def encodeDict(items):
    """ Encode dict of items in user data file

    Items are separated by '\t' characters.
    Each item is key:value.

    @param items: dict of unicode:unicode
    @rtype: unicode
    @return: dict encoded as unicode
    """
    line = []
    for key, value in items.items():
        item = u'%s:%s' % (key, value)
        line.append(item)
    line = '\t'.join(line)
    return line