CODEWITHSUNDEEP
customizationmarkup
Adam Schmideg
Adam Schmideg

Reputation: 10860

Extensible lightweight markup language

Lightweight markup languages offer a fixed set of features. This feature set is growing, but every time I write a more complex article, I have to realize something is missing. Examples include: proper image captions, table of figures, file include, cross-references, etc. So I end up creating a tool chain around it, with a Makefile and tricky sed commands.

I typically want to insert ad-hoc markers into my text and process them later. They can be one-liners, or more complex -- and this where the whole regex approach fails. Here is a snippet of an imaginary markup.

I can generate an image from an external dot file [.myDot diag.dot The process],
and it will be included with a caption.
Or the dot source is right here [.myDotHere
  foo->bar->Done;
]

I'm looking for a markup tool which can be easily extended to suite my ad-hoc needs. The options I found so far

So what I'm looking for is

Upvotes: 2

Views: 481

Answers (2)

h3rald
h3rald

Reputation: 923

I created Glyph with extensibility in mind. You can create your own macros either using Glyph itself or Ruby.

Glyph aims to make publishing easier while giving all possible control to the writer, it can manage book metadata, ToC, internal links, snippets, etc. etc.

For documentation on all its features check out the Glyph book, which was created using Glyph itself.

Upvotes: 1

HansBKK
HansBKK

Reputation: 486

Your "toolchain" approach is a good one - You won't IMO find a single project that will handle your specific needs, best to follow the *nix philosophy and use the best tool for the job that plugs into your open toolchain.

If macro inclusion is an issue, don't worry about solving that by your choice of markup syntax - find the right tool for that specific job and use it upstream.

The choice of markup should be IMO based on the availability of transformation tools to your desired output. IMO Pandoc is by far the most actively developed project in this space, and very flexible, especially with its scripting facility. Note it's also very well supported in GoogleGroups - John will likely respond directly and quickly to any issues you may have.

Note that Pandoc's flexibility also means your master source text isn't as "locked in", as you can easily convert for example from its extended markdown syntax to reST, if say you wanted to take advantage of Sphinx's or DocBook's capabilities. (BTW also check out AsciiDoc, which the latest Pandoc outputs - apparently a reader is also in the works)

Check out Pandoc's "extras" wiki page, I've been particularly excited by the ConTeXt filter script; I'm not sure if it'll be a good fit for you, but it includes some macro include capabilities, and IMO nothing will give you better typographical control.

Upvotes: 0

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