NAME
Pod::WikiDoc - Generate Pod from inline wiki style text
VERSION
version 0.21
SYNOPSIS
In a source file, Pod format-block style:
=begin wikidoc
= POD FORMAT-BLOCK STYLE
Write documentation with *bold*, ~italic~ or {code}
markup. Create a link to [Pod::WikiDoc].
Substitute for user-defined %%KEYWORD%%.
Indent for verbatim paragraphs
* bullet
* point
* list
0 sequentially
0 numbered
0 list
=end wikidoc
In a source file, wikidoc comment-block style:
### = WIKIDOC COMMENT-BLOCK STYLE
###
### Optionally, [Pod::WikiDoc] can extract from
### specially-marked comment blocks
Generate Pod from wikidoc, programmatically:
use Pod::WikiDoc;
my $parser = Pod::WikiDoc->new( {
comment_blocks => 1,
keywords => { KEYWORD => "foo" },
} );
$parser->filter(
{ input => "my_module.pm", output => "my_module.pod" }
);
Generate Pod from wikidoc, via command line:
$ wikidoc -c my_module.pm my_module.pod
DESCRIPTION
Pod works well, but writing it can be time-consuming and tedious. For
example, commonly used layouts like lists require numerous lines of text
to make just a couple of simple points. An alternative approach is to
write documentation in a wiki-text shorthand (referred to here as
*wikidoc*) and use Pod::WikiDoc to extract it and convert it into its
corresponding Pod as a separate ".pod" file.
Documentation written in wikidoc may be embedded in Pod format blocks,
or, optionally, in specially marked comment blocks. Wikidoc uses simple
text-based markup like wiki websites to indicate formatting and links.
(See "WIKIDOC MARKUP", below.)
Pod::WikiDoc processes text files (or text strings) by extracting both
existing Pod and wikidoc, converting the wikidoc to Pod, and then
writing the combined document back to a file or standard output.
Summary of major features of Pod::WikiDoc:
* Extracts and converts wikidoc from Pod format blocks or special
wikidoc comment blocks
* Extracts and preserves existing Pod
* Provides bold, italic, code, and link markup
* Substitutes user-defined keywords
* Automatically converts special symbols in wikidoc to their Pod
escape equivalents, e.g. E<lt>, E<gt>
* Preserves other Pod escape sequences, e.g. E<euro>
In addition, Pod::WikiDoc provides a command-line utility, wikidoc, to
simplify wikidoc translation.
See the Pod::WikiDoc::Cookbook for more detailed usage examples,
including how to automate ".pod" generation when using Module::Build.
INTERFACE
"new"
$parser = Pod::WikiDoc->new( \%args );
Constructor for a new Pod::WikiDoc object. It takes a single, optional
argument: a hash reference with the following optional keys:
* "comment_blocks": if true, Pod::WikiDoc will scan for wikidoc in
comment blocks. Default is false.
* "comment_prefix_length": the number of leading sharp (#) symbols to
denote a comment block. Default is 3.
* "keywords": a hash reference with keywords and values for keyword
substitution
"convert"
my $pod_text = $parser->convert( $input_text );
Given a string with valid Pod and/or wikidoc markup, filter/translate it
to Pod. This is really just a wrapper around "filter" for working with
strings rather than files, and provides similar behavior, including
adding a 'Generated by' header.
"filter"
$parser->filter( \%args );
Filters from an input file for Pod and wikidoc, translating it to Pod
and writing it to an output file. The output file will be prefixed with
a 'Generated by' comment with the version of Pod::WikiDoc and timestamp,
as required by perlpodspec.
"filter" takes a single, optional argument: a hash reference with the
following optional keys:
* "input": a filename or filehandle to read from. Defaults to STDIN.
* "output": a filename or filehandle to write to. If given a filename
and the file already exists, it will be clobbered. Defaults to
STDOUT.
"format"
my $pod_text = $parser->format( $wiki_text );
Given a string with valid Pod and/or wikidoc markup, filter/translate it
to Pod. Unlike "convert", no 'Generated by' comment is added. This
function is used internally by Pod::WikiDoc, but is being made available
as a public method for users who want more granular control of the
translation process or who want to convert wikidoc to Pod for other
creative purposes using the Pod::WikiDoc engine.
WIKIDOC MARKUP
Pod::WikiDoc uses a wiki-style text markup, called wikidoc. It is
heavily influenced by Kwiki. Like other wiki markup, it has both block
and inline elements, which map directly to their Pod equivalents.
Block elements include:
* Headers
* Verbatim text
* Bullet lists
* Numbered lists
* Ordinary paragraphs
Block elements should be separated by a blank line (though Pod::WikiDoc
will do the right thing in many cases if you don't).
