the scheme is default.yaml and default.custom.yaml; for the local part, taking the Mint Input Method as an example:

• rime_mint.schema.yaml is a local configuration. rime_mint.schema.yaml can override the configuration of default.yaml.
• If you want to modify the full Pinyin configuration within the Mint Input Method, it is recommended to use the rime_mint.custom.yaml file for overriding (Note: this is for the full Pinyin configuration within the Mint Input Method; if you are using the Double Fly Pinyin within the Mint Input Method, then use the double_pinyin_flypy.custom.yaml file. For other configurations within the Mint Input Method, follow this analogy).

So, the priority is:

Currently, the Mint Input Method has implemented the default.yaml configuration. When using the Mint configuration, it will automatically override the default.yaml that comes with the Rime client (Squirrel, Weasel, etc.).

So:

• If you want to customize the global style, it is recommended to use the default.custom.yaml file to override default.yaml;
• If you want to modify the configuration of the Mint Input Method, it is recommended to use the rime_mint.custom.yaml file for overriding.

Example: Override the global input scheme configuration and set the candidate to 6:

patch:
  "menu/page_size": 6

Counterexample:

patch:
  menu:
    # This will clear the content inside menu, leaving only one page_size configuration
    page_size: 6

Don't worry, there are more examples in this chapter for reference.

Modifying the Configuration of the Mint Input Method

The Mint Input Method comes with a lot of configurations, but they may not suit your preferences. Therefore, you can override them according to your preferences.

Taking "Mint Pinyin" as an example, how should we enable its fuzzy pinyin?

Its configuration file is rime_mint.schema.yaml. Sometimes when I update, I will modify this file. If you want to override the update and do not use Git for management, there may be conflicts.

Therefore, it is recommended to use the rime_mint.custom.yaml file for overriding. In this way, even if it is updated, you can directly override the file with the same name without affecting your configuration.

In summary, we can operate as follows:

1. Open or create the rime_mint.custom.yaml file;
2. According to the Fuzzy Pinyin section later, we know that we need to override the speller/algebra module, using patch for overriding,

Content of the rime_mint.custom.yaml file:

# Rime schema
# encoding: utf-8

patch:
  speller/algebra:
    - erase/^xx$/ # 首选保留
    ## 模糊拼音
    - derive/^([zcs])h/$1/ # zh, ch, sh => z, c, s
    - derive/^([zcs])([^h])/$1h$2/ # z, c, s => zh, ch, sh
    - derive/([aei])n$/$1ng/ # en => eng, in => ing
    - derive/([aei])ng$/$1n/ # eng => en, ing => in
    - derive/([iu])an$/$lan/ # ian => iang, uan => uang
    - derive/([iu])ang$/$lan/ # iang => ian, uang => uan
    - derive/([aeiou])ng$/$1gn/        # dagn => dang
    - derive/([dtngkhrzcs])o(u|ng)$/$1o/  # zho => zhong|zhou
    - derive/ong$/on/                  # zhonguo => zhong guo
    - abbrev/^([a-z])[a-z]*$/$1/       # 简拼（首字母）
    - abbrev/^([zcs]h).+$/$1/          # 简拼（zh, ch, sh）
     ### 自动纠错
    # 有些规则对全拼简拼混输有副作用：如「x'ai 喜爱」被纠错为「xia 下」
    # zh、ch、sh
    - derive/([zcs])h(a|e|i|u|ai|ei|an|en|ou|uo|ua|un|ui|uan|uai|uang|ang|eng|ong)$/h$1$2/  # hzi → zhi
    - derive/([zcs])h([aeiu])$/$1$2h/  # zih → zhi
    # ai
    - derive/^([wghk])ai$/$1ia/  # wia → wai
    # ia
    - derive/([qjx])ia$/$1ai/  # qai → qia
    # ei
    - derive/([wtfghkz])ei$/$1ie/
    # ie
    - derive/([jqx])ie$/$1ei/
    # ao
    - derive/([rtypsdghklzcbnm])ao$/$1oa/
    # ou
    - derive/([ypfm])ou$/$1uo/
    # uo（无）
    # an
    - derive/([wrtypsdfghklzcbnm])an$/$1na/
    # en
    - derive/([wrpsdfghklzcbnm])en$/$1ne/
    # ang
    - derive/([wrtypsdfghklzcbnm])ang$/$1nag/
    - derive/([wrtypsdfghklzcbnm])ang$/$1agn/
    # eng
    - derive/([wrtpsdfghklzcbnm])eng$/$1neg/
    - derive/([wrtpsdfghklzcbnm])eng$/$1egn/
    # ing
    - derive/([qtypdjlxbnm])ing$/$1nig/
    - derive/([qtypdjlxbnm])ing$/$1ign/
    # ong
    - derive/([rtysdghklzcn])ong$/$1nog/
    - derive/([rtysdghklzcn])ong$/$1ogn/
    # iao
    - derive/([qtpdjlxbnm])iao$/$1ioa/
    - derive/([qtpdjlxbnm])iao$/$1oia/
    # ui
    - derive/([rtsghkzc])ui$/$1iu/
    # iu
    - derive/([qjlxnm])iu$/$1ui/
    # ian
    - derive/([qtpdjlxbnm])ian$/$1ain/
    # - derive/([qtpdjlxbnm])ian$/$1ina/ # 和「李娜、蒂娜、缉拿」等常用词有冲突
    # in
    - derive/([qypjlxbnm])in$/$1ni/
    # iang
    - derive/([qjlxn])iang$/$1aing/
    - derive/([qjlxn])iang$/$1inag/
    # ua
    - derive/([g|k|h|zh|sh])ua$/$1au/
    # uai
    - derive/([g|h|k|zh|ch|sh])uai$/$1aui/
    - derive/([g|h|k|zh|ch|sh])uai$/$1uia/
    # uan
    - derive/([qrtysdghjklzxcn])uan$/$1aun/
    # - derive/([qrtysdghjklzxcn])uan$/$1una/ # 和「去哪、露娜」等常用词有冲突
    # un
    - derive/([qrtysdghjklzxc])un$/$1nu/
    # ue
    - derive/([nlyjqx])ue$/$1eu/
    # uang
    - derive/([g|h|k|zh|ch|sh])uang$/$1aung/
    - derive/([g|h|k|zh|ch|sh])uang$/$1uagn/
    - derive/([g|h|k|zh|ch|sh])uang$/$1unag/
    - derive/([g|h|k|zh|ch|sh])uang$/$1augn/
    # iong
    - derive/([jqx])iong$/$1inog/
    - derive/([jqx])iong$/$1oing/
    - derive/([jqx])iong$/$1iogn/
    - derive/([jqx])iong$/$1oign/
    # 其他
    - derive/([rtsdghkzc])o(u|ng)$/$1o/ # do → dou|dong
    - derive/ong$/on/ # lon → long
    - derive/([tl])eng$/$1en/ # ten → teng
    - derive/([qwrtypsdfghjklzxcbnm])([aeio])ng$/$1ng/ # lng → lang、leng、ling、long

