PP - Generic preprocessor (with pandoc in mind)

PP is a text preprocessor designed for Pandoc (and more generally Markdown and reStructuredText).

The PP package used to contain three preprocessors for Pandoc.

I started using Markdown and Pandoc with GPP. Then I wrote DPP to embed diagrams in Markdown documents. And finally PP which merges the functionalities of GPP and DPP.

GPP and DPP are no longer included in PP as pp can now be used standalone. dpp and gpp can be found in the legacy DPP repository.

pp now implements:

macros
literate programming
GraphViz, PlantUML, ditaa and blockdiag diagrams
Asymptote and R figures
Bash, Cmd, PowerShell, Python, Lua, Haskell and R scripts
Mustache

Warning: PP is not supported anymore

Their is no plan to support PP from now on. PP is meant to be replaced by a combination of:

ypp: Lua-scriptable PreProcessor
Panda: Pandoc add-ons (Lua filters for Pandoc)

ypp and Panda are written in Lua and are way easier to deploy.

Open source

PP is an Open source software. Anybody can contribute on GitHub to:

suggest or add new features
report or fix bugs
improve the documentation
add some nicer examples
find new usages
…

Installation

Compilation:

Download and extract pp.tgz.
Run make.

PP is written in Haskell and is built with Stack. On MacOS, running make requires the GNU version of tar which can be installed with brew install gnu-tar.

Docker:

A Linux docker made by Joshua Dotson is available here:

Installation:

Run make install to copy pp in ~/.local/bin.
or copy pp (pp.exe on Windows) wherever you want.

pp requires (optionally) Graphviz, blockdiag, Asymptote, R and Java (PlantUML and ditaa are embedded in pp).

Precompiled binaries:

The recommended way to get PP binaries is to compile them from the sources. Anyway if you have no Haskell compiler, you can try some precompiled binaries.

Latest Linux and Windows binaries:
- Fedora Linux 37 (Xfce) (64 bit): http://cdelord.fr/pp/pp-linux-x86_64.txz
- Windows (64 bit): http://cdelord.fr/pp/pp-win.7z
Older version archive:
- no longer available
User contributed Mac OS binaries (outdated):
- Mac OS (64 bit binaries): https://github.com/dlardi/pp/releases/download/v1.0/pp-darwin-x86_64.txz

Usage

pp is a simple preprocessor written in Haskell. It’s mainly designed for Pandoc but may be used as a generic preprocessor. It is not intended to be as powerful as GPP, for instance, but is a simple implementation for my own needs, as well as an opportunity to play with Haskell.

pp takes strings as input and incrementally builds an environment which is a lookup table containing variables and various other information. Built-in macros are Haskell functions that takes arguments (strings) and the current environment and build a new environment in the IO monad. User defined macros are simple definitions, arguments are numbered 1 to N.

pp emits the preprocessed document on the standard output. Inputs are listed on the command line and concatenated, the standard input is used when no input is specified.

Command line

pp executes arguments in the same order as the command line. It starts with an initial environment containing:

the environment variables of the current process
a lang variable containing the current langage (currently only French (fr), Italian (it), Spanish (es) and English (en) are supported)
a format variable containing the current output format (html, pdf, odt, epub or mobi)
a dialect variable containing the current dialect (md or rst)

The dialect is used to format links and images in the output documents. Currently only Markdown and reStructuredText are supported.

If no input file is specified, pp preprocesses the standard input.

The command line arguments are intentionally very basic. The user can define and undefine variables and list input files.

-v
displays the current version and exits.

-h
displays some help and exits.

-help
displays a longer help and exits.

-userhelp
displays a longer help for user macros only and exits.

-DSYMBOL[=VALUE] or -D SYMBOL[=VALUE]
adds the symbol SYMBOL to the current environment and associates it to the optional value VALUE. If no value is provided, the symbol is simply defined with an empty value.

-USYMBOL or -U SYMBOL
removes the symbol SYMBOL from the current environment.

-img=PREFIX or -img PREFIX
changes the prefix of the images output path.

-import=FILE or -import FILE
preprocessed FILE but discards its output. It only keeps macro definitions and other side effects.

-M TARGET or -M=TARGET
tracks dependencies and outputs a make rule listing the dependencies. The target name is necessary since it can not be infered by pp. This option only lists files that are imported, included and used with mdate and csvmacros.

