Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

ohnonot · 2017-09-13 19:35:03

For use in forums, like here.
typing out bbcode isn't fun. especially not on some non-english keyboard layouts.
javascript editors suck in different ways.
also, for some sites it's really better to leave javascript disabled.

solution:

type markdown
highlight text
press the hotkey associated to the below script

requirements:

xclip
xdotool

Warning - do not use the method described below. Use the wrapper script which is now included in the repo!

explanation in post #11.

#!/bin/sh

win="$(xdotool getwindowfocus)"
log="$HOME/md2bb$(date '+%s').log"
tmpfile="$HOME/md2bb$(date '+%s').tmp"

exec 2>"$log"

trap "rm $tmpfile $log" EXIT

parser="$HOME/bin/md2bb.pl"

output="$(xclip -o | $parser > $tmpfile)"

while read line; do
	xdotool type --delay 0 --window "$win" "$line" 
	xdotool key --delay 0 --clearmodifiers --window "$win" KP_Enter 
done < "$tmpfile"

msg="$(<"$log")"

[[ "x$msg" != "x" ]] && notify-send "markdown 2 bbcode" "$msg"

exit 0

enjoy!

Last edited by ohnonot (2021-07-02 07:43:16)

johnraff · 2017-09-14 00:14:11

Thanks!

Actually, I haven't used markdown that much TBH.

ohnonot wrote:

typing out bbcode isn't fun
...
solution:
type markdown

So markdown is a lot easier to type than BBCode?

vasa1 · 2017-09-14 00:43:21

I've used markdown quite a bit. Geany has a plugin for displaying it as well. I too feel markdown is more convenient to type but I have trouble with "*" and "_". When a single "*" is used, a closing "*" is needed or all the text following the "*" is italicised.

So if I have something like this:

convert -delay 20 -loop 0 *.jpg fitts.gif

".jpg" and following text is italicised even if that was not my intention. A similar situation happens with "_" sometimes used in filenames.

ohnonot · 2017-09-14 05:24:44

^ vasa1, something like that would have to go either in `code tags` or in a

code block

. then the '*' doesn't get translated.

johnraff wrote:

So markdown is a lot easier to type than BBCode?

in my opinion, yes.
https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/basics
the thing is that i use it in other contexts as well - writing README's for my projects, blog entries etc. - as do many others.markdown follows a few simple rules, and the whole point of it is that it is readable both as is, and possible to make well-formatted html out of it.

if someone wants to try, please tell me if the pandoc part works well. i was having some unexplained problems at first, which then just went away... :scratch:

(and just now i noticed that pandoc took an awefully long time to fire up, but subsequent runs are near-instant)

ohnonot · 2017-09-14 20:07:13

i'm still ironing out issues.

script updated in post #1.

brontosaurusrex · 2017-09-15 05:13:54

There certainly are gotchas with markdown (like many versions of it), but still my favorite.

https://brontosaurusrex.github.io/2017/ … n-for-you/

My entire blog/stretchbang is obviously markdown (with some html here and there). To play around: https://dillinger.io

Last edited by brontosaurusrex (2017-09-15 05:15:13)

ohnonot · 2017-09-16 09:37:09

i realized that the original markdown is a fairly simple perl script.
it took me 1-2 hours to hack it to output bbcode instead!

the script itself is lightning fast,but xdotool seems to introduce some delay (even though --delay is set to 0)...

Last edited by ohnonot (2021-07-02 07:21:12)

ohnonot · 2017-09-19 17:22:35

i replaced my md2bb.pl with yours, but i'm getting this error over and over:

sh: -c: line 0: syntax error near unexpected token `('
sh: -c: line 0: `xdotool type --delay 0 --window 35651593 Caveat: I do not know (yet) how to incorporate changes made on the cloned repository, back into the source repository.  '

Fornow,IthinkIwillrewritesomescriptstomakeuseofthe[code]HOSTNAME[/code]environmentvariable:[code]pinebook[/code]vs[code]arch[/code].
You specified the wrong number of args.
Usage: type [--window windowid] [--delay milliseconds] <things to type>
--window <windowid>    - specify a window to send keys to
--delay <milliseconds> - delay between keystrokes
--clearmodifiers       - reset active modifiers (alt, etc) while typing
--args N  - how many arguments to expect in the exec command. This is
            useful for ending an exec and continuing with more xdotool
            commands
--terminator TERM - similar to --args, specifies a terminator that
                    marks the end of 'exec' arguments. This is useful
                    for continuing with more xdotool commands.
--file <filepath> - specify a file, the contents of which will be
                    be typed as if passed as an argument. The filepath
                    may also be '-' to read from stdin.
-h, --help             - show this help output

doesn't matter whether i use your wrapper script or do it manually with

xclip -o|md2bb.pl

ohnonot · 2017-09-21 06:06:54

there was a big mistake in my wrapper script.
i bound it to Windows+B, but even though xdotool uses --clearmodifiers, this does not apply to the typed output as long as the windows key is still held down, and i was getting a lot of Terminals (Windows+T) and editor windows (Windows+E).
I'm not sure why that didn't happen to me straight from the beginning.

anyhow, i re-evaluated my xdotool approach and realized I'm doing this all wrong.
Instead of typing the output with xdotool, I should instead copy it back into the clipboard (with xclip again) and use xdotool to just type out 'Ctrl-V' once.

Voilá, much safer and quicker now.

I added the wrapper script to the repo and edited post #1, warning you to not use the methods described in this thread!

PS:
this means i also discarded misko_2083's approach. sorry.

Last edited by ohnonot (2017-09-21 06:10:21)

ohnonot · 2020-11-30 07:28:13

I am still using this every day.
the repo has changed and uses existing tools (markdown sed perl) instead of a badly hacked version of the markdown script.

ohnonot wrote:

For use in forums, like here.
typing out bbcode isn't fun. especially not on some non-english keyboard layouts.
javascript editors suck in different ways.
also, for some sites it's really better to leave javascript disabled.
solution:
type markdown
highlight text
press the hotkey associated to the below script
requirements:
xclip
xdotool

Last edited by ohnonot (2021-07-04 09:29:09)

#1 2017-09-13 19:35:03

Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

Warning - do not use the method described below. Use the wrapper script which is now included in the repo!

#2 2017-09-14 00:14:11

Re: Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

#3 2017-09-14 00:43:21

Re: Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

#4 2017-09-14 05:24:44

Re: Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

#5 2017-09-14 20:07:13

Re: Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

#6 2017-09-15 05:13:54

Re: Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

#7 2017-09-16 09:37:09

Re: Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

#8 2017-09-19 17:22:35

Re: Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

#9 2017-09-21 06:06:54

Re: Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

#10 2020-11-30 07:28:13

Re: Convert Markdown to BBcode on the Fly!

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