Provided by: txt2html_2.51-1_all 
NAME
HTML::TextToHTML - convert plain text file to HTML.
VERSION
This describes version 2.51 of HTML::TextToHTML.
SYNOPSIS
From the command line:
txt2html I<arguments>
From Scripts:
use HTML::TextToHTML;
# create a new object
my $conv = new HTML::TextToHTML();
# convert a file
$conv->txt2html(infile=>[$text_file],
outfile=>$html_file,
title=>"Wonderful Things",
mail=>1,
]);
# reset arguments
$conv->args(infile=>[], mail=>0);
# convert a string
$newstring = $conv->process_chunk($mystring)
DESCRIPTION
HTML::TextToHTML converts plain text files to HTML. The txt2html script uses this module
to do the same from the command-line.
It supports headings, tables, lists, simple character markup, and hyperlinking, and is
highly customizable. It recognizes some of the apparent structure of the source document
(mostly whitespace and typographic layout), and attempts to mark that structure explicitly
using HTML. The purpose for this tool is to provide an easier way of converting existing
text documents to HTML format, giving something nicer than just whapping the text into a
big PRE block.
History
The original txt2html script was written by Seth Golub (see
http://www.aigeek.com/txt2html/), and converted to a perl module by Kathryn Andersen (see
http://www.katspace.com/tools/text_to_html/) and made into a sourceforge project by Sun
Tong (see http://sourceforge.net/projects/txt2html/). Earlier versions of the
HTML::TextToHTML module called the included script texthyper so as not to clash with the
original txt2html script, but now the projects have all been merged.
OPTIONS
All arguments can be set when the object is created, and further options can be set when
calling the actual txt2html method. Arguments to methods can take a hash of arguments.
Note that all option-names must match exactly -- no abbreviations are allowed. The
argument-keys are expected to have values matching those required for that argument --
whether that be a boolean, a string, a reference to an array or a reference to a hash.
These will replace any value for that argument that might have been there before.
append_file
append_file=>I<filename>
If you want something appended by default, put the filename here. The appended text
will not be processed at all, so make sure it's plain text or correct HTML. i.e. do
not have things like:
Mary Andersen <kitty@example.com> but instead, have:
Mary Andersen <kitty@example.com>
(default: nothing)
append_head
append_head=>I<filename>
If you want something appended to the head by default, put the filename here. The
appended text will not be processed at all, so make sure it's plain text or correct
HTML. i.e. do not have things like:
Mary Andersen <kitty@example.com> but instead, have:
Mary Andersen <kitty@example.com>
(default: nothing)
body_deco
body_deco=>I<string>
Body decoration string: a string to be added to the BODY tag so that one can set
attributes to the BODY (such as class, style, bgcolor etc) For example,
"class='withimage'".
bold_delimiter
bold_delimiter=>I<string>
This defines what character (or string) is taken to be the delimiter of text which is
to be interpreted as bold (that is, to be given a STRONG tag). If this is empty, then
no bolding of text will be done. (default: #)
bullets
bullets=>I<string>
This defines what single characters are taken to be "bullet" characters for unordered
lists. Note that because this is used as a character class, if you use '-' it must
come first. (default:-=o*\267)
bullets_ordered
bullets_ordered=>I<string>
This defines what single characters are taken to be "bullet" placeholder characters
for ordered lists. Ordered lists are normally marked by a number or letter followed
by '.' or ')' or ']' or ':'. If an ordered bullet is used, then it simply indicates
that this is an ordered list, without giving explicit numbers.
Note that because this is used as a character class, if you use '-' it must come
first. (default:nothing)
caps_tag
caps_tag=>I<tag>
Tag to put around all-caps lines (default: STRONG) If an empty tag is given, then no
tag will be put around all-caps lines.
custom_heading_regexp
custom_heading_regexp=>\@custom_headings
Add patterns for headings. Header levels are assigned by regexp in the order seen in
the input text. When a line matches a custom header regexp, it is tagged as a header.
If it's the first time that particular regexp has matched, the next available header
level is associated with it and applied to the line. Any later matches of that regexp
will use the same header level. Therefore, if you want to match numbered header
lines, you could use something like this:
my @custom_headings = ('^ *\d+\. \w+',
'^ *\d+\.\d+\. \w+',
'^ *\d+\.\d+\.\d+\. \w+');
...
custom_heading_regexp=>\@custom_headings,
...
Then lines like
" 1. Examples "
" 1.1. Things"
and " 4.2.5. Cold Fusion"
Would be marked as H1, H2, and H3 (assuming they were found in that order, and that no
other header styles were encountered). If you prefer that the first one specified
always be H1, the second always be H2, the third H3, etc, then use the
"explicit_headings" option.
This expects a reference to an array of strings.
(default: none)
default_link_dict
default_link_dict=>I<filename>
The name of the default "user" link dictionary. (default:
"$ENV{'HOME'}/.txt2html.dict" -- this is the same as for the txt2html script. If
there is no $ENV{HOME} then it is just '.txt2html.dict')
demoronize
demoronize=>1
Convert Microsoft-generated character codes that are non-ISO codes into something more
reasonable. (default:true)
doctype
doctype=>I<doctype>
This gets put in the DOCTYPE field at the top of the document, unless it's empty.
Default : '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd'
If xhtml is true, the contents of this is ignored, unless it's empty, in which case no
DOCTYPE declaration is output.
eight_bit_clean
eight_bit_clean=>1
If false, convert Latin-1 characters to HTML entities. If true, this conversion is
disabled; also "demoronize" is set to false, since this also changes 8-bit characters.
(default: false)
escape_HTML_chars
escape_HTML_chars=>1
turn & < > into & > < (default: true)
explicit_headings
explicit_headings=>1
Don't try to find any headings except the ones specified in the
--custom_heading_regexp option. Also, the custom headings will not be assigned levels
in the order they are encountered in the document, but in the order they are specified
on the custom_heading_regexp option. (default: false)
extract
extract=>1
Extract Mode; don't put HTML headers or footers on the result, just the plain HTML
(thus making the result suitable for inserting into another document (or as part of
the output of a CGI script). (default: false)
hrule_min
hrule_min=>I<n>
Min number of ---s for an HRule. (default: 4)
indent_width
indent_width=>I<n>
Indents this many spaces for each level of a list. (default: 2)
indent_par_break
indent_par_break=>1
Treat paragraphs marked solely by indents as breaks with indents. That is, instead of
taking a three-space indent as a new paragraph, put in a <BR> and three non-breaking
spaces instead. (see also --preserve_indent) (default: false)
infile
infile=>\@my_files
infile=>['chapter1.txt', 'chapter2.txt']
The name of the input file(s). This expects a reference to an array of filenames.
The special filename '-' designates STDIN.
See also "inhandle" and "instring".
(default:-)
inhandle
inhandle=>\@my_handles
inhandle=>[\*MYINHANDLE, \*STDIN]
An array of input filehandles; use this instead of "infile" or "instring" to use a
filehandle or filehandles as input.
instring
instring=>\@my_strings
instring=>[$string1, $string2]
An array of input strings; use this instead of "infile" or "inhandle" to use a string
or strings as input.
italic_delimiter
italic_delimiter=>I<string>
This defines what character (or string) is taken to be the delimiter of text which is
to be interpreted as italic (that is, to be given a EM tag). If this is empty, no
italicising of text will be done. (default: *)
underline_delimiter
underline_delimiter=>I<string>
This defines what character (or string) is taken to be the delimiter of text which is
to be interpreted as underlined (that is, to be given a U tag). If this is empty, no
underlining of text will be done. (default: _)
links_dictionaries
links_dictionaries=>\@my_link_dicts
links_dictionaries=>['url_links.dict', 'format_links.dict']
File(s) to use as a link-dictionary. There can be more than one of these. These are
in addition to the Global Link Dictionary and the User Link Dictionary. This expects
a reference to an array of filenames.
link_only
link_only=>1
Do no escaping or marking up at all, except for processing the links dictionary file
and applying it. This is useful if you want to use the linking feature on an HTML
document. If the HTML is a complete document (includes HTML,HEAD,BODY tags, etc) then
you'll probably want to use the --extract option also. (default: false)
lower_case_tags
lower_case_tags=>1
Force all tags to be in lower-case.
mailmode
mailmode=>1
Deal with mail headers & quoted text. The mail header paragraph is given the class
'mail_header', and mail-quoted text is given the class 'quote_mail'. (default: false)
make_anchors
make_anchors=>0
Should we try to make anchors in headings? (default: true)
make_links
make_links=>0
Should we try to build links? If this is false, then the links dictionaries are not
consulted and only structural text-to-HTML conversion is done. (default: true)
make_tables
make_tables=>1
Should we try to build tables? If true, spots tables and marks them up appropriately.
See "Input File Format" for information on how tables should be formatted.
This overrides the detection of lists; if something looks like a table, it is taken as
a table, and list-checking is not done for that paragraph.
(default: false)
min_caps_length
min_caps_length=>I<n>
min sequential CAPS for an all-caps line (default: 3)
outfile
outfile=>I<filename>
The name of the output file. If it is "-" then the output goes to Standard Output.
(default: - )
outhandle
The output filehandle; if this is given then the output goes to this filehandle
instead of to the file given in "outfile".
par_indent
par_indent=>I<n>
Minumum number of spaces indented in first lines of paragraphs.
Only used when there's no blank line preceding the new paragraph. (default: 2)
preformat_trigger_lines
preformat_trigger_lines=>I<n>
How many lines of preformatted-looking text are needed to switch to <PRE>
<= 0 : Preformat entire document
1 : one line triggers
(default: 2)
endpreformat_trigger_lines
endpreformat_trigger_lines=>I<n>
How many lines of unpreformatted-looking text are needed to switch from <PRE>
<= 0 : Never preformat within document
1 : one line triggers
NOTE for preformat_trigger_lines and endpreformat_trigger_lines: A zero takes
precedence. If one is zero, the other is ignored. If both are zero, entire document
is preformatted.
preformat_start_marker
preformat_start_marker=>I<regexp>
What flags the start of a preformatted section if --use_preformat_marker is true.
(default: "^(:?(:?<)|<)PRE(:?(:?>)|>)\$")
preformat_end_marker
preformat_end_marker=>I<regexp>
What flags the end of a preformatted section if --use_preformat_marker is true.
(default: "^(:?(:?<)|<)/PRE(:?(:?>)|>)\$")
preformat_whitespace_min
preformat_whitespace_min=>I<n>
Minimum number of consecutive whitespace characters to trigger normal preformatting.
NOTE: Tabs are expanded to spaces before this check is made. That means if tab_width
is 8 and this is 5, then one tab may be expanded to 8 spaces, which is enough to
trigger preformatting. (default: 5)
prepend_file
prepend_file=>I<filename>
If you want something prepended to the processed body text, put the filename here.
The prepended text will not be processed at all, so make sure it's plain text or
correct HTML.
(default: nothing)
preserve_indent
preserve_indent=>1
Preserve the first-line indentation of paragraphs marked with indents by replacing the
spaces of the first line with non-breaking spaces. (default: false)
short_line_length
short_line_length=>I<n>
Lines this short (or shorter) must be intentionally broken and are kept that short.
(default: 40)
style_url
style_url=>I<url>
This gives the URL of a stylesheet; a LINK tag will be added to the output.
tab_width
tab_width=>I<n>
How many spaces equal a tab? (default: 8)
table_type
table_type=>{ ALIGN=>0, PGSQL=>0, BORDER=>1, DELIM=>0 }
This determines which types of tables will be recognised when "make_tables" is true.
The possible types are ALIGN, PGSQL, BORDER and DELIM. (default: all types are true)
title
title=>I<title>
You can specify a title. Otherwise it will use a blank one. (default: nothing)
titlefirst
titlefirst=>1
Use the first non-blank line as the title. (See also "title")
underline_length_tolerance
underline_length_tolerance=>I<n>
How much longer or shorter can underlines be and still be underlines? (default: 1)
underline_offset_tolerance
underline_offset_tolerance=>I<n>
How far offset can underlines be and still be underlines? (default: 1)
unhyphenation
unhyphenation=>0
Enables unhyphenation of text. (default: true)
use_mosaic_header
use_mosaic_header=>1
Use this option if you want to force the heading styles to match what Mosaic outputs.
(Underlined with "***"s is H1, with "==="s is H2, with "+++" is H3, with "---" is H4,
with "~~~" is H5 and with "..." is H6) This was the behavior of txt2html up to version
1.10. (default: false)
use_preformat_marker
use_preformat_marker=>1
Turn on preformatting when encountering "<PRE>" on a line by itself, and turn it off
when there's a line containing only "</PRE>". When such preformatted text is
detected, the PRE tag will be given the class 'quote_explicit'. (default: off)
xhtml
xhtml=>1
Try to make the output conform to the XHTML standard, including closing all open tags
and marking empty tags correctly. This turns on --lower_case_tags and overrides the
--doctype option. Note that if you add a header or a footer file, it is up to you to
make it conform; the header/footer isn't touched by this. Likewise, if you make link-
dictionary entries that break XHTML, then this won't fix them, except to the degree of
putting all tags into lower-case.
(default: true)
DEBUGGING
There are global variables for setting types and levels of debugging. These should only
be used by developers.
$HTML::TextToHTML::Debug
$HTML::TextToHTML::Debug = 1;
Enable copious debugging output. (default: false)
$HTML::TextToHTML::DictDebug
$HTML::TextToHTML::DictDebug = I<n>;
Debug mode for link dictionaries. Bitwise-Or what you want to see:
1: The parsing of the dictionary
2: The code that will make the links
4: When each rule matches something
8: When each tag is created
(default: 0)
METHODS
new
$conv = new HTML::TextToHTML()
$conv = new HTML::TextToHTML(titlefirst=>1,
...
);
Create a new object with new. If arguments are given, these arguments will be used in
invocations of other methods.
See "OPTIONS" for the possible values of the arguments.
args
$conv->args(short_line_length=>60,
titlefirst=>1,
....
);
Updates the current arguments/options of the HTML::TextToHTML object. Takes hash of
arguments, which will be used in invocations of other methods. See "OPTIONS" for the
possible values of the arguments.
process_chunk
$newstring = $conv->process_chunk($mystring);
Convert a string to a HTML fragment. This assumes that this string is at the least, a
single paragraph, but it can contain more than that. This returns the processed string.
If you want to pass arguments to alter the behaviour of this conversion, you need to do
that earlier, either when you create the object, or with the "args" method.
$newstring = $conv->process_chunk($mystring,
close_tags=>0);
If there are open tags (such as lists) in the input string, process_chunk will
automatically close them, unless you specify not to, with the close_tags option.
$newstring = $conv->process_chunk($mystring,
is_fragment=>1);
If you want this string to be treated as a fragment, and not assumed to be a paragraph,
set is_fragment to true. If there is more than one paragraph in the string (ie it
contains blank lines) then this option will be ignored.
process_para
$newstring = $conv->process_para($mystring);
Convert a string to a HTML fragment. This assumes that this string is at the most a
single paragraph, with no blank lines in it. If you don't know whether your string will
contain blank lines or not, use the "process_chunk" method instead.
This returns the processed string. If you want to pass arguments to alter the behaviour
of this conversion, you need to do that earlier, either when you create the object, or
with the "args" method.
$newstring = $conv->process_para($mystring,
close_tags=>0);
If there are open tags (such as lists) in the input string, process_para will
automatically close them, unless you specify not to, with the close_tags option.
$newstring = $conv->process_para($mystring,
is_fragment=>1);
If you want this string to be treated as a fragment, and not assumed to be a paragraph,
set is_fragment to true.
txt2html
$conv->txt2html(%args);
Convert a text file to HTML. Takes a hash of arguments. See "OPTIONS" for the possible
values of the arguments. Arguments which have already been set with new or args will
remain as they are, unless they are overridden.
PRIVATE METHODS
These are methods used internally, only of interest to developers.
init_our_data
$self->init_our_data();
Initializes the internal object data.
deal_with_options
$self->deal_with_options();
do extra processing related to particular options
escape
$newtext = escape($text);
Escape & < and >
demoronize_char
$newtext = demoronize_char($text);
Convert Microsoft character entities into characters.
Added by Alan Jackson, alan at ajackson dot org, and based on the demoronize script by
John Walker, http://www.fourmilab.ch/
demoronize_code
$newtext = demoronize_code($text);
convert Microsoft character entities into HTML code
get_tag
$tag = $self->get_tag($in_tag);
$tag = $self->get_tag($in_tag, tag_type=>TAG_START, inside_tag=>'');
output the tag wanted (add the <> and the / if necessary) - output in lower or upper case
- do tag-related processing options:
tag_type=>TAG_START | tag_type=>TAG_END | tag_type=>TAG_EMPTY
(default start)
inside_tag=>string (default empty)
close_tag
$tag = $self->close_tag($in_tag);
close the open tag
hrule
$self->hrule(para_lines_ref=>$para_lines,
para_action_ref=>$para_action,
ind=>0);
Deal with horizontal rules.
shortline
$self->shortline(line_ref=>$line_ref,
line_action_ref=>$line_action_ref,
prev_ref=>$prev_ref,
prev_action_ref=>$prev_action_ref,
prev_line_len=>$prev_line_len);
Deal with short lines.
is_mailheader
if ($self->is_mailheader(rows_ref=>$rows_ref))
{
...
}
Is this a mailheader line?
mailheader
$self->mailheader(rows_ref=>$rows_ref);
Deal with a mailheader.
mailquote
$self->mailquote(line_ref=>$line_ref,
line_action_ref=>$line_action_ref,
prev_ref=>$prev_ref,
prev_action_ref=>$prev_action_ref,
next_ref=>$next_ref);
Deal with quoted mail.
subtract_modes
$newvector = subtract_modes($vector, $mask);
Subtracts modes listed in $mask from $vector.
paragraph
$self->paragraph(line_ref=>$line_ref,
line_action_ref=>$line_action_ref,
prev_ref=>$prev_ref,
prev_action_ref=>$prev_action_ref,
line_indent=>$line_indent,
prev_indent=>$prev_indent,
is_fragment=>$is_fragment,
ind=>$ind);
Detect paragraph indentation.
listprefix
($prefix, $number, $rawprefix, $term) = $self->listprefix($line);
Detect and parse a list item.
startlist
$self->startlist(prefix=>$prefix,
number=>0,
rawprefix=>$rawprefix,
term=>$term,
para_lines_ref=>$para_lines_ref,
para_action_ref=>$para_action_ref,
ind=>0,
prev_ref=>$prev_ref,
total_prefix=>$total_prefix);
Start a list.
endlist
$self->endlist(num_lists=>0,
prev_ref=>$prev_ref,
line_action_ref=>$line_action_ref);
End N lists
continuelist
$self->continuelist(para_lines_ref=>$para_lines_ref,
para_action_ref=>$para_action_ref,
ind=>0,
term=>$term);
Continue a list.
liststuff
$self->liststuff(para_lines_ref=>$para_lines_ref,
para_action_ref=>$para_action_ref,
para_line_indent_ref=>$para_line_indent_ref,
ind=>0,
prev_ref=>$prev_ref);
Process a list (higher-level method).
get_table_type
$table_type = $self->get_table_type(rows_ref=>$rows_ref,
para_len=>0);
Figure out the table type of this table, if any
is_aligned_table
if ($self->is_aligned_table(rows_ref=>$rows_ref, para_len=>0))
{
...
}
Check if the given paragraph-array is an aligned table
is_pgsql_table
if ($self->is_pgsql_table(rows_ref=>$rows_ref, para_len=>0))
{
...
}
Check if the given paragraph-array is a Postgresql table (the ascii format produced by
Postgresql)
A PGSQL table can start with an optional table-caption,
then it has a row of column headings separated by |
then it has a row of ------+-----
then it has one or more rows of column values separated by |
then it has a row-count (N rows)
is_border_table
if ($self->is_border_table(rows_ref=>$rows_ref, para_len=>0))
{
...
}
Check if the given paragraph-array is a Border table.
A BORDER table can start with an optional table-caption,
then it has a row of +------+-----+
then it has a row of column headings separated by |
then it has a row of +------+-----+
then it has one or more rows of column values separated by |
then it has a row of +------+-----+
is_delim_table
if ($self->is_delim_table(rows_ref=>$rows_ref, para_len=>0))
{
...
}
Check if the given paragraph-array is a Delimited table.
A DELIM table can start with an optional table-caption, then it has at least two rows
which start and end and are punctuated by a non-alphanumeric delimiter.
| val1 | val2 |
| val3 | val4 |
tablestuff
$self->tablestuff(table_type=>0,
rows_ref=>$rows_ref,
para_len=>0);
Process a table.
make_aligned_table
$self->make_aligned_table(rows_ref=>$rows_ref,
para_len=>0);
Make an Aligned table.
make_pgsql_table
$self->make_pgsql_table(rows_ref=>$rows_ref,
para_len=>0);
Make a PGSQL table.
make_border_table
$self->make_border_table(rows_ref=>$rows_ref,
para_len=>0);
Make a BORDER table.
make_delim_table
$self->make_delim_table(rows_ref=>$rows_ref,
para_len=>0);
Make a Delimited table.
is_preformatted
if ($self->is_preformatted($line))
{
...
}
Returns true if the passed string is considered to be preformatted.
split_end_explicit_preformat
$front = $self->split_end_explicit_preformat(para_ref=>$para_ref);
Modifies the given string, and returns the front preformatted part.
endpreformat
$self->endpreformat(para_lines_ref=>$para_lines_ref,
para_action_ref=>$para_action_ref,
ind=>0,
prev_ref=>$prev_ref);
End a preformatted section.
preformat
$self->preformat(mode_ref=>$mode_ref,
line_ref=>$line_ref,
line_action_ref=>$line_action_ref,
prev_ref=>$prev_ref,
next_ref=>$next_ref,
prev_action_ref);
Detect and process a preformatted section.
make_new_anchor
$anchor = $self->make_new_anchor($heading_level);
Make a new anchor.
anchor_mail
$self->anchor_mail($line_ref);
Make an anchor for a mail section.
anchor_heading
$self->anchor_heading($heading_level, $line_ref);
Make an anchor for a heading.
heading_level
$self->heading_level($style);
Add a new heading style if this is a new heading style.
is_ul_list_line
if ($self->is_ul_list_line($line))
{
...
}
Tests if this line starts a UL list item.
is_heading
if ($self->is_heading(line_ref=>$line_ref, next_ref=>$next_ref))
{
...
}
Tests if this line is a heading. Needs to take account of the next line, because a
standard heading is defined by "underlining" the text of the heading.
heading
$self->heading(line_ref=>$line_ref,
next_ref=>$next_ref);
Make a heading. Assumes is_heading is true.
is_custom_heading
if ($self->is_custom_heading($line))
{
...
}
Check if the given line matches a custom heading.
custom_heading
$self->custom_heading(line_ref=>$line_ref);
Make a custom heading. Assumes is_custom_heading is true.
unhyphenate_para
$self->unhyphenate_para($para_ref);
Join up hyphenated words that are split across lines.
tagline
$self->tagline($tag, $line_ref);
Put the given tag around the given line.
iscaps
if ($self->iscaps($line))
{
...
}
Check if a line is all capitals.
caps
$self->caps(line_ref=>$line_ref,
line_action_ref=>$line_action_ref);
Detect and deal with an all-caps line.
do_delim
$self->do_delim(line_ref=>$line_ref,
line_action_ref=>$line_action_ref,
delim=>'*',
tag=>'STRONG');
Deal with a line which has words delimited by the given delimiter; this is used to deal
with italics, bold and underline formatting.
glob2regexp
$regexp = glob2regexp($glob);
Convert very simple globs to regexps
add_regexp_to_links_table
$self->add_regexp_to_links_table(label=>$label,
pattern=>$pattern,
url=>$url,
switches=>$switches);
Add the given regexp "link definition" to the links table.
add_literal_to_links_table
$self->add_literal_to_links_table(label=>$label,
pattern=>$pattern,
url=>$url,
switches=>$switches);
Add the given literal "link definition" to the links table.
add_glob_to_links_table
$self->add_glob_to_links_table(label=>$label,
pattern=>$pattern,
url=>$url,
switches=>$switches);
Add the given glob "link definition" to the links table.
parse_dict
$self->parse_dict($dictfile, $dict);
Parse the dictionary file. (see also load_dictionary_links, for things that were
stripped)
setup_dict_checking
$self->setup_dict_checking();
Set up the dictionary checking.
in_link_context
if ($self->in_link_context($match, $before))
{
...
}
Check if we are inside a link (<a ...>); certain kinds of substitution are not allowed
here.
apply_links
$self->apply_links(para_ref=>$para_ref,
para_action_ref=>$para_action_ref);
Apply links and formatting to this paragraph.
check_dictionary_links
$self->check_dictionary_links(line_ref=>$line_ref,
line_action_ref=>$line_action_ref);
Check (and alter if need be) the bits in this line matching the patterns in the link
dictionary.
load_dictionary_links
$self->load_dictionary_links();
Load the dictionary links.
do_file_start
$self->do_file_start($outhandle, $para);
Extra stuff needed for the beginning: HTML headers, and prepending a file if desired.
do_init_call
$self->do_init_call();
Certain things, like reading link dictionaries, need to be done only once.
FILE FORMATS
There are two files which are used which can affect the outcome of the conversion. One is
the link dictionary, which contains patterns (of how to recognise http links and other
things) and how to convert them. The other is, naturally, the format of the input file
itself.
Link Dictionary
A link dictionary file contains patterns to match, and what to convert them to. It is
called a "link" dictionary because it was intended to be something which defined what a
href link was, but it can be used for more than that. However, if you wish to define your
own links, it is strongly advised to read up on regular expressions (regexes) because this
relies heavily on them.
The file consists of comments (which are lines starting with #) and blank lines, and link
entries. Each entry consists of a regular expression, a -> separator (with optional
flags), and a link "result".
In the simplest case, with no flags, the regular expression defines the pattern to look
for, and the result says what part of the regular expression is the actual link, and the
link which is generated has the href as the link, and the whole matched pattern as the
visible part of the link. The first character of the regular expression is taken to be
the separator for the regex, so one could either use the traditional / separator, or
something else such as | (which can be helpful with URLs which are full of / characters).
So, for example, an ftp URL might be defined as:
|ftp:[\w/\.:+\-]+| -> $&
This takes the whole pattern as the href, and the resultant link has the same thing in the
href as in the contents of the anchor.
But sometimes the href isn't the whole pattern.
/<URL:\s*(\S+?)\s*>/ --> $1
With the above regex, a () grouping marks the first subexpression, which is represented as
$1 (rather than $& the whole expression). This entry matches a URL which was marked
explicity as a URL with the pattern <URL:foo> (note the < is shown as the entity, not
the actual character. This is because by the time the links dictionary is checked, all
such things have already been converted to their HTML entity forms, unless, of course, the
escape_HTML_chars option was turned off) This would give us a link in the form <A
HREF="foo"><URL:foo></A>
The h flag
However, if we want more control over the way the link is constructed, we can construct it
ourself. If one gives the h flag, then the "result" part of the entry is taken not to
contain the href part of the link, but the whole link.
For example, the entry:
/<URL:\s*(\S+?)\s*>/ -h-> <A HREF="$1">$1</A>
will take <URL:foo> and give us <A HREF="foo">foo</A>
However, this is a very powerful mechanism, because it can be used to construct custom
tags which aren't links at all. For example, to flag *italicised words* the following
entry will surround the words with EM tags.
/\B\*([a-z][a-z -]*[a-z])\*\B/ -hi-> <EM>$1</EM>
The i flag
This turns on ignore case in the pattern matching.
The e flag
This turns on execute in the pattern substitution. This really only makes sense if h is
turned on too. In that case, the "result" part of the entry is taken as perl code to be
executed, and the result of that code is what replaces the pattern.
The o flag
This marks the entry as a once-only link. This will convert the first instance of a
matching pattern, and ignore any others further on.
For example, the following pattern will take the first mention of HTML::TextToHTML and
convert it to a link to the module's home page.
"HTML::TextToHTML" -io-> http://www.katspace.com/tools/text_to_html/
Input File Format
For the most part, this module tries to use intuitive conventions for determining the
structure of the text input. Unordered lists are marked by bullets; ordered lists are
marked by numbers or letters; in either case, an increase in indentation marks a sub-list
contained in the outer list.
Headers (apart from custom headers) are distinguished by "underlines" underneath them;
headers in all-capitals are distinguished from those in mixed case. All headers, both
normal and custom headers, are expected to start at the first line in a "paragraph".
In other words, the following is a header:
I am Head Man
-------------
But the following does not have a header:
I am not a head Man, man
I am Head Man
-------------
Tables require a more rigid convention. A table must be marked as a separate paragraph,
that is, it must be surrounded by blank lines. Tables come in different types. For a
table to be parsed, its --table_type option must be on, and the --make_tables option must
be true.
ALIGN Table Type
Columns must be separated by two or more spaces (this prevents accidental incorrect
recognition of a paragraph where interword spaces happen to line up). If there are two or
more rows in a paragraph and all rows share the same set of (two or more) columns, the
paragraph is assumed to be a table. For example
-e File exists.
-z File has zero size.
-s File has nonzero size (returns size).
becomes
<table>
<tr><td>-e</td><td>File exists.</td></tr>
<tr><td>-z</td><td>File has zero size.</td></tr>
<tr><td>-s</td><td>File has nonzero size (returns size).</td></tr>
</table>
This guesses for each column whether it is intended to be left, centre or right aligned.
BORDER Table Type
This table type has nice borders around it, and will be rendered with a border, like so:
+---------+---------+
| Column1 | Column2 |
+---------+---------+
| val1 | val2 |
| val3 | val3 |
+---------+---------+
The above becomes
<table border="1">
<thead><tr><th>Column1</th><th>Column2</th></tr></thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>val1</td><td>val2</td></tr>
<tr><td>val3</td><td>val3</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
It can also have an optional caption at the start.