-plantuml=FILE or -plantuml FILE
use FILE instead of the embedded plantuml.jar file.

-ditaa=FILE or -ditaa FILE
use FILE instead of the embedded ditaa.jar file.

-<macro>[=<arg>]
calls a builtin macro with an optional argument (see pp -help for the full macro list). Some macros may prevent pp from reading stdin when no file is given on the command line (langs, formats, dialects, os, arch, macros, usermacros).

Other arguments are filenames.

Files are read and preprocessed using the current state of the environment. The special filename “-” can be used to preprocess the standard input.

Macros

Built-in macros are hard coded in pp and can not be redefined. User defined macros are simple text substitutions that may have any number of parameters (named !1 to !n). User macros can be (re)defined on the command line or in the documents.

Macro names are:

case sensitive (i.e.: !my_macro and !My_Macro are different macros)
made of letters, digits and underscores (a-zA-Z0-9_)

User macros starting with _ are not listed in macros lists and help texts.

To get the value of a variable you just have to write its name after a ‘!’. Macros can be given arguments. Each argument is enclosed in parenthesis, curly braces or square brackets. For instance, the macro foo with two arguments can be called as !foo(x)(y), !foo{x}{y} or even !foo[x][y]. Mixing brackets, braces and parenthesis within a single macro is not allowed: all parameters must be enclosed within the same type of delimiters. This helps ending a list of arguments in some edge cases:

!macro(x)(y)

[link]: foo bar

Here, [link] is not parsed as a third parameter of !macro

Arguments are stripped. Removing leading and trailing spaces helps preserving line structure in the document.

The last arguments can be enclosed between lines of tildas or backquotes (of the same length) instead of parenthesis, brackets or braces and. This is useful for literate programming, diagrams or scripts (see examples). Code block arguments are not stripped: spaces and blank lines are preserved.

Arguments can be on separate lines but must not be separated by blank lines.

You can choose the syntax that works better with your favorite editor and syntax colorization.

For most of the macros, arguments are preprocessed before executing the macro. Macros results are not preprocessed (unless used as a parameter of an outer macro). The include macro is an exception: its output is also preprocessed. The rawinclude macro can include a file without preprocessing it.

define, def
!def[ine](SYMBOL)[[(DOC)](VALUE)] adds the symbol SYMBOL to the current environment and associate it with the optional value VALUE. Arguments are denoted by !1 … !n in VALUE. If DOC is given it is used to document the macro (see the -help option).

undefine, undef
!undef[ine](SYMBOL) removes the symbol SYMBOL from the current environment.

defined
!defined(SYMBOL) returns 1 if SYMBOL is defined, 0 otherwise.

rawdef
!rawdef(X) returns the raw (unevaluated) definition of X.

ifdef
!ifdef(SYMBOL)(TEXT_IF_DEFINED)[(TEXT_IF_NOT_DEFINED)] returns TEXT_IF_DEFINED if SYMBOL is defined or TEXT_IF_NOT_DEFINED if it is not defined.

ifndef
!ifndef(SYMBOL)(TEXT_IF_NOT_DEFINED)[(TEXT_IF_DEFINED)] returns TEXT_IF_NOT_DEFINED if SYMBOL is not defined or TEXT_IF_DEFINED if it is defined.

ifeq
!ifeq(X)(Y)(TEXT_IF_EQUAL)[(TEXT_IF_DIFFERENT)] returns TEXT_IF_EQUAL if X and Y are equal or TEXT_IF_DIFFERENT if X and Y are different. Two pieces of text are equal if all non-space characters are the same.

ifne
!ifne(X)(Y)(TEXT_IF_DIFFERENT)[(TEXT_IF_EQUAL)] returns TEXT_IF_DIFFERENT if X and Y are different or TEXT_IF_EQUAL if X and Y are equal.

if
!if(EXPR)(TEXT_IF_EXPR_IS_TRUE)[(TEXT_IF_EXPR_IS_FALSE)] returns TEXT_IF_EXPR_IS_TRUE if EXPR is true or TEXT_IF_EXPR_IS_FALSE if EXPR is false.

eval
!eval(EXPR) evaluatesEXPR`.

info
!info(MESSAGE) printsMESSAGE` on stderr.

warning, warn
!warn[ing](MESSAGE) printsMESSAGE` on stderr.

