A couple days ago I released markedit, a small crate for editing unstructured markdown documents. This is a useful enough library that I thought I’d explain the main ideas behind it and potential use cases.

This originally came about when I was at work, preparing our application’s change log before a release for the umpteenth time (we’ve found the keep a changelog format really useful) and on the drive home I started thinking of ways to automate things.

(obligatory XKCD reference)

To put this into context, we’ve tried to automate the release process as much as possible to minimise friction and avoid using the time required to cut a release as an excuse for putting it off. It’s now at the point where the fairly involved process of generating a release (compiling independent projects written in multiple languages, rendering docs, bumping version numbers, tagging commits, generating installers, uploading assets to a file server, etc.) can be done with a single click.

Everything’s automated. The whole system functions like a well-oiled machine… Except for that annoying change log.

See, I still need to manually promote everything under the [Unreleased] section to its own named release (e.g. [v1.2.3] - 2020-02-09 ) and update links so [Unreleased] now points to the diff between the v1.2.3 tag and master , and [v1.2.3] shows the diff between v1.2.2 and v1.2.3 . The linked pages look kinda like this and are surprisingly useful when trying to track down regressions or get an overview of what code changed between releases.

It’s only a couple find-and-replace operations, but needing to spend an extra 60 seconds manually editing files before a release acts as a speed bump and means you can’t just hit the “Release” button and grab a coffee. There’s also a real chance that we could forget to update the change log before cutting a release, and that’d be embarrassing.

The code written in this article is available on GitHub and published on crates.io. Feel free to browse through and steal code or inspiration. If you found this useful or spotted a bug, let me know on the blog’s issue tracker!

The Main Concepts

Now that I’ve explained the initial inspiration for this project, let’s have a high-level look at the implementation.

There are a couple fundamental concepts, but the central one is the stream of markdown Event s emitted by pulldown-cmark’s markdown parser. This is just an iterator over things like Event::Start(Tag::Heading(1)) , Event::Text("some text") , and Event::End(Tag::Link(...)) .

Reusing the Iterator interface from the standard library already makes pulldown-cmark quite easy to use, but when you’re trying to look for a specific pattern (e.g. “the first line after a level 1 heading”) the code starts to get pretty gnarly.

For example, the logic in mdbook for parsing a SUMMARY.md and discovering the book’s structure is particularly hard to understand, and the fact it’s barely been touched in two years is a good indicator of that… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a bit guilty for writing such a code monster 😔

To ease this problem of matching sequences of events we introduce the concept of a Matcher, something which can be fed Event s and will tell you when it finds a match. It’s essentially a fancy predicate.

To actually do something once you’ve found a match we have rewriting rules. This is a bit of code which lets you manipulate the stream of events in-place (e.g. by skipping certain items or adding new ones).

Something to note is this entire process is built upon the Iterator trait. At no point should the markedit crate assume you’ve parsed an entire document into memory beforehand.

My primary reasons for this were:

Memory usage - a document contains a lot of Event s, and by not reading everything into memory we can avoid large amounts of memory (memory overhead with iterators is ammortised O(1) instead of O(n) )

s, and by not reading everything into memory we can avoid large amounts of memory (memory overhead with iterators is ammortised instead of ) Flexibility - the core algorithms shouldn’t need to care if the events are already in a buffer, streamed from the network, or the caller has already done some pre-processing of the events via the various iterator combinators

Because I can - I mean, why else do we do half the things we do?

Matchers

At its core the Matcher trait is quite trivial.

// src/matchers/mod.rs pub trait Matcher { fn matches_event ( & mut self, event: & Event < '_ > ) -> bool ; }

However if combined with closures and ideas from functional programming we can build something reminiscent of Parser Combinators.

// src/matchers/mod.rs impl < F > Matcher for F where F: FnMut ( & Event < '_ > ) -> bool , { fn matches_event ( & mut self, event: & Event < '_ > ) -> bool { self(event) } }

For example, here is the definition for the text() function for getting a Matcher which applies a predicate to every Event::Text node.

// src/matchers/mod.rs /// Match a [`Event::Text`] node using an arbitrary predicate. pub fn text < P > ( mut predicate: P ) -> impl Matcher where P: FnMut ( & str ) -> bool , { move | ev: & Event < '_ >| match ev { Event::Text(text) => predicate(text.as_ref()), _ => false , } }

This lets us build a Matcher which will return true when it encounters an exact string, or a piece of text containing our desired string.

// src/matchers/mod.rs pub fn exact_text < S: AsRef < str >> (needle: S ) -> impl Matcher { text( move | text | AsRef :: < str > ::as_ref(text) == needle.as_ref()) } pub fn text_containing < S: AsRef < str >> (needle: S ) -> impl Matcher { text( move | text | text.contains(needle.as_ref())) }

You’ll notice that we’re using the impl Trait pattern all over the place. This lets us create complex types while preserving the ability to change our underlying implementation (e.g. imagine we decide to use an explicit type instead of a closure) while maintaining backwards compatibility. As an added bonus, because impl Trait uses static dispatch the optimiser should hopefully be able to generate machine code as good as what a human could write manually.

