Markdown
========
[](LICENSE)
[][ci]
[][release]
[release]: https://github.com/Witiko/markdown/releases/latest "Releases · Witiko/markdown"
[ci]: https://github.com/Witiko/markdown/actions "GitHub Actions"
The Markdown package converts [markdown][] markup to TeX commands. The
functionality is provided both as a Lua module, and as plain TeX, LaTeX, and
ConTeXt macro packages that can be used to directly typeset TeX documents
containing markdown markup. Unlike other convertors, the Markdown package
does not require any external programs, and makes it easy to redefine how each
and every markdown element is rendered. Creative abuse of the markdown syntax
is encouraged. 😉
[markdown]: https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/basics "Daring Fireball: Markdown Basics"
Your first Markdown document
----------------------------
Using a text editor, create an empty directory named `workdir/`. In it, create
a text document named `workdir/document.tex` with the following content:
``` latex
\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{markdown}
\markdownSetup{pipeTables,tableCaptions}
\begin{document}
\begin{markdown}
Introduction
============
## Section
### Subsection
Hello *Markdown*!
| Right | Left | Default | Center |
|------:|:-----|---------|:------:|
| 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
: Table
\end{markdown}
\end{document}
```
Next, run the [LaTeXMK][] tool from
[our official Docker image][docker-witiko/markdown] on `document.tex`:
docker run --rm -v "$PWD"/workdir:/workdir -w /workdir witiko/markdown \
latexmk -lualatex -silent document.tex
Alternatively, you can install [TeX Live][tex-live] (can take up to several
hours) and use its [LaTeXMK][] tool:
latexmk -cd -lualatex -silent workdir/document.tex
A PDF document named `workdir/document.pdf` should be produced and contain the
following output:
Congratulations, you have just typeset your first Markdown document! 🥳
[tex-live]: https://www.tug.org/texlive/ "TeX Live - TeX Users Group"
Use Markdown for continuous integration
---------------------------------------
Can't live without the latest features of the Markdown package in your
continuous integration pipelines? It's ok, you can use
[our official Docker image][docker-witiko/markdown] as a drop-in replacement
for [the `texlive/texlive:latest` Docker image][docker-texlive/texlive]!
The following example shows a [GitHub Actions][github-actions] pipeline, which
will automatically typeset and prerelease a PDF document:
``` yaml
name: Typeset and prerelease the book
on:
push:
jobs:
typeset:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
container:
image: witiko/markdown:latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- run: latexmk -lualatex document.tex
- uses: marvinpinto/action-automatic-releases@latest
with:
title: The latest typeset book
automatic_release_tag: latest
prerelease: true
repo_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
files: document.pdf
```
In fact, this is how we automatically produce
[the latest documentation][techdoc-latest] for the Markdown package.
[docker-witiko/markdown]: https://hub.docker.com/r/witiko/markdown/tags "witiko/markdown - Docker Image"
[docker-texlive/texlive]: https://hub.docker.com/r/texlive/texlive/tags "texlive/texlive - Docker Image"
[github-actions]: https://docs.github.com/actions "GitHub Actions Documentation"
Peek under the hood
-------------------
Remember how we said that the Markdown package converts [markdown][] markup to
TeX commands? Let's see what that means and what we can do with this knowledge.
Using a text editor, create an empty text document named `document.md` with
the following markdown content:
``` markdown
Hello *Markdown*! $a_x + b_x = c_x$
```
Next, run [the Lua command-line interface (CLI)][lua-cli] from
[our official Docker image][docker-witiko/markdown] on `document.md`:
docker run --rm -i witiko/markdown markdown-cli hybrid=true < document.md
We will receive the following output, where the markdown markup has been
replaced by TeX commands:
``` tex
\markdownDocumentBegin
Hello \markdownRendererEmphasis{Markdown}!