error
!error[(CODE)](MESSAGE) printsMESSAGEon stderr and exits with error codeCODE`.

exit
!exit(CODE) exits with error codeCODE`.

import
!import(FILENAME) works as !include(FILENAME) but returns nothing. This is useful to import macro definitions.

include, inc
!inc[lude](FILENAME) preprocesses and returns the content of the file named FILENAME and includes it in the current document. If the file path is relative it is searched first in the directory of the current file then in the directory of the main file.

raw
!raw(TEXT) returns TEXT without any preprocessing.

rawinclude, rawinc
!rawinc[lude](FILE) returns the content of FILE without any preprocessing.

comment
!comment(TEXT) considers TEXT as well as any additional parameters as comment. Nothing is preprocessed or returned.

quiet
!quiet(TEXT) quietly preprocesses TEXT and returns nothing. Only the side effects (e.g. macro definitions) are kept in the environment.

pp
!pp(TEXT) preprocesses and return TEXT. This macro is useful to preprocess the output of script macros for instance (!sh, !python, …).

mustache
!mustache(JSON/YAML file)(TEMPLATE) preprocesses TEMPLATE with mustache, using a JSON/YAML file.

mdate
!mdate(FILES) returns the modification date of the most recent file.

main
!main returns the name of the main file (given on the command line).

file
!file returns the name of the current file.

root
!root returns the directory name of the main file.

cwd
!cwd returns the directory name of the current file.

lang
!lang returns the current language.

langs
!langs lists the known languages (en, fr, it, es).

en
!en(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current language is en.

fr
!fr(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current language is fr.

it
!it(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current language is it.

es
!es(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current language is es.

format
!format returns the current output format.

formats
!formats lists the known formats (html, pdf, odf, epub, mobi).

html
!html(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current format is html.

pdf
!pdf(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current format is pdf.

odf
!odf(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current format is odf.

epub
!epub(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current format is epub.

mobi
!mobi(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current format is mobi.

dialect
!dialect returns the current output dialect.

dialects
!dialects lists the kown output dialects (md, rst).

md
!md(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current dialect is md.

rst
!rst(TEXT) returns TEXT if the current dialect is rst.

env
!env(VARNAME) preprocesses and returns the value of the process environment variable VARNAME.

os
!os returns the OS name (e.g. linux on Linux, darwin on MacOS, windows on Windows).

arch
!arch returns the machine architecture (e.g. x86_64, i386, …).

add
!add(VARNAME)[(INCREMENT)] computes VARNAME+INCREMENT and stores the result to VARNAME. The default value of the increment is 1.

append
!append(VARNAME)[(TEXT)] appends TEXT to !VARNAME and stores the result to VARNAME.

exec
!exec(COMMAND) executes a shell command with the default shell (sh or cmd according to the OS).

rawexec
!rawexec is deprecated. See exec.

sh
!sh(CMD) executes CMD in a sh shell.

bash
!bash(CMD) executes CMD in a bash shell.

zsh
!zsh(CMD) executes CMD in a zsh shell.

fish
!fish(CMD) executes CMD in a fish shell.

cmd
!cmd(CMD) executes CMD in a Windows shell (cmd.exe).

bat
!bat is deprecated. See cmd.

python
!python(CMD) executes CMD with the default Python interpretor.

python2
!python2(CMD) executes CMD with Python 2.

python3
!python3(CMD) executes CMD with Python 3.

lua
!lua(CMD) executes CMD with Lua.

haskell
!haskell(CMD) executes CMD as a Haskell script with runhaskell.

stack
!stack(CMD) executes CMD as a Haskell script with stack.

Rscript
!Rscript(CMD) executes CMD as a R script with Rscript.

powershell
!cmd(CMD) executes CMD in a Windows shell (Powershell).

dot
!dot(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a dot image with Graphviz.

neato
!neato(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a neato image with Graphviz.

twopi
!twopi(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a twopi image with Graphviz.

circo
!circo(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a circo image with Graphviz.

fdp
!fdp(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a fdp image with Graphviz.

sfdp
!sfdp(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a sfdp image with Graphviz.

patchwork
!patchwork(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a patchwork image with Graphviz.

osage
!osage(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a osage image with Graphviz.

uml
!uml(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a uml image with PlantUML.

ditaa
!ditaa(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a ditaa image with Ditaa.

blockdiag
!blockdiag(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a blockdiag image with BlockDiag.

seqdiag
!seqdiag(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a seqdiag image with BlockDiag.

actdiag
!actdiag(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a actdiag image with BlockDiag.

nwdiag
!nwdiag(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a nwdiag image with BlockDiag.

rackdiag
!rackdiag(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a rackdiag image with BlockDiag.

packetdiag
!packetdiag(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a packetdiag image with BlockDiag.

asy
!asy(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a asy image with Asymptote.

