NAME HTML::FromText - Convert plain text to HTML. SYNOPSIS use HTML::FromText; text2html( $text, %options ); # or use HTML::FromText (); my $t2h = HTML::FromText->new( \%options ); my $html = $t2h->parse( $html ); DESCRIPTION "HTML::FromText" converts plain text to HTML. There are a handfull of options that shape the conversion. There is a utility function, "text2html", that's exported by default. This function is simply a short- cut to the Object Oriented interface described in detail below. Methods The following methods may be used as the public interface. new my $t2h = HTML::FromText->new({ paras => 1, blockcode => 1, tables => 1, bullets => 1, numbers => 1, urls => 1, email => 1, bold => 1, underline => 1, }); Constructs a new "HTML::FromText" object using the given configuration. The resulting object can parse lots of objects using the "parse" method. Options to "new" are passed by name, with the value being either true or false. If true, the option will be turned on. If false, it will be turned off. The following outlines all the options. Decorators metachars This option is on by default. All characters that are unsafe for HTML display will be encoded using "HTML::Entities::encode_entities()". urls This option is off by default. Replaces URLs with links. email This option is off by default. Replaces email addresses with "mailto:" links. bold This option is off by default. Replaces text surrounded by asterisks ("*") with the same text surrounded by "strong" tags. underline This option is off by default. Replaces text surrownded by underscores ("_") with the same text surrounded by "u" tags. Output Modes The following are three output modes and the options associated with them. They are listed in order of precidence. If none of these modes are supplied, the basic decorators are applied to the text in whole. pre This option is off by default. Wraps the entire text in "pre" tags. lines This option is off by default. Preserves line breaks by inserting "br" tags at the end of each line. This mode has further options. spaces This option is off by default. All spaces are HTML encoded. paras This option is off be default. Preserves paragraphs by wrapping them in "p" tags. This mode has further options. bullets This option is off by default. Convert bulleted lists into unordered lists ("ul"). Bullets can be either an asterisk ("*") or a hyphen ("-"). Lists can be nested. numbers This option is off by default. Convert numbered lists into ordered lists ("ol"). Numbered lists are identified by numerals. Lists may be nested. headings This option is off by default. Convert paragraphs identified as headings into HTML headings at the appropriate level. The heading "1. Top" would be heading level one ("h1"). The heading "2.5.1. Blah" would be heading level three ("h3"). title This option is off by default. Convert the first paragraph to a heading level one ("h1"). tables This option is off by default. Convert paragraphs identified as tables to HTML tables. Tables are two or more rows and two or more columns. Columns should be separated by two or more spaces. The following options apply specifically to indented paragraphs. They are listed in order of precidence. blockparas This option is off by default. Convert indented paragraphs to block quotes using the "blockquote" tag. blockquotes Convert indented paragraphs as "blockparas" would, but also preserving line breaks. blockcode Convert indented paragraphs as "blockquotes" would, but also preserving spaces by wrapping each line in "tt" tags. parse my $html = $t2h->parse( $text ); Parses text supplied as a single scalar string and returns the HTML as a single scalar string. All the tabs in your text will be expanded using "Text::Tabs::expand()". Functions text2html my $html = text2html( $text, urls => 1, email => 1, ); Functional interface that just wraps the OO interface. This function is exported by default. If you don't want it you can "require" the module or "use" it with an empty list. require HTML::FromText; # or ... use HTML::FromText (); Subclassing Note: At the time of this release, the internals of "HTML::FromText" are in a state of development and cannot be expected to stay the same from release to release. I expect that release version 3.00 will be analogous to a 1.00 release of other software. This is because the current maintainer has rewritten this distribution from the ground up for the "2.x" series. You have been warned. The following methods may be used for subclassing "HTML::FromText" to create your own text to HTML conversions. Each of these methods is passed just one argument, the object ($self), unless otherwise stated. The structure of $self is as follows for this release. { options => { option_name => $value, ... }, text => $text, # as passed to parse(), with tabs expanded html => $html, # the HTML that will be returned from parse() } pre Used when "pre" mode is specified. Should set "$self->{html}". Return value is ignored. lines Used when "lines" mode is specified. Implements the "spaces" option internally when the option is set to a true value. Should set "$self->{html}". Return value is ignored. paras Used when the "paras" mode is specified. Splits "$self->{text}" into paragraphs internally and sets up "$self->{paras}" as follows. paras => { 0 => { text => $text, # paragraph text html => $html, # paragraph html }, ... # and so on for all paragraphs }, Implements the "title" option internally when the option is turned on. Converts any normal paragraphs to HTML paragraphs (surrounded by "p" tags) internally. Should set "$self->{html}". Return value is ignored. headings Used to format headings when the "headings" option is turned on. Return value is ignored. bullets Format bulleted lists when the "bullets" option is turned on. Return value is ignored. numbers Format numbered lists when the "numbers" option is turned on. Return value is ignored. tables Format tables when the "tables" option is turned on. Return value is ignored. blockparas Used when the "blockparas" option is turned on. Return value is ignored. blockquotes Used when the "blockquotes" option is turned on. Return value is ignored. blockcode Used when the "blockcode" option is turned on. Return value is ignored. urls Turn urls into links when "urls" option is turned on. Should operate on "$self->{html}". Return value is ignored. email Turn email addresses into "mailto:" links when "email" option is turned on. Should operate on "$self->{html}". Return value is ignored. underline Underline things between _underscores_ when "underline" option is turned on. Should operate on "$self->{html}". Return value is ignored. bold Bold things between *asterisks* when "bold" option is turned on. Should operate on "$self->{html}". Return value is ignored. metachars Encode meta characters when "metachars" option is turned on. Should operate on "$self->{html}". Return value is ignored. AUTHOR Casey West . AUTHOR EMERITUS Gareth Rees . COPYRIGHT Copyright (c) 2003 Casey West. All rights reserved. This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.