$a\markdownRendererEmphasis{x + b}x = c_x$
\markdownDocumentEnd
```
We can see right away that the Markdown package has incorrectly interpreted
`_x + b_` as an emphasized text. We can fix this by passing in the
`underscores=false` option:
docker run --rm -i witiko/markdown markdown-cli hybrid=true underscores=false < document.md
``` tex
\markdownDocumentBegin
Hello \markdownRendererEmphasis{Markdown}!
$a_x + b_x = c_x$
\markdownDocumentEnd
```
Much better! If the Markdown package ever surprises you, use the Lua CLI to
peek under the hood and inspect the results of the conversion.
[lua-cli]: https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/generic/markdown/markdown.html#lua-command-line-interface "Markdown Package User Manual"
Further information
-------------------
For further information, consult one of the following:
1. The user manual for either [the released version][manual-tex-live] or
[the latest development version][manual-latest], which can be produced by
interpreting the `markdown.ins` file using a Unicode-aware TeX engine, such
as XeTeX (`xetex markdown.ins`) or LuaTeX (`luatex markdown.ins`). The
manual will reside in the file `markdown.md` and the CSS stylesheet
`markdown.css`.
2. The technical documentation for either [the released version][techdoc-tex-live]
or [the latest development version][techdoc-latest], which can be typeset by
running the [LaTeXMK][] tool on the `markdown.dtx` file (`latexmk
markdown.dtx`) after [installing the Markdown package][install].
[LaTeXMK][] should be included in your TeX distribution.
The typeset documentation will reside in the file `markdown.pdf`.
3. Tutorials and example documents by [Lian Tze Lim][liantze] at [Overleaf][]:
- [How to write in Markdown on Overleaf][overleaf-1],
- [Markdown into LaTeX with Style][overleaf-2],
- [Writing Markdown in LaTeX Documents][overleaf-3],
- [Writing Beamer Slides with Markdown][overleaf-4],
- [Writing Posters with Markdown][overleaf-5], and
- [Using Markdown in LaTeX documents][overleaf-6].
4. My journal articles published by [TUGboat][]:
- [Using Markdown inside TeX documents][tb119],
- [Markdown 2.7.0: Towards lightweight markup in TeX][tb124],
- [Making Markdown into a Microwave Meal][tb129],
- [Markdown 2.10.0: LaTeX Themes & Snippets, Two Flavors of Comments, and LuaMetaTeX][tb131], and
- [Markdown 2.15.0: What's New?][tb133].
5. Journal articles of me and my students published by [CSTUG][] (in Czech and Slovak):
- [Rendering Markdown inside TeX Documents][10.5300/2016-1-4/78],
- [Markdown 2.8.1: Boldly Unto the Throne of Lightweight Markup in TeX][10.5300/2020-1-2/48],
- [Markdown 2.10.0: LaTeX Themes & Snippets][10.5300/2021-1-4/76], and
- [Direct Typesetting of Various Document Formats in TeX Using the Pandoc Utility][10.5300/2021-1-4/83].
6. My talks:
- [Five Years of Markdown in LaTeX: What, Why, How, and Whereto][pv212-fall2020] (in Czech), and
- [Markdown 2.10.0: LaTeX Themes & Snippets, Two Flavors of Comments, and LuaMetaTeX][tb131-video] ([slides][tb131-slides]).