Rplot
!Rplot(IMAGE)[(LEGEND)](GRAPH DESCRIPTION) renders a Rplot image with R.

literate, lit
!lit[erate](FILENAME)[(LANG)][(CONTENT)] appends CONTENT to the file FILENAME. If FILENAME starts with @ it’s a macro, not a file. The output is highlighted using the programming language LANGUAGE. The list of possible languages is given by pandoc --list-highlight-languages. Files are actually written when all the documents have been successfully preprocessed. Macros are expanded when the files are written. This macro provides basic literate programming features. If LANG is not given, pp uses the previously defined language for the same file or macro or a default language according to its name. If CONTENTis not given, pp returns the current content of FILENAME.

flushliterate, flushlit
!flushlit[erate] writes files built with !lit before reaching the end of the document. This macro is automatically executed before any script execution or file inclusion with !src.

source, src
!source(FILENAME)[(LANG)] or !src(FILENAME)[(LANG)] formats an existing source file in a colorized code block.

codeblock
!codeblock(LENGTH)[(CHAR)] sets the default line separator for code blocks. The default value is a 70 tilda row (!codeclock(70)(~)).

indent
!indent[(N)](BLOCK) indents each line of a block with N spaces. The default value of N is 4 spaces.

csv
!csv(FILENAME)[(HEADER)] converts a CSV file to a Markdown or reStructuredText table. HEADER defines the header of the table, fields are separated by pipes (|). If HEADER is not defined, the first line of the file is used as the header of the table.

macrochars
!macrochars(CHARS) defines the chars used to call a macro. The default value is "!". Any non space character can start a macro call (e.g. after !macrochars(!\) both !foo and \foo are valid macro calls.

macroargs
!macroargs(CHARS) defines the chars used to separate macro arguments. The default value is "(){}[]" (e.g. after !macroargs(()«») both !foo(...) and !foo«...» are valid macro calls).

macroblockargs
!macroblockargs(CHARS) defines the chars used to separate macro block arguments. The default value is "~`".

literatemacrochars
!literatemacrochars(CHARS) defines the chars used to identify literate programming macros. The default value is "@". Any non space character can start a literate programming macro (e.g. after !literatemacrochars(@&) both @foo and &foo are valid macro calls.

macros
!macros lists the builtin macros.

usermacros
!usermacros lists the user macros.

help
!help prints built-in macro help.

userhelp
!userhelp prints user macro help.

Expressions

The !if and !eval macros take an expression and evaluate it. Expressions are made of:

integers
string ("...")
integer operators (+, -, *, /)
boolean operators (!, not, &&, and, ||, or, xor)
relational operators (==, /=, !=, <, <=, >, >=)
parentheses, brackets and braces

Boolean values are coded as integers or string (0 and "" are false, other values are true).

Macros can be called in expressions. They are preprocessed before evaluating the expression.

e.g.:

!if( !defined(FOO) or !BAR == 42 ) (say something)

Literate programming example

The main program just prints some messages:

!lit(main.c)(C)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@includes
void main()
{
@messages
}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First we need to be able to print messages:

!lit(@includes)(C)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#include <stdio.h>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The program must first say “Hello” :

!lit(@messages)(C)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    puts("Hello...\n");
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And also finally “Goodbye”:

!lit(@messages)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    puts("Goodbye.");
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diagram and script examples

Diagrams

Diagrams are written in code blocks as argument of a diagram macro. The first line contains the macro:

the diagram generator (the macro name)
the image name with or without the extension (first argument)
- the default format is svg if no extension is provided (unless for ditaa diagrams which support png only)
- the supported formats are png, svg and ‘pdf’ (PDF support is partial and may not work with PlantUML)
the legend (second optional argument)

Block delimiters are made of three or more tilda or back quotes, at the beginning of the line (no space and no tab). The end delimiter must at least as long as the beginning delimiter.

