twomartens.markdown

Markdown Parser

This program was created in the context of the code competition of it-talents.com in April 2017. It is split into two main components. The parser side takes the Markdown input and creates an internal representation. The transform component uses the internal representation and creates the HTML output.

In general the system is designed to be modular and expandable. For example a transformation for LaTeX could be relatively easily added.

Installation

Easy way ^^^^^^^^

Use the package manager of Python::

pip install twomartens.markdown

A bit more complicated ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

1. Download the package from the PyPi <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/twomartens.markdown/>_
2. Extract the files
3. Run python setup.py install from the directory you extracted the files to

The Git way (No actual installation) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

1. Clone the GitHub repository <https://github.com/frmwrk123/markdown-parser>_
2. Run python markdown-runner.py to use the tool

Usage

The usage is very easy. Once installed you can use tm-parse-markdown to access the program. Alternatively use python markdown-runner.py instead if you followed the Git way. The rest applies to both forms in the same way. The program accepts two parameters. The first needs to be the name of a file containing Markdown code. The second parameter has to be the name of the output file. The file doesn't have to exist already but if it does it will be overwritten completely. The output file will contain the markup in the selected output format (as of now it is always HTML).

To allow for easier extension the program accepts the -f, --format option. It can be used to specify the output format. Currently only HTML is supported which is also selected by default. Therefore it is not required to specify the option for the program to work.

Example::

tm-parse-markdown my-markdown-file.md my-html-file.html

Example (with option)::

tm-parse-markdown --format html my-markdown-file.md my-html-file.html

Markdown Syntax

The markdown parser supports the following syntax. More might be added later.

Headings ^^^^^^^^

All headings from H1 to H6 are supported.

Examples::

H1 heading

H2 heading

H3 heading

H4 heading

H5 heading

H6 heading

Bold text ^^^^^^^^^

Bold text is supported.

Example::

**bold text**
the **bold text** can even appear in normal paragraphs

Italic text ^^^^^^^^^^^

Italic text is supported.

Example::

some italic text the italic text can also appear in paragraphs

Inline code ^^^^^^^^^^^

Inline code segments are supported.

Example::

a paragraph with inline code

Links ^^^^^

The parser supports links.

Example::

a paragraph with a link

another with another link or for change an automatic link https://example.com

Lists ^^^^^

Both unordered and ordered lists are supported. The list items for unordered lists have to start their line with *, - or + immediately followed by a space. These symbols can be used interchangeably even within one list. An empty line must precede a list.

Example::

• this starts a list
• which continues here
• and here

• even here

• and here

• but this is a new list
• which even contains bold text and italic text
• or an inline code segment
• or a link, https://example.com

The list items of ordered lists have to start with numbers (0-9), followed by a dot (.) and a space. It doesn't matter for the output which numbers stand in front of the dot.

Example::

1. this starts an ordered list

2. which is continued here

3. and here

4. it can also contain bold text

5. and italic text

6. and inline code

7. and a link, https://example.com

8. a new list is started here

Quotes ^^^^^^

As of now only block quotes are supported. Inline quotes might be added later.

Examples::

This starts a one line quote.

A new quote starts here and continues in the next line. It can contain bold text and italic text. inline code blocks are also possible The same goes for links, https://example.com

Code blocks ^^^^^^^^^^^

Code blocks are supported. They have to be preceded and followed by an empty line. Each line must start with either 4 spaces or one tab. The text is encoded so that you can easily use for example HTML tags in a code block. Further spaces beyond these four spaces or one tab are represented in the output unchanged.

Example::

Test

Paragraphs ^^^^^^^^^^

Paragraphs are naturally supported as well. They are separated from each other with empty lines.

Example::

A paragraph starts here. It contains bold text or italic text. It continues in the next line with a code segment. Finally there are also links

This text belongs to a new paragraph.