doctools_plugin_apiref -
doctools plugin API reference
dt_copyright
dt_file
dt_mainfile
dt_fileid
dt_fmap symfname
dt_format
dt_imgdata key extensions
dt_imgdst key extensions
dt_imgsrc key extensions
dt_lnesting
dt_module
dt_read file
dt_source file
dt_user
ex_cappend text
ex_cget varname
ex_cis cname
ex_cname
ex_cpop cname
ex_cpush cname
ex_cset varname value
ex_lb ? newbracket ?
ex_rb ? newbracket ?
fmt_initialize
fmt_listvariables
fmt_numpasses
fmt_postprocess text
fmt_setup n
fmt_shutdown
fmt_varset varname text
fmt_plain_text text
This document is intended for plugin writers, i.e. developers
wishing to write a doctools formatting engine for some output
format X.
It specifies the interaction between the doctools package
and its plugins, i.e. the interface any doctools formatting engine has
to comply with.
This document deals with version 1 of the interface.
A reader who is on the other hand more interested in the markup
language itself should start with the
doctools language introduction and proceed from there to the
formal specifications, i.e. the doctools language syntax and
the doctools language command reference.
The API for a doctools formatting engine consists of two major
sections.
On the one side we have a set of commands through which the plugin is
able to query the frontend. These commands are provided by the
frontend and linked into the plugin interpreter. Please see section
FRONTEND COMMANDS for their detailed specification.
And on the other side the plugin has to provide its own set of
commands which will then be called by the frontend in a specific
sequence while processing input. They, again, fall into two
categories, management and formatting.
Please see section PLUGIN COMMANDS and its subsections for
their detailed specification.
This section specifies the set of commands through which a plugin,
also known as a doctools formatting engine, is able to query the
frontend. These commands are provided by the frontend and linked into
the plugin interpreter.
I.e. a doctools formatting engine can assume that all of the following
commands are present when any of its own commands (as specified in
section PLUGIN COMMANDS) are executed.
Beyond that it can also assume that it has full access to its own safe
interpreter and thus is not able to damage the other parts of the
processor, nor can it damage the filesystem.
It is however able to either kill or hang the whole process, by
exiting, or running an infinite loop.
Coming back to the imported commands, all the commands with prefix
dt_ provide limited access to specific parts of the frontend,
whereas the commands with prefix ex_ provide access to the
state of the textutil::expander object which does the main
parsing of the input within the frontend. These commands should not be
except under very special circumstances.
-
dt_copyright
-
Query command. It returns a string containing the copyright
information the doctools processor was configured with. The relevant
option is -copyright).
-
dt_file
-
Query command. It returns the full path of the file containing the
input currently processed by the engine. This may be an included file.
-
dt_mainfile
-
Query command. It returns the full path of the toplevel file containing
the input currently processed by the engine.
-
dt_fileid
-
Query command. It returns the name of the file containing the input
currently processed by the engine, without path, nor extension.
-
dt_fmap symfname
-
Query command. It returns the actual pathname to use in the output in
place of the symbolic filename symfname. It will return the
unchanged input if no mapping was established for symfname.
The required mappings are established with the method map of
a frontend, as explained in section OBJECT METHODS
of the documentation for the package doctools.
-
dt_format
-
Query command. It returns the name of the format associated with the
doctools formatting engine.
-
dt_imgdata key extensions
-
Query command. Access to the image map. Looks for an image recorded
under the key and having on the specified extension. If a
matching image is found its data is returned as the result of the
command. Otherwise an empty string is returned.
-
dt_imgdst key extensions
-
Query command. Access to the image map. Looks for an image recorded
under the key and having on the specified extension. If a
matching image is found its destination path in the output is returned
as the result of the command. Otherwise an empty string is returned.
-
dt_imgsrc key extensions
-
Query command. Access to the image map. Looks for an image recorded
under the key and having on the specified extension. If a
matching image is found its origin path is returned as the result of
the command. Otherwise an empty string is returned.
-
dt_lnesting
-
Query command. It returns the number of lists currently open.
-
dt_module
-
Query command. It returns the name of the module the input currently
processed belongs to.
-
dt_read file
-
Controlled filesystem access. Returns contents of file for
whatever use desired by the plugin.
Only files which are either in the same directory as the file
containing the engine, or below it, can be loaded. Trying to load a
file outside of this directory causes an error.
-
dt_source file
-
Controlled filesystem access. This command allows the doctools
formatting engine to load additional Tcl code it may need.
Only files which are either in the same directory as the file
containing the engine, or below it, can be loaded. Trying to load a
file outside of this directory causes an error.
-
dt_user
-
Query command. It returns the name of the current user as known to the
tcl interpreter the frontend controlling the formatting engine resides
in.
-
ex_cappend text
-
Appends a string to the output in the current context. This command
should rarely be used by macros or application code.
-
ex_cget varname
-
Retrieves the value of variable varname, defined in the current
context.
-
ex_cis cname
-
Determines whether or not the name of the current context is
cname.
-
ex_cname
-
Returns the name of the current context.
-
ex_cpop cname
-
Pops a context from the context stack, returning all accumulated
output in that context. The context must be named cname, or an
error results.
-
ex_cpush cname
-
Pushes a context named cname onto the context stack. The
context must be popped by cpop before expansion ends or an
error results.
-
ex_cset varname value
-
Sets variable varname to value in the current context.
-
ex_lb ? newbracket ?
-
Returns the current value of the left macro expansion bracket; this is
for use as or within a macro, when the bracket needs to be included in
the output text. If newbracket is specified, it becomes the new
bracket, and is returned.
-
ex_rb ? newbracket ?
