# Markdown Script - `mdscript.py` #

## What is it? ##

[Markdown](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/) is a
simplified syntax that can be compiled into true XHTML-compliant
markup. This script will take a Markdown text file, process it using
markdown.pl, then finally add a title and the appropriate `DOCTYPE`
tags so that the [W3](http://www.w3.org/)
[Validator](http://validator.w3.org/) will report valid XHTML code.

The current version is 0.1.4.

**Please note**: I very rarely update this. Updating only happens when
  I think of a feature that would be useful to me.  As such, the code
  is also relatively messy. It does what I want; nothing more, nothing
  less.

## Changelog ##

0.1.4:

 * Headers and footers are now pure html (i.e., no processing by
   Markdown occurs). Header and footer filenames (header.txt and
   footer.txt, respectively) remain the same.

0.1.3:

 * Support for headers and footers to be added to each page. If
   header.txt (footer.txt) doesn't exist, mdscript.py doesn't add a
   header (footer). The --noheader (--no-footer) option is given,
   headers (footers) are ignored even if the files exist.

0.1.2:

 * Options added for background color, text color, link color,
   and visited link color. Modifications made by [John
   R. Dowdle](http://jrd.vtmu.net).

0.1.1:

 * Automatically appends date last modified unless the '-d' option is
   specified.

0.1.0:

 * First version. Nothing special, but it gets the job done.

## Usage ##

`mdscript.py` is very easy to use. Say you have a Markdown file called
`index.txt`. If you want the title of the resultant html file to be
"My Homepage," you would type this:

`python mdscript.py -t"My Homepage" index.txt`

That's it! `mdscript.py` will produce the appropriate html file and
save it as `index.html` (in the above example). If `index.html`
already exists, you don't even need to use the `-t` option if you're
fine with the existing title:

`python mdscript.py index.txt`

This will take the existing `index.html` file and make sure that the
current title is preserved.

There are a couple of other options available; use `python mdscript.py
-h` to see them.

## Download ##

Just grab [mdscript.py](/code/mdscript.py). The only other thing
you'll have to do is make sure that you have
[Python](http://www.python.org) and the Markdown script.

Alternatively, a [full tarball](/code/mdscript-0.1.4.tar.gz) can be
downloaded containing the script, changelog, and the textfile used to
generate this page.

Note that I have only tested this on my own Linux machines, and have
not made any efforts towards verifying that it works on other
platforms.

## Configuration and Caveats ##

It is worth noting that you should look at the script to change the
few constants that you might need to. [Ubuntu](http://www.ubuntu.com)
has Markdown in its repositories, and renames markdown.pl as
markdown. If you prefer to keep the extension, you should correct the
appropriate constant.

Another caveat: Some of this script was done a little sloppy. For
example, you currently have to use the .html extension.

Basically, it comes down to the fact that I primarily made this script
for myself and for my own purposes. It does exactly what I want it to,
and thus most of the things that probably should have command line
options don't since I have no use for them. However, if there is ever
a large clamor for particular features, I would be more than happy to
add them.

## Feedback ##

If you find this useful, or have any comments, requests, or
complaints, feel free to [let me
know](mailto:depalatisatgmaildotcom).

## License ##

This is free software. You may redistribute it under the terms of the
[GNU GPL](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt).