Writing Extensions for Python-Markdown
======================================

Overview
--------

Python-Markdown includes an API for extension writers to plug their own 
custom functionality and/or syntax into the parser. There are preprocessors
which allow you to alter the source before it is passed to the parser, 
inline patterns which allow you to add, remove or override the syntax of
any inline elements, and postprocessors which allow munging of the
output of the parser before it is returned. If you really want to dive in, there is also the option to subclass the core MarkdownParser.

As the parser builds an [ElementTree][] object which is later rendered 
as Unicode text, there are also some helpers provided to make manipulation of 
the tree easier. Each part of the API is discussed in its respective 
section below. You may find reading the source of some [[Available Extensions]] 
helpful as well. For example, the [[Footnotes]] extension uses most of the 
features documented here.

* [Preprocessors][]
    * [TextPreprocessors][]
    * [Line Preprocessors][]
* [InlinePatterns][]
* [Postprocessors][]
    * [ElementTree Postprocessors][]
    * [TextProstprocessors][]
* [MarkdownParser][]
* [Working with the ElementTree][]
* [Integrating your code into Markdown][]
    * [extendMarkdown][]
    * [registerExtension][]
    * [Config Settings][]
    * [makeExtension][]

<h3 id="preprocessors">Preprocessors</h3>

Preprocessors munge the source text before it is passed into the Markdown 
core. This is an excellent place to clean up bad syntax, extract things the 
parser may otherwise choke on and perhaps even store it for later retrieval.

There are two types of preprocessors: [TextPreprocessors][] and 
[Line Preprocessors][].

<h4 id="textpreprocessors">TextPreprocessors</h4>

TextPreprocessors should inherit from ``markdown.TextPreprocessor`` and 
implement a ``run`` method with one argument ``text``. The ``run`` method of 
each TextPreprocessor will be passed the entire source text as a single Unicode
string and should either return that single Unicode string, or an altered
version of it.

For example, a simple TextPreprocessor that normalizes newlines [^1] might look
like this:

    class NormalizePreprocessor(markdown.TextPreprocessor):
        def run(self, text):
            return text.replace("\r\n", "\n").replace("\r", "\n")

[^1]: It should be noted that Markdown already normalizes newlines. This 
example is for illustrative purposes only.

<h4 id="linepreprocessors">Line Preprocessors</h4>

Line Preprocessors should inherit from ``markdown.Preprocessor`` and implement 
a ``run`` method with one argument ``lines``. The ``run`` method of each Line
Preprocessor will be passed the entire source text as a list of Unicode strings.
Each string will contain one line of text. The ``run`` method should return
either that list, or an altered list of Unicode strings.

A pseudo example:

    class MyPreprocessor(markdown.Preprocessor):
        def run(self, lines):
            new_lines = []
            for line in lines:
                m = MYREGEX.match(line)
                if m:
                    # do stuff
                else:
                    new_lines.append(line)
            return new_lines

<h3 id="inlinepatterns">Inline Patterns</h3>

Inline Patterns implement the inline HTML element syntax for Markdown such as
``*emphasis*`` or ``[links](http://example.com)``. Pattern objects should be 
instances of classes that inherit from ``markdown.Pattern`` or one of its 
children. Each pattern object uses a single regular expression and must have 
the following methods:

* ``getCompiledRegExp()``: Returns a compiled regular expression.
* ``handleMatch(m)``: Accepts a match object and returns an ElementTree
    element of a plain Unicode string.

Note that any regular expression returned by ``getCompiledRegExp`` must capture
the whole block. Therefore, they should all start with ``r'^(.*?)'`` and end
with ``r'(.*?)!'``. When using the default ``getCompiledRegExp()`` method 
provided in the ``Pattern`` you can pass in a regular expression without that 
and ``getCompiledRegExp`` will wrap your expression for you. This means that 
the first group of your match will be ``m.group(2)`` as ``m.group(1)`` will 
match everything before the pattern.

For an example, consider this simplified emphasis pattern:

    class EmphasisPattern(markdown.Pattern):
        def handleMatch(self, m):
            el = markdown.etree.Element('em')
            el.text = m.group(3)
            return el

As discussed in [Integrating Your Code Into Markdown][], an instance of this
class will need to be provided to Markdown. That instance would be created
like so:

    # an oversimplified regex
    MYPATTERN = r'\*([^*]+)\*'
    # pass in pattern and create instance
    emphasis = EmphasisPattern(MYPATTERN)

Actually it would not be necessary to create that pattern (and not just because
a more sophisticated emphasis pattern already exists in Markdown). The fact is,
that example pattern is not very DRY. A pattern for `**strong**` text would
be almost identical, with the exception that it would create a 'strong' element.
Therefore, Markdown provides a number of generic pattern classes that can 
provide some common functionality. For example, both emphasis and strong are
implemented with separate instances of the ``SimpleTagPettern`` listed below. 
Feel free to use or extend any of these Pattern classes.

**Generic Pattern Classes**

* ``SimpleTextPattern(pattern)``:

    Returns simple text of ``group(2)`` of a `pattern`.

* ``SimpleTagPattern(pattern, tag)``:

    Returns an element of type "`tag`" with a text attribute of ``group(3)``
    of a ``pattern``. ``tag`` should be a string of a HTML element (i.e.: 'em').

* ``SubstituteTagPattern(pattern, tag)``:

    Returns an element of type "`tag`" with no children or text (i.e.: 'br').

There may be other Pattern classes in the Markdown source that you could extend
or use as well. Read through the source and see if there is anything you can 
use. You might even get a few ideas for different approaches to your specific
situation.

<h3 id="postprocessors">Postprocessors</h3>

Postprocessors manipulate a document after it has passed through the Markdown 
core. This is were stored text gets added back in; such as a list of footnotes, 
a table of contents, or raw html.

There are two types of postprocessors: [ElementTree Postprocessors][] and 
[TextPostprocessors][].

<h4 id="etpostprocessors">ElementTree Postprocessors</h4>

An ElementTree Postprocessor should inherit from ``markdown.Postprocessor``,
over-ride the ``run`` method which takes one argument ``root`` and returns 
either that root element or a modified root element.

A pseudo example:

    class MyPostprocessor(markdown.Postprocessor):
    def run(self, root):
        #do stufff
        return my_modified_root

For specifics on manipulating the ElementTree, see 
[Working with the ElementTree][] below.

<h4 id="textpostprocessors">TextPostprocessors</h4>

A TextPostprocessor should inherit from ``markdown.TextPostprocessor`` and
over-ride the ``run`` method which takes one argument ``text`` and returns a
Unicode string.

TextPostprocessors are run after the ElementTree has been serialized back into 
Unicode text.  For example, this may be an appropriate place to add a table of 
contents to a document:

    class TocTextPostprocessor(markdown.TextPostprocessor):
    def run(self, text):
        return MYMARKERRE.sub(MyToc, text)

<h3 id="markdownparser">MarkdownParser</h3>

Sometimes, pre/postprocessors and Inline Patterns aren't going to do what you 
need. In such a situation, you can override the core ``MarkdownParser``. The
easiest way is to simply subclass the existing ``MarkdownParser`` class and 
assign an instance of your subclass to ``Markdown``.

    class MyCustomParser(markdown.MarkdownParser):
        def my_method(self, ...):
            #do stuff

    md = markdown.Markdown()
    md.parser = MyCustomParser()

Of course, it is possible to write your own class from scratch which keeps the 
same public API. At the very least, you must provide the three public methods,
the arguments and/or keywords they take, and return the appropriate object. 
Those methods are:

* ``parseDocument``
    * Keywords:
        * ``lines``: A list of lines.
    * Return an ElementTree object

* ``parseChunk``
    * Keywords:
        * ``parent_elem``: An ElementTree Element.
        * ``lines``: A list of lines.
        * ``inList``: Boolean, optional.
        * ``looseList``: Boolean, optional.
    * Return None. However, it should attach the parsed ``lines`` as children 
      of the ``parent_elem``.

* ``detechTabbed``
    * Keywords:
        * ``lines``: A list of lines.
    * Return a 2 item tuple which should contain:
        * A list of lines that were tabbed (now in a detabbed state) and 
        * a list of all remaining lines.

<h3 id="working_with_et">Working with the ElementTree</h3>

As mentioned, the Markdown parser converts a source document to an 
[ElementTree][] object before serializing that back to Unicode text. 
Markdown has provided some helpers to ease that manipulation within the context 
of the Markdown module.

First, to get access to the ElementTree module import ElementTree from 
``markdown`` rather than importing it directly. This will ensure you are using 
the same version of ElementTree as markdown. The module is named ``etree`` 
within Markdown.

    from markdown import etree
    
``markdown.etree`` tries to import ElementTree from any known location, first 
as a standard library module (from ``xml.etree`` in Python 2.5), then as a third
party package (``Elementree``). In each instance, ``cElementTree`` is tried 
first, then ``ElementTree`` if the faster C implementation is not available on 
your system.

Sometimes you may want text inserted into an element to be parsed by 
[InlinePatterns][]. In such a situation, simply insert the text as you normally
would and the text will be automatically run through the InlinePatterns. 
However, if you do *not* want some text to be parsers by InlinePatterns,
then insert the text as an AtomicString.

Here's a basic example which creates an HTML table (note that the contents of 
the second cell (``td2``) will be run through InlinePatterns latter):

    table = etree.Element("table") 
    table.set("cellpadding", "2") # Set cellpadding to 2
    tr = etree.SubElement(table, "tr") # Add child tr to table
    td1 = etree.SubElement(tr, "td") # Add child td1 to tr
    td1.text = markdown.AtomicString("Cell content") # Add plain text content
    td2 = etree.SubElement(tr, "td") # Add second td to tr
    td2.text = "Some *text* with **inline** formatting." # Add markup text
    table.tail = "Text after table" # Added text after table Element

You can also manipulate an existing tree. Consider the following example which 
adds a ``class`` attribute to all ``a`` elements:

	def set_link_class(self, element):
		for child in element: 
		    if child.tag == "a":
                child.set("class", "myclass") #set the class attribute
            set_link_class(child) # run recursively on children

For more information about working with ElementTree see the ElementTree
[Documentation](http://effbot.org/zone/element-index.htm) 
([Python Docs](http://docs.python.org/lib/module-xml.etree.ElementTree.html)).

<h3 id="integrating_into_markdown">Integrating Your Code Into Markdown

Once you have the various pieces of your extension built, you need to tell 
Markdown about them and ensure that they are run in the proper sequence. 
Markdown accepts a ``Extension`` instance for each extension. Therefore, you
will need to define a class that extends ``markdown.Extension`` and over-rides
the ``extendMarkdown`` method. Within this class you will manage configuration 
options for your extension and attach the various processors and patterns to 
the Markdown instance. 

It is important to note that the order of the various processors and patterns 
matters. For example, if we replace ``http://...`` links with <a> elements, and 
*then* try to deal with  inline html, we will end up with a mess. Therefore, 
the various types of processors and patterns are stored within an instance of 
the Markdown class within lists. Your ``Extension`` class will need to 
manipulate those lists appropriately. You may insert instances of your 
processors and patterns into the appropriate location in a list, remove a 
built-in instances, or replace a built-in instance with your own.

<h4 id="extendmarkdown">`extendMarkdown`</h4>

The ``extendMarkdown`` method of a ``markdown.Extension`` class accepts two 
arguments:

* ``md``:

    A pointer to the instance of the Markdown class. You should use this to 
    access the lists of processors and patterns. They are found under the 
    following attributes:

    * ``md.textPreprocessors``
    * ``md.preprocessors``
    * ``md.inlinePatterns``
    * ``md.postpreprocessors``
    * ``md.textPostprocessors``

    Some other things you may want to access in the markdown instance are:

    * ``md.inlineStash``
    * ``md.htmlStash``
    * ``md.registerExtension()``

* ``md_globals``

    Contains all the various global variables within the markdown module.

Of course, with access to those items, theoretically you have the option to 
changing anything through various [monkey_patching][] techniques. In fact, this
is how the [[HeaderId]] extension works. However, you should be aware that the 
various undocumented or private parts of markdown may change without notice and
your monkey_patches may break with a new release. Therefore, what you really 
should be doing is inserting processors and patterns into the markdown pipeline.
Consider yourself warned.

[monkey_patching]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_patch

<h4 id="registerextension">registerExtension</h4>

Some extensions may need to have their state reset between multiple runs of the
Markdown class. For example, consider the following use of the [[Footnotes]] 
extension:

    md = markdown.Markdown(extensions=['footnotes'])
    html1 = md.convert(text_with_footnote)
    md.reset()
    html2 = md.convert(text_without_footnote)

Without calling ``reset``, the footnote definitions from the first document will
be inserted into the second document as they are still stored within the class
instance. Therefore the ``Extension`` class needs to define a ``reset`` method
that will reset the state of the extension (i.e.: ``self.footnotes = {}``).
However, as many extensions do not have a need for ``reset``, ``reset`` is only
called on extensions that are registered.

To register an extension, call ``md.registerExtension`` from within your 
``extendMarkdown`` method:


    def extendMarkdown(self, md, md_globals):
        md.registerExtension(self)
        # insert processors and patterns here

Then, each time ``reset`` is called on the Markdown instance, the ``reset`` 
method of each registered extension will be called as well. You should also
note that ``reset`` will be called on each registered extension after it is
initialized the first time. Keep that in mind when over-riding the extension's
``reset`` method.

<h4 id="configsettings">Config Settings</h4>

If an extension uses any parameters that the user may want to change,
those parameters should be stored in ``self.config`` of your 
``markdown.Extension`` class in the following format:

    self.config = {parameter_1_name : [value1, description1],
                   parameter_2_name : [value2, description2] }

When stored this way the config parameters can be over-ridden from the
command line or at the time Markdown is initiated:

    markdown.py -x myextension(SOME_PARAM=2) inputfile.txt > output.txt

Note that parameters should always be assumed to be set to string
values, and should be converted at run time. For example:

    i = int(self.getConfig("SOME_PARAM"))

<h4 id="makeextension">`makeExtension`</h4>

Each extension should ideally be placed in its own module starting
with the  ``mdx_`` prefix (e.g. ``mdx_footnotes.py``).  The module must
provide a module-level function called ``makeExtension`` that takes
an optional parameter consisting of a dictionary of configuration over-rides 
and returns an instance of the extension.  An example from the footnote 
extension:

    def makeExtension(configs=None) :
        return FootnoteExtension(configs=configs)

By following the above example, when Markdown is passed the name of your 
extension as a string (i.e.: ``'footnotes'``), it will automatically import
the module and call the ``makeExtension`` function initiating your extension.

You may have noted that the extensions packaged with Python-Markdown do not
use the ``mdx_`` prefix in their module names. This is because they are all
part of the ``markdown_extensions`` package. Markdown will first try to import
from ``markdown_extensions.extname`` and upon failure, ``mdx_extname``. If both
fail, Markdown will continue without the extension.

However, Markdown will also accept an already existing instance of an extension.
For example:

    import markdown
    import myextension
    configs = {...}
    myext = myextension.MyExtension(configs=configs)
    md = markdown.Markdown(extensions=[myext])

This is useful if you need to implement a large number of extensions with more
than one residing in a module.

[Preprocessors]: #preprocessors
[TextPreprocessors]: #textpreprocessors
[Line Preprocessors]: #linepreprocessors
[InlinePatterns]: #inlinepatterns
[Postprocessors]: #postprocessors
[ElementTree Postprocessors]: #etpostprocessors
[TextProstprocessors]: #textpostprocessors
[MarkdownParser]: #markdownparser
[Working with the ElementTree]: #working_with_et
[Integrating your code into Markdown]: #integrating_into_markdown
[extendMarkdown]: #extendmarkdown
[registerExtension]: #registerextension
[Config Settings]: #configsettings
[makeExtension]: #makeextension
[ElementTree]: http://effbot.org/zone/element-index.htm