!dot(path/imagename)(optional legend)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    graph {
        "source code of the diagram"
    }
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This extremely meaningful diagram is rendered as path/imagename.svg and looks like:

optional legend

The image file extension can be .svg, .png or pdf. SVG is the default format if no extension is provided (unless for ditaa diagrams). !dot(path/imagename.svg)(optional legend) or !dot(path/imagename)(optional legend) are rendered as path/imagename.svg. !dot(path/imagename.png)(optional legend) is rendered as path/imagename.png. !dot(path/imagename.pdf)(optional legend) is rendered as path/imagename.pdf (if supported).

The image link in the output markdown document may have to be different than the actual path in the file system. This happens when then .md or .html files are not generated in the same path than the source document. Brackets can be used to specify the part of the path that belongs to the generated image but not to the link in the output document. For instance a diagram declared as:

!dot([mybuildpath/]img/diag42)...

will be actually generated in:

mybuildpath/img/diag42.png

and the link in the output document will be:

img/diag42.png

For instance, if you use Pandoc to generate HTML documents with diagrams in a different directory, there are two possibilities:

the document is a self contained HTML file (option --self-contained), i.e. the CSS and images are stored inside the document:
- the CSS path shall be the actual path where the CSS file is stored
- the image path in diagrams shall be the actual path where the images are stored (otherwise Pandoc won’t find them)
- e.g.: outputpath/img/diag42
the document is not self contained, i.e. the CSS and images are stored apart from the document:
- the CSS path shall be relative to the output document
- the image path in diagrams shall be relative to output document in HTML links and shall also describe the actual path where the images are stored.
- e.g.: [outputpath/]img/diag42

Pandoc also accepts additional attributes on images (link_attributes extension). These attributes can be added between curly brackets to the first argument. e.g.:

!dot(image.png { width=50 % })(caption)(...)

will generate the following link in the markdown output:

![caption](image.png){ width=50 % }

The diagram generator can be:

dot
neato
twopi
circo
fdp
sfdp
patchwork
osage
uml
ditaa
blockdiag
seqdiag
actdiag
nwdiag
rackdiag
packetdiag
asy
Rplot

pp will not create any directory, the path where the image is written must already exist.

Scripts

Scripts are also written in code blocks as arguments of a macro.

!bash
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
echo Hello World!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With no surprise, this script generates:

Hello World!

The script language macro can be:

sh, bash, zsh, fish or any other shell with sh and a shebang header
python
lua
haskell (or stack)
Rscript
cmd (DOS/Windows batch language)
powershell (Windows only)

pp will create a temporary script before calling the associated interpretor.

Examples

The source code of this document contains some diagrams.

Here are some simple examples. For further details about diagrams’ syntax, please read the documentation of GraphViz, PlantUML, ditaa and blockdiag.

Graphviz

GraphViz is executed when one of these keywords is used: dot, neato, twopi, circo, fdp, sfdp, patchwork, osage

!twopi(doc/img/pp-graphviz-example)(This is just a GraphViz diagram example)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
digraph {
    O -> A
    O -> B
    O -> C
    O -> D
    D -> O
    A -> B
    B -> C
    C -> A
}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

twopi is the kind of graph (possible graph types: dot, neato, twopi, circo, fdp, sfdp, patchwork).
doc/img/pp-graphviz-example is the name of the image. pp will generate doc/img/pp-graphviz-example.dot and doc/img/pp-graphviz-example.png.
the rest of the first line is the legend of the graph.
other lines are written to doc/img/pp-graphviz-example.dot before running Graphviz.
if the command line argument -img=prefix, prefix is added at the beginning of the image path.

Once generated the graph looks like:

This is just a GraphViz diagram example

GraphViz must be installed.

PlantUML

PlantUML is executed when the keyword uml is used. The lines @startuml and @enduml required by PlantUML are added by pp.

!uml(pp-plantuml-example)(This is just a PlantUML diagram example)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob --> Alice: Authentication Response
Alice -> Bob: Another authentication Request
Alice <-- Bob: another authentication Response
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once generated the graph looks like:

This is just a PlantUML diagram example

PlantUML is written in Java and is embedded in pp. Java must be installed.

Ditaa

ditaa is executed when the keyword ditaa is used.

!ditaa(pp-ditaa-example)(This is just a Ditaa diagram example)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    +--------+   +-------+    +-------+
    |        | --+ ditaa +--> |       |
    |  Text  |   +-------+    |diagram|
    |Document|   |!magic!|    |       |
    |     {d}|   |       |    |       |
    +---+----+   +-------+    +-------+
        :                         ^
        |       Lots of work      |
        +-------------------------+
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once generated the graph looks like:

This is just a Ditaa diagram example

ditaa is written in Java and is embedded in pp. Java must be installed.

BlockDiag

blockdiag is executed when one of these keywords is used: blockdiag, seqdiag, actdiag, nwdiag, rackdiag, packetdiag

!blockdiag(pp-blockdiag-example)(This is just a blockdiag diagram example)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    A -> B -> C -> D
    A -> E -> F -> D
    F -> F
    D -> A
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once generated the graph looks like:

This is just a blockdiag diagram example

blockdiag (blockdiag, seqdiag, actdiag and nwdiag) must be installed.

Asymptote

Asymptote is executed when the keyword asy is used.

!asy(pp-asy-example)
    (This is just an Asymptote example from <http://asy.marris.fr/asymptote/Sciences_physiques/index.html>)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
import geometry;
size(7.5cm,0);

// Affichage du repère par défaut (O,vec{i},vec_{j})
show(defaultcoordsys);

real a=5, b=4, theta=-27, poids=3;
ellipse el = ellipse(origin, a, b);
arc     ar = arc(el,(0,-b),(a,0),CCW);
path p = (0,-b-1)--ar--(a+1,0)--(a+1,-b-1)--cycle;
point pO = (0,0), pM=angpoint(ar,90+theta);
abscissa abscM = nodabscissa(el,pM);
real     timeM = abscM.x;
vector utangM = -dir(el,timeM),
    unormM = rotate(90)*utangM,
    vpoids=(0,-poids),
    vreactionN = -dot(vpoids,unormM)*unormM,
    vfrottement = -dot(vpoids,utangM)*utangM;

filldraw(p,lightgray,blue);
draw(pO--pM,dashed);
markangle("$\theta$",1.5cm,pM,origin,(1,0));

// Affichage d'un nouveau repère (M,vec{u_{\theta}},vec_{u_{r}})
coordsys R=cartesiansystem(pM,i=utangM,j=unormM);
show("$M$", "$\vec{u_{\theta}}$", "$\vec{u_{r}}$", R, xpen=invisible);

// Affichage des trois vecteurs dans le repère R
point RpM=changecoordsys(R, pM);
show(Label("$\vec{f}$",EndPoint),RpM+vfrottement);
show(Label("$\vec{R}$",EndPoint),RpM+vreactionN);
show(Label("$\vec{P}$",EndPoint),RpM+vpoids);
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once generated the figure looks like:

This is just an Asymptote example from http://asy.marris.fr/asymptote/Sciences_physiques/index.html

Note: Asymptote handles transparency in PDF format only, which is converted to PNG by pp. If you need transparency, you must use the .png or pdf format (PNG images are generated by converting the PDF output of Asymptote). If you need scalable images, you must use the .svg format, which is the default format for Asymptote diagrams.

R (plot)

R is executed when the keyword Rplot is used.

!Rplot(rplot-test)(This is just an R plot example)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
plot(pressure)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once generated the image looks like:

This is just an R plot example

Bash

Bash is executed when the keyword bash is used.

!bash
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
echo "Hi, I'm $SHELL $BASH_VERSION"
RANDOM=42 # seed
echo "Here are a few random numbers: $RANDOM, $RANDOM, $RANDOM"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This script outputs:

Hi, I'm bash 5.2.15(1)-release
Here are a few random numbers: 17772, 26794, 1435

Note: the keyword sh executes sh which is generally a link to bash.

Cmd

Windows’ command-line interpreter is executed when the keyword cmd is used.

!cmd
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
echo Hi, I'm %COMSPEC%
ver
if "%WINELOADER%%WINELOADERNOEXEC%%WINEDEBUG%" == "" (
    echo This script is run from wine under Linux
) else (
    echo This script is run from a real Windows
)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This script outputs:

Hi, I'm C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe

Microsoft Windows 6.1.7601
This script is run from wine under Linux

Python

Python is executed when the keyword python is used.

!python
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
import sys
import random

if __name__ == "__main__":
    print("Hi, I'm Python %s"%sys.version)
    random.seed(42)
    randoms = [random.randint(0, 1000) for i in range(3)]
    print("Here are a few random numbers: %s"%(", ".join(map(str, randoms))))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This script outputs:

Hi, I'm Python 3.11.1 (main, Dec  7 2022, 00:00:00) [GCC 12.2.1 20221121 (Red Hat 12.2.1-4)]
Here are a few random numbers: 654, 114, 25

Lua

Lua is executed when the keyword lua is used.

!lua
~~~~~
print("Hi, I'm ".._VERSION)
math.randomseed(42)
t = {}
for i = 1, 3 do table.insert(t, math.random(0, 999)) end
print("Here are a few random numbers: "..table.concat(t, ", "))
~~~~~

This script outputs:

Hi, I'm Lua 5.4
Here are a few random numbers: 741, 49, 331

Haskell

Haskell is executed when the keyword haskell is used.

!haskell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
import System.Info
import Data.Version
import Data.List

primes = filterPrime [2..]
    where filterPrime (p:xs) =
            p : filterPrime [x | x <- xs, x `mod` p /= 0]

version = showVersion compilerVersion

main = do
    putStrLn $ "Hi, I'm Haskell " ++ version
    putStrLn $ "The first 10 prime numbers are: " ++
                intercalate " " (map show (take 10 primes))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This script outputs:

Hi, I'm Haskell 9.2
The first 10 prime numbers are: 2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29

Stack

Haskell is also executed when the keyword stack is used. In this case stack meta data must be added at the beginning of the script.

!stack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{- stack script --resolver lts-20.6 --package base -}

import System.Info
import Data.Version
import Data.List

primes = filterPrime [2..]
    where filterPrime (p:xs) =
            p : filterPrime [x | x <- xs, x `mod` p /= 0]

version = showVersion compilerVersion

main = do
    putStrLn $ "Hi, I'm Haskell " ++ version
    putStrLn $ "The first 10 prime numbers are: " ++
                intercalate " " (map show (take 10 primes))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This script outputs:

Hi, I'm Haskell 9.2
The first 10 prime numbers are: 2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29

R (script)

R is executed when the keyword Rscript is used.

!Rscript
~~~~~
model = lm(dist~speed, data = cars)
summary(model)
~~~~~

This script outputs:

Call:
lm(formula = dist ~ speed, data = cars)

Residuals:
    Min      1Q  Median      3Q     Max 
-29.069  -9.525  -2.272   9.215  43.201 

Coefficients:
            Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|)    
(Intercept) -17.5791     6.7584  -2.601   0.0123 *  
speed         3.9324     0.4155   9.464 1.49e-12 ***
---
Signif. codes:  0 ‘***’ 0.001 ‘**’ 0.01 ‘*’ 0.05 ‘.’ 0.1 ‘ ’ 1

Residual standard error: 15.38 on 48 degrees of freedom
Multiple R-squared:  0.6511,    Adjusted R-squared:  0.6438 
F-statistic: 89.57 on 1 and 48 DF,  p-value: 1.49e-12

Mustache templates

pp uses a builtin Haskell Mustache implementation that reads JSON or YAML files and generates text from a Mustache template.

Mustache is executed when the keyword mustache is used.

!mustache(../package.yaml)
```````````````````````````````````````
This is the documentation for `{{name}}` version {{version}} by {{author}}.
Copyright !bold({{copyright}}).
```````````````````````````````````````

package.yaml contains:

name:                pp
version:             "2.14.4"
github:              "CDSoft/pp"
license:             GPL-3
author:              "Christophe Delord"
maintainer:          "cdelord.fr"
copyright:           "2015-2023 Christophe Delord"

Lambdas are not supported but the template is preprocessed by pp before calling Mustache. E.g. !bold can be defined as !def(bold)(**!1**). These “lambda macros” can be defined in the YAML/JSON data file as well, which is a non standard way to define Mustache lambdas that works with pp only.

This outputs:

This is the documentation for `pp` version 2.14.4 by Christophe Delord.
Copyright **2015-2023 Christophe Delord**.

CSV tables

CSV files can be included in documents and rendered as Markdown or reStructuredText tables. The field separator is inferred from the content of the file. It can be a comma, a semicolon, tabulation or a pipe.

Files with a header line

This file:

Year,Make,Model,Description,Price
1997,Ford,E350,"ac, abs, moon",3000.00
1999,Chevy,"Venture ""Extended Edition""","",4900.00
1999,Chevy,"Venture ""Extended Edition, Very Large""",,5000.00
1996,Jeep,Grand Cherokee,"MUST SELL!
air, moon roof, loaded",4799.00

is rendered by !csv(file.csv) as:

Year	Make	Model	Description	Price
1997	Ford	E350	ac, abs, moon	3000.00
1999	Chevy	Venture “Extended Edition”		4900.00
1999	Chevy	Venture “Extended Edition, Very Large”		5000.00
1996	Jeep	Grand Cherokee	MUST SELL! air, moon roof, loaded	4799.00

Files without any header line

This file:

1997,Ford,E350,"ac, abs, moon",3000.00
1999,Chevy,"Venture ""Extended Edition""","",4900.00
1999,Chevy,"Venture ""Extended Edition, Very Large""",,5000.00
1996,Jeep,Grand Cherokee,"MUST SELL!
air, moon roof, loaded",4799.00

is rendered by !csv(file.csv)(Year|Make|Model|Description|Price) as:

Year	Make	Model	Description	Price
1997	Ford	E350	ac, abs, moon	3000.00
1999	Chevy	Venture “Extended Edition”		4900.00
1999	Chevy	Venture “Extended Edition, Very Large”		5000.00
1996	Jeep	Grand Cherokee	MUST SELL! air, moon roof, loaded	4799.00

OS support

PP is meant to be portable and multi platform. To be OS agnostic, the use of free script languages is strongly recommended. For instance, bash scripts are preferred to proprietary closed languages because they can run on any platform. It is standard on Linux and pretty well supported on Windows (Cygwin, MSYS/Mingw, Git Bash, BusyBox, …). Python is also a good choice.

Anyway, if some documents require portability and specific tools, PP provides some macros to detect the OS (!os, !arch). E.g.:

!quiet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
!ifeq(!os)(linux)
`````````````````````
!def(linux)(!1)
!def(win)()
`````````````````````
!ifeq(!os)(windows)
`````````````````````
!def(linux)()
!def(win)(!1)
`````````````````````
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

!win(Sorry, you're running Windows)
!linux(Hello, happy GNU/Linux user)

The !exec macro is also OS aware. It runs the default shell according to the OS (sh on Linux and MacOS, cmd on Windows).

Tests

make test will test most of pp capabilities. They have been designed to run on Linux and require a bunch of softwares:

a decent Linux distribution
Stack
Pandoc
Meld
Bash, zsh, fish
Wine
Python
Lua
GraphViz
Asymptote
R
Haskell
blockdiag
gcc
… and everything I have forgotten

note: blockdiag is written in Python. According to your Python version, scripts may or may not be suffixed by 2 or 3. In this case, you may have to add appropriate links:

sudo ln -vs /usr/bin/blockdiag3 /usr/bin/blockdiag
sudo ln -vs /usr/bin/seqdiag3 /usr/bin/seqdiag
sudo ln -vs /usr/bin/actdiag3 /usr/bin/actdiag
sudo ln -vs /usr/bin/nwdiag3 /usr/bin/nwdiag
sudo ln -vs /usr/bin/rackdiag3 /usr/bin/rackdiag
sudo ln -vs /usr/bin/packetdiag3 /usr/bin/packetdiag

Some tests may fail if the script interpreters’ versions are different. make ref will open meld to show the differences and fix the expected results.

Third-party documentations, tutorials and macros

PP tutorial by tajmone: a good starting point for beginners.
Pandoc-Goodies PP-Macros Library by tajmone: an ongoing collaborative effort to build a library of PP macros.

Licenses

PP

PP is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

PP is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with PP. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

PlantUML

PlantUML.jar is integrated in PP. PlantUML is distributed under the GPL license. See http://plantuml.sourceforge.net/faq.html.

The current version of PlantUML embedded in PP is:

ditaa

ditaa.jar is integrated in PP. ditaa is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2.0 (GPLv2). See http://sourceforge.net/projects/ditaa/.

Feedback

Your feedback and contributions are welcome. You can contact me at http://cdelord.fr