[overleaf-1]: https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Articles/How_to_write_in_Markdown_on_Overleaf "How to write in Markdown on Overleaf"
[overleaf-2]: https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Articles/Markdown_into_LaTeX_with_Style "Markdown into LaTeX with Style"
[overleaf-3]: https://www.overleaf.com/learn/how-to/Writing_Markdown_in_LaTeX_Documents "Writing Markdown in LaTeX Documents"
[overleaf-4]: https://www.overleaf.com/latex/examples/writing-beamer-slides-with-markdown/dnrwnjrpjjhw "Writing Beamer Slides with Markdown"
[overleaf-5]: https://www.overleaf.com/latex/examples/writing-posters-with-markdown/jtbgmmgqrqmh "Writing Posters with Markdown"
[overleaf-6]: https://www.overleaf.com/latex/examples/using-markdown-in-latex-documents/whdrnpcpnwrm "Using Markdown in LaTeX documents"
[tb119]: https://www.tug.org/TUGboat/tb38-2/tb119novotny.pdf "Using Markdown inside TeX documents"
[tb124]: https://www.tug.org/TUGboat/tb40-1/tb124novotny-markdown.pdf "Markdown 2.7.0: Towards lightweight markup in TeX"
[tb129]: https://www.tug.org/TUGboat/tb41-3/tb129novotny-frozen.pdf "Making Markdown into a Microwave Meal"
[tb131]: https://www.tug.org/TUGboat/tb42-2/tb131novotny-markdown.pdf "Markdown 2.10.0: LaTeX Themes & Snippets, Two Flavors of Comments, and LuaMetaTeX"
[tb133]: https://www.overleaf.com/read/pshkckczmmjn "Markdown 2.15.0: What's New?"
[tb131-slides]: https://tug.org/tug2021/assets/pdf/tug2021-novotny-slides.pdf "Markdown 2.10.0: LaTeX Themes & Snippets, Two Flavors of Comments, and LuaMetaTeX"
[tb131-video]: https://youtu.be/THmPkAncMnc "Markdown 2.10.0: LaTeX Themes & Snippets, Two Flavors of Comments, and LuaMetaTeX"
[10.5300/2016-1-4/78]: https://bulletin.cstug.cz/pdf/2016-1-4.pdf#page=80 "Rendering Markdown inside TeX Documents"
[10.5300/2020-1-2/48]: https://bulletin.cstug.cz/pdf/2020-1-2.pdf#page=50 "Markdown 2.8.1: Boldly Unto the Throne of Lightweight Markup in TeX"
[10.5300/2021-1-4/76]: https://bulletin.cstug.cz/pdf/2021-1-4.pdf#page=78 "Markdown 2.10.0: LaTeX Themes & Snippets"
[10.5300/2021-1-4/83]: https://bulletin.cstug.cz/pdf/2021-1-4.pdf#page=85 "Direct Typesetting of Various Document Formats in TeX Using the Pandoc Utility"
[pv212-fall2020]: https://is.muni.cz/elearning/warp?qurl=%2Fel%2Ffi%2Fpodzim2020%2FPV212%2Findex.qwarp;prejit=5595952
[install]: https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/generic/markdown/markdown.html#installation "Markdown Package User Manual"
[liantze]: http://liantze.penguinattack.org/ "Rants from the Lab"
[overleaf]: https://www.overleaf.com/ "Overleaf: Real-time Collaborative Writing and Publishing Tools with Integrated PDF Preview"
[tugboat]: https://www.tug.org/tugboat/ "TUGboat - Communications of the TeX Users Group"
[cstug]: https://www.cstug.cz/ "Československé sdružení uživatelů TeXu"
[manual-latest]: https://witiko.github.io/markdown "Markdown Package User Manual"
[manual-tex-live]: https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/generic/markdown/markdown.html "Markdown Package User Manual"
[techdoc-latest]: https://github.com/Witiko/markdown/releases/download/latest/markdown.pdf "A Markdown Interpreter for TeX"
[techdoc-tex-live]: https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/generic/markdown/markdown.pdf "A Markdown Interpreter for TeX"
Acknowledgements
----------------
| Logo | Acknowledgement |
| ------------- | --------------- |
| [
][fimu] | I gratefully acknowledge the funding from the [Faculty of Informatics][fimu] at the [Masaryk University][mu] in Brno, Czech Republic, for the development of the Markdown package. |
| [
][overleaf] | Extensive user documentation for the Markdown package was kindly written by [Lian Tze Lim][liantze] and published by [Overleaf][]. |
| [
][omedym] | Support for content slicing (Lua options [`shiftHeadings`][option-shift-headings] and [`slice`][option-slice]) and pipe tables (Lua options [`pipeTables`][option-pipe-tables] and [`tableCaptions`][option-table-captions]) was graciously sponsored by [David Vins][dvins] and [Omedym][]. |
[dvins]: https://github.com/dvins "David Vins"
[fimu]: https://www.fi.muni.cz/index.html.en "Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University"
[mu]: https://www.muni.cz/en "Masaryk University"
[Omedym]: https://www.omedym.com/ "Omedym"
[option-pipe-tables]: https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/generic/markdown/markdown.html#pipe-tables "Markdown Package User Manual"
[option-shift-headings]: https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/generic/markdown/markdown.html#option-shiftheadings "Markdown Package User Manual"
[option-slice]: https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/generic/markdown/markdown.html#slice "Markdown Package User Manual"
[option-table-captions]: https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/generic/markdown/markdown.html#option-tablecaptions "Markdown Package User Manual"
Contributing to the Development of Markdown
-------------------------------------------
Apart from the example markdown documents, tests, and continuous integration,
which are placed in the `examples/`, `tests/`, and `.github/` directories,
the complete source code and documentation of the package are placed in the
`markdown.dtx` document following the [literate programming][] paradigm.
Some useful commands, such as building the release archives and typesetting
the documentation, are placed in the `Makefile` file for ease of maintenance.
When the file `markdown.ins` is interpreted using a Unicode-aware TeX engine,
such as XeTeX (`xetex markdown.ins`) or LuaTeX (`luatex markdown.ins`), several
files are produced from the `markdown.dtx` document. The `make base` command
is provided by `Makefile` for convenience. In `markdown.dtx`, the boundaries
between the produced files are marked up using an XML-like syntax provided by
the [l3docstrip][] plain TeX package.
Running the [LaTeXMK][] tool on the `markdown.dtx` file
(`latexmk markdown.dtx`) after the Markdown package has been
[installed][install] typesets the documentation. The `make markdown.pdf`
command is provided by `Makefile` for convenience. In `markdown.dtx`, the
documentation is placed inside TeX comments and marked up using the
[ltxdockit][] LaTeX document class. Support for typesetting the documentation
is provided by the [doc][] LaTeX package.
To facilitate continuous integration and sharing of the Markdown package,
there exists an [official Docker image][docker-witiko/markdown], which can be
reproduced by running the `docker build` command on `Dockerfile` (`docker build
-t witiko/markdown .`). The `make docker-image` command is provided by
`Makefile` for convenience.
[doc]: https://ctan.org/pkg/doc "doc – Format LaTeX documentation"
[l3docstrip]: https://ctan.org/pkg/l3docstrip "l3docstrip – Strip documentation in LaTeX3 source"
[LaTeXMK]: https://ctan.org/pkg/latexmk "latexmk – Fully automated LaTeX document generation"
[literate programming]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literate_programming "Literate programming"
[ltxdockit]: https://ctan.org/pkg/ltxdockit "ltxdockit – Documentation support"
Contributed Software
--------------------
Links to contributed third-party software for the Markdown package are
available in the `contributions/` directory. The intention is to show
interesting tools for the Markdown package and to give them wider exposure
without taking responsibility for their development or maintenance.
Citing Markdown
---------------
When citing Markdown in academic papers and theses, please use the following
BibTeX entry:
``` bib
@article{novotny2017markdown,
author = {V\'{i}t Novotn\'{y}},
year = {2017},
title = {Using {M}arkdown Inside {\TeX} Documents},
journal = {TUGboat},
volume = {38},
number = {2},
pages = {214--217},
issn = {0896-3207},
url = {https://tug.org/TUGboat/tb38-2/tb119novotny.pdf},
urldate = {2020-07-31},
}
```
Alternatively, you can use the `Novotny:2017:UMI` key from the [`tugboat.bib`][tugboat.bib]
BibTeX file that is included in your TeX distribution like this:
``` tex
\cite{Novotny:2017:UMI}
\bibliography{tugboat}
```
[tugboat.bib]: http://mirrors.ctan.org/info/digests/tugboat/biblio/tugboat.bib