-
Returns the current value of the right macro expansion bracket; this
is for use as or within a macro, when the bracket needs to be included
in the output text. If newbracket is specified, it becomes the
new bracket, and is returned.
The plugin has to provide its own set of commands which will then be
called by the frontend in a specific sequence while processing
input. They fall into two categories, management and formatting. Their
expected names, signatures, and responsibilities are specified in the
following two subsections.
The management commands a plugin has to provide are used by the
frontend to
- initialize and shutdown the plugin
- determine the number of passes it has
to make over the input
- initialize and shutdown each pass
- query and initialize engine parameters
After the plugin has been loaded and the frontend commands are
established the commands will be called in the following sequence:
fmt_numpasses -> n
fmt_listvariables -> vars
fmt_varset var1 value1
fmt_varset var2 value2
...
fmt_varset varK valueK
fmt_initialize
fmt_setup 1
...
fmt_setup 2
...
...
fmt_setup n
...
fmt_postprocess
fmt_shutdown
...
I.e. first the number of passes and the set of available engine
parameters is established, followed by calls setting the
parameters. That second part is optional.
After that the plugin is initialized, the specified number of passes
executed, the final result run through a global post processing step
and at last the plugin is shutdown again. This can be followed by more
conversions, restarting the sequence at fmt_varset.
In each of the passes, i.e. after the calls of fmt_setup the
frontend will process the input and call the formatting commands as
markup is encountered. This means that the sequence of formatting
commands is determined by the grammar of the doctools markup language,
as specified in the doctools language syntax specification.
A different way of looking at the sequence is:
- First some basic parameters are determined.
- Then everything starting at the first fmt_varset to
fmt_shutdown forms a run, the formatting of a
single input. Each run can be followed by more.
- Embedded within each run we have one or more passes,
each starting with fmt_setup and going until either the next
fmt_setup or fmt_postprocess is reached.
If more than one pass is required to perform the formatting only the
output of the last pass is relevant. The output of all the previous,
preparatory passes is ignored.
The commands, their names, signatures, and responsibilities are, in
detail:
-
fmt_initialize
-
Initialization/Shutdown.
This command is called at the beginning of every conversion run, as
the first command of that run. Note that a run is not a pass, but may
consist of multiple passes.
It has to initialize the general state of the plugin, beyond the
initialization done during the load. No return value is expected, and
any returned value is ignored.
-
fmt_listvariables
-
Initialization/Shutdown and Engine parameters.
Second command is called after the plugin code has been loaded,
i.e. immediately after fmt_numpasses.
It has to return a list containing the names of the parameters the
frontend can set to configure the engine. This list can be empty.
-
fmt_numpasses
-
Initialization/Shutdown and Pass management.
First command called after the plugin code has been loaded. No other
command of the engine will be called before it.
It has to return the number of passes this engine requires to fully
process the input document. This value has to be an integer number
greater or equal to one.
-
fmt_postprocess text
-
Initialization/Shutdown.
This command is called immediately after the last pass in a run. Its
argument is the result of the conversion generated by that pass. It is
provided to allow the engine to perform any global modifications of
the generated document. If no post-processing is required for a
specific format the command has to just return the argument.
Expected to return a value, the final result of formatting the input.
-
fmt_setup n
-
Initialization/Shutdown and Pass management.
This command is called at the beginning of each pass over the input in
a run. Its argument is the number of the pass which has begun. Passes
are counted from 1 upward.
The command has to set up the internal state of the plugin for this
particular pass. No return value is expected, and any returned value
is ignored.
-
fmt_shutdown
-
Initialization/Shutdown.
This command is called at the end of every conversion run. It is the
last command called in a run. It has to clean up of all the
run-specific state in the plugin.
After the call the engine has to be in a state which allows the
initiation of another run without fear that information from the last
run is leaked into this new run.
No return value is expected, and any returned value is ignored.
-
fmt_varset varname text
-
Engine parameters.
This command is called by the frontend to set an engine parameter to a
particular value.
The parameter to change is specified by varname, the value to
set in text.
The command has to throw an error if an unknown varname is
used. Only the names returned by fmt_listvariables have to be
considered as known.
The values of all engine parameters have to persist between passes and
runs.
The formatting commands have to implement the formatting for the
output format, for all the markup commands of the doctools markup
language, except
lb,
rb,
vset,
include, and
comment. These exceptions are processed by the frontend and are
never seen by the plugin. In return a command for the formatting of
plain text has to be provided, something which has no markup in the
input at all.
This means, that each of the 49 markup commands specified in the
doctools language command reference and outside of the set of
exceptions listed above has an equivalent formatting command which
takes the same arguments as the markup command and whose name is the
name of markup command with the prefix fmt_ added to it.
All commands are expected to format their input in some way per the
semantics specified in the command reference and to return whatever
part of this that they deem necessary as their result, which will be
added to the output.
To avoid essentially duplicating the command reference we do not list
any of the command here and simply refer the reader to the
doctools language command reference for their signature and
description. The sole exception is the plain text formatter, which has
no equivalent markup command.
The calling sequence of formatting commands is not as rigid as for the
management commands, but determined by the grammar of the doctools
markup language, as specified in the doctools language syntax
specification.
-
fmt_plain_text text
-
No associated markup command.
Called by the frontend for any plain text encountered in the
input. It has to perform any and all special processing required for
plain text.
The formatted text is expected as the result of the command,
and added to the output. If no special processing is required it has
to simply return its argument without change.
This document, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems.
Please report such in the category
doctools of the
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=12883.
Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may have.
doctools_intro, doctools_lang_intro, doctools_lang_syntax, doctools_lang_cmdref, doctools_lang_faq, doctools
markup, semantic markup, manpage, document, formatting engine, formatter