My Caption
+---------+---------+
| Column1 | Column2 |
+---------+---------+
| val1 | val2 |
| val3 | val3 |
+---------+---------+
PGSQL Table Type
This format of table is what one gets from the output of a Postgresql query.
Column1 | Column2
---------+---------
val1 | val2
val3 | val3
(2 rows)
This can also have an optional caption at the start. This table is also rendered with a
border and table-headers like the BORDER type.
DELIM Table Type
This table type is delimited by non-alphanumeric characters, and has to have at least two
rows and two columns before it's recognised as a table.
This one is delimited by the '| character:
| val1 | val2 |
| val3 | val3 |
But one can use almost any suitable character such as : # $ % + and so on. This is clever
enough to figure out what you are using as the delimiter if you have your data set up like
a table. Note that the line has to both begin and end with the delimiter, as well as
using it to separate values.
This can also have an optional caption at the start.
EXAMPLES
use HTML::TextToHTML;
Create a new object
my $conv = new HTML::TextToHTML();
my $conv = new HTML::TextToHTML(title=>"Wonderful Things",
default_link_dict=>$my_link_file,
);
Add further arguments
$conv->args(short_line_length=>60,
preformat_trigger_lines=>4,
caps_tag=>"strong",
);
Convert a file
$conv->txt2html(infile=>[$text_file],
outfile=>$html_file,
title=>"Wonderful Things",
mail=>1
);
Make a pipleline
open(IN, "ls |") or die "could not open!";
$conv->txt2html(inhandle=>[\*IN],
outfile=>'-',
);
NOTES
• If the underline used to mark a header is off by more than 1, then that part of the
text will not be picked up as a header unless you change the value of
--underline_length_tolerance and/or --underline_offset_tolerance. People tend to
forget this.
REQUIRES
HTML::TextToHTML requires Perl 5.8.1 or later.
For installation, it needs:
Module::Build
The txt2html script needs:
Getopt::Long
Getopt::ArgvFile
Pod::Usage
File::Basename
For testing, it also needs:
Test::More
For debugging, it also needs:
YAML::Syck
INSTALLATION
Make sure you have the dependencies installed first! (see REQUIRES above)
Some of those modules come standard with more recent versions of perl, but I thought I'd
mention them anyway, just in case you may not have them.
If you don't know how to install these, try using the CPAN module, an easy way of auto-
installing modules from the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, where the above modules
reside. Do "perldoc perlmodinstall" or "perldoc CPAN" for more information.
To install this module type the following:
perl Build.PL
./Build
./Build test
./Build install
Or, if you're on a platform (like DOS or Windows) that doesn't like the "./" notation, you
can do this:
perl Build.PL
perl Build
perl Build test
perl Build install
In order to install somewhere other than the default, such as in a directory under your
home directory, like "/home/fred/perl" go
perl Build.PL --install_base /home/fred/perl
as the first step instead.
This will install the files underneath /home/fred/perl.
You will then need to make sure that you alter the PERL5LIB variable to find the modules,
and the PATH variable to find the script.
Therefore you will need to change: your path, to include /home/fred/perl/script (where the
script will be)
PATH=/home/fred/perl/script:${PATH}
the PERL5LIB variable to add /home/fred/perl/lib
PERL5LIB=/home/fred/perl/lib:${PERL5LIB}
Note that the system links dictionary will be installed as
"/home/fred/perl/share/txt2html/txt2html.dict"
If you want to install in a temporary install directory (such as if you are building a
package) then instead of going
perl Build install
go
perl Build install destdir=/my/temp/dir
and it will be installed there, with a directory structure under /my/temp/dir the same as
it would be if it were installed plain. Note that this is NOT the same as setting
--install_base, because certain things are done at build-time which use the install_base
info.
See "perldoc perlrun" for more information on PERL5LIB, and see "perldoc Module::Build"
for more information on installation options.
BUGS
Tell me about them.
SEE ALSO
perl txt2html.
AUTHOR
Kathryn Andersen (RUBYKAT)
perlkat AT katspace dot com
http//www.katspace.com/
based on txt2html by Seth Golub
COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE
Original txt2html script copyright (c) 1994-2000 Seth Golub <seth AT aigeek.com>
Copyright (c) 2002-2005 by Kathryn Andersen
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
terms as Perl itself.