Inline elements include:
* Bold
* Italic
* Code
* Link
* Escape code
* Keywords
All text except that found in verbatim text, code markup or keywords is
transformed to convert special Pod characters to Pod escape code markup:
E<lt>, E<gt>, E<sol>, E<verbar>. Inline markup can be escaped with a
backslash (\). Including a literal backslash requires a double-backslash
(\\).
Headers
Headers are indicated with one or more equals signs followed by
whitespace in the first column. The number of equals signs indicates the
level of the header (the maximum is four). Headers can not span multiple
lines.
= header level 1
== header level 2
Verbatim text
Verbatim text is indicated with leading whitespace in each line of text,
just as with Pod.
#<--- first column
sub verbatim {}
Bullet lists
Bullet lists are indicated with an asterisk in the first column followed
by whitespace. Bullet lists can span multiple lines. Lines after the
first should not have an asterisk or be indented.
* First item in the list
* Second item in the list
on multiple lines
* Third item in the list
Numbered lists
Numbered lists work just like numbered lists, but with a leading 0
followed by whitespace.
0 First item in the list
0 Second item in the list
on multiple lines
0 Third item in the list
Ordinary paragraphs
Ordinary paragraphs consist of one or more lines of text that do not
match the criteria of other blocks. Paragraphs are terminated with a
empty line.
This is an ordinary paragraph that
spans multiple lines.
Bold markup
Bold text is indicated by bracketing with asterisks. Bold markup must
begin at a whitespace boundary, the start of a line, or the inside of
other markup.
This shows *bold* text.
Italic markup
Italic text is indicated by bracketing with tildes. Italic markup must
begin at a whitespace boundary, the start of a line, or the inside of
other markup.
This shows ~italic~ text.
Code markup
Code (monospaced) text is indicated by bracketing with matched braces.
Code markup must begin at a whitespace boundary, the start of a line, or
the inside of other markup. Brackets should nest properly with code.
This shows {code} text. It can surround text
with brackets like this: { $data{ $id } }
Link markup
Link text is indicated by bracketing with square brackets. As with Pod,
link text may include a vertical bar to separate display text from the
link itself. Link markup must begin at a whitespace boundary, the start
of a line, or the inside of other markup.
This is an ordinary [Pod::WikiDoc] link.
This is a [way to ~markup~ links|Pod::WikiDoc] with display text
Hypertext links look like this: [http://www.google.com/]
Escape code markup
Pod-style escape text is passed through as normal to support
international or other unusual characters.
This is the euro symbol: E<euro>
Keyword markup
Text surrounded by double-percent signs is treated as a keyword for
expansion. The entire expression will be replaced with the value of the
keyword from the hash provided when the parser is created with "new()".
If the keyword is unknown or the value is undefined, the keyword will be
passed through unchanged.
This is version %%VERSION%%
DIAGNOSTICS
* "Error: Argument to convert() must be a scalar"
* "Error: Argument to filter() must be a hash reference"
* "Error: Argument to format() must be a scalar"
* "Error: Argument to new() must be a hash reference"
* "Error: Class method new() can't be called on an object"
* "Error: Couldn't open input file 'FILENAME'"
* "Error: Couldn't open output file 'FILENAME'"
* "Error: 'input' parameter for filter() must be a filename or
filehandle"
* "Error: 'output' parameter for filter() must be a filename or
filehandle"
INCOMPATIBILITIES
* Default prefix length for wikidoc comment-blocks conflicts with
Smart::Comments. Change the "comment_prefix_length" argument to
"new" in Pod::WikiDoc or the level of 'smartness' in Smart::Comments
to avoid the conflict.
* Module::Build before 0.28 does not look in external ".pod" files to
generate a "README" with the "create_readme" option or to find a
module abstract. Set the abstract manually in the "Build.PL" file
with the "dist_abstract" option.
SUPPORT
Bugs / Feature Requests
Please report any bugs or feature requests through the issue tracker at
<https://github.com/dagolden/pod-wikidoc/issues>. You will be notified
automatically of any progress on your issue.
Source Code
This is open source software. The code repository is available for
public review and contribution under the terms of the license.
<https://github.com/dagolden/pod-wikidoc>
git clone https://github.com/dagolden/pod-wikidoc.git
AUTHOR
David A Golden <dagolden@cpan.org>
CONTRIBUTOR
James E Keenan <jkeenan@cpan.org>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is Copyright (c) 2017 by David A Golden.
This is free software, licensed under:
The Apache License, Version 2.0, January 2004