Comparing rime_mint.custom.yaml and rime_mint.schema.yaml：

Example: Horizontal Input Method

If you want to change the layout of the input method to horizontal on macOS, you can do the following:

1. Open or create the squirrel.custom.yaml file;
2. Use patch to override, change candidate_list_layout to linear;

Possible content:

patch:
  # stacked | linear | tabled candidate list layout direction (if you want horizontal, set to linear)
  style/candidate_list_layout: linear

Warning

If your input method skin has candidate_list_layout: stacked set, due to the reason that local configuration is greater than global configuration, this setting may be invalid.

At the same time, currently, the configuration priority of candidate_list_layout is higher than horizontal: true. However, if the candidate_list_layout setting is invalid, you can also try horizontal: true.

Example: Customizing the Input Dictionary

If you want to customize the dictionary, you can do so as follows, taking the "Mint Pinyin - Full Pinyin Input" in the Mint Input Method as an example:

1. Open or create the rime_mint.custom.yaml file;
2. Use patch to override, change translator/dictionary to your custom dictionary;

Possible content:

patch:
  # Set the dictionary of "Mint Pinyin - Full Pinyin Input", use the rime_mint.custom.dict.yaml file
  translator/dictionary: rime_mint.custom

At the same time, you can see that we are locating the rime_mint.custom.dict.yaml file here, so we can create this file and then write our dictionary into this file. It is recommended to copy a set of the dictionary that comes with Mint and then modify it:

---
name: rime_mint.custom                  # Note that the name is consistent with the file name
version: "2024.02.11"
sort: by_weight
# This is the dictionary used by the input method, which is where to supplement the extended dictionary
# The Mist Pinyin dictionary, automatically updated by Github Robot
import_tables:
  - dicts/custom_simple          # Custom
  - dicts/rime_ice.8105          # Mist Pinyin Common Character Set
  - dicts/rime_ice.41448         # Mist Pinyin Complete Character Set
  - dicts/rime_ice.base          # Mist Pinyin Basic Dictionary
  - dicts/rime_ice.ext           # Mist Pinyin Extended Dictionary
  - dicts/other_kaomoji          # Facial expressions (call out by pressing `vv`)
  - dicts/other_emoji            # Emoji (just as a supplement, usually effective by OpenCC)
  - dicts/rime_ice.others        # Mist Pinyin others dictionary (for automatic error correction)
  - dicts/yourCustomDict         # Your custom dictionary
...