Matching Headings

When I’m moving items from the [Unreleased] section to their own named release I’ll select everything between the end of the [Unreleased] section header and the start of the next header.

To create a Matcher which will match those items I’ll first need to detect when we’re inside a heading. This is a little more complicated than a simple yes/no predicate, so for readability I’ve decided to implement this using a struct instead of a closure.

// src/matchers/heading.rs /// Matches the items inside a heading tag, including the start and end tags. #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)] pub struct Heading { inside_heading: bool , level: Option < u32 > , } impl Heading { /// Create a new [`Heading`]. const fn new (level: Option < u32 > ) -> Self { Heading { level, inside_heading: false , } } /// Matches any heading. pub const fn any_level () -> Self { Heading::new( None ) } /// Matches only headings with the desired level. pub const fn with_level (level: u32 ) -> Self { Heading::new( Some (level)) } }

The implementation is also pretty simple. When we see the start of a header with the desired level, keep returning true until we see the end tag.

// src/matchers/heading.rs impl Matcher for Heading { fn matches_event ( & mut self, event: & Event < '_ > ) -> bool { match event { Event::Start(Tag::Heading(level)) if self.matches_level( * level) => { self.inside_heading = true ; }, Event::End(Tag::Heading(level)) if self.matches_level( * level) => { self.inside_heading = false ; // make sure the end tag is also matched return true ; }, _ => {}, } self.inside_heading } } impl Heading { ... fn matches_level ( & self, level: u32 ) -> bool { match self.level { Some (expected) => level == expected, None => true , } } }

While we’re at it, we should probably write a test to make sure we match a all the items inside a header. I just printed the Event s generated by a string of text then manually marked each event as true or false depending on what I’d expect.

// src/matchers/heading.rs #[test] fn match_everything_inside_a_header () { // The original text for these events was: // // This is some text. // // ## Then a *header* // // [And a link](https://example.com) let inputs = vec ! [ (Event::Start(Tag::Paragraph), false ), (Event::Text( "This is some text." .into()), false ), (Event::End(Tag::Paragraph), false ), (Event::Start(Tag::Heading( 2 )), true ), (Event::Text( "Then a " .into()), true ), (Event::Start(Tag::Emphasis), true ), (Event::Text( "header" .into()), true ), (Event::End(Tag::Emphasis), true ), (Event::End(Tag::Heading( 2 )), true ), (Event::Start(Tag::Paragraph), false ), (Event::Start(Tag::Link(LinkType::Inline, "https://example.com" .into(), "" .into())), false ), (Event::Text( "And a link" .into()), false ), (Event::End(Tag::Link(LinkType::Inline, "https://example.com" .into(), "" .into())), false ), (Event::End(Tag::Paragraph), false ), ]; let mut matcher = Heading::any_level(); for (tag, should_be) in inputs { let got = matcher.matches_event( & tag); assert_eq ! (got, should_be, "{:?}" , tag); } }

Matching a Falling Edge

Remember that we want to select items between two headings, that means we’ll need to a falling edge signal from the Heading s matcher.

This can be done generically using some FallingEdge matcher which wraps another matcher.

// src/matchers/falling_edge.rs #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)] pub struct FallingEdge < M > { inner: M , previous_was_matched: bool , } impl < M > FallingEdge < M > { pub const fn new (inner: M ) -> Self { FallingEdge { inner, previous_was_matched: false , } } }

From here, detecting a falling edge pretty straightforward.

// src/matchers/falling_edge.rs impl < M: Matcher > Matcher for FallingEdge < M > { fn matches_event ( & mut self, event: & Event < '_ > ) -> bool { let current_is_matched = self.inner.matches_event(event); let is_falling_edge = self.previous_was_matched && ! current_is_matched; self.previous_was_matched = current_is_matched; is_falling_edge } }

For convenience we can add a combinator method to the Matcher trait. This will allow users to compose matchers using method syntax instead of needing to write the more verbose FallingEdge::new(...) .

// src/matchers/mod.rs pub trait Matcher { ... /// Get a [`Matcher`] which returns `true` when `self` goes from `true` to /// `false`. fn falling_edge (self) -> FallingEdge < Self > where Self: Sized , { FallingEdge::new(self) } }

By combining the Heading and FallingEdge matchers we now have all the tools necessary to find the items between two headings in a markdown document.

Once you reach this point it’s easy to get carried away making more and more elaborate Matcher primitives (i.e. text() and Heading ) and combinators (i.e. FallingEdge ), so let’s discuss document manipulation.

Rewrite Rules

It took a bit of thinking to come up with an API flexible enough to allow updating items in-place (imagine auto-correcting text), removing items, and adding items, all without reading the full document into memory or seeking back and forth.

This is the API I eventually came up with:

// src/rewriters/mod.rs /// Something which can rewrite events. pub trait Rewriter < 'src > { /// Process a single [`Event`]. /// /// This may mean ignoring it, mutating it, or adding new events to the /// [`Writer`]'s buffer. /// /// The [`Writer`] is used as a temporary buffer that will then be streamed /// to the user via [`rewrite()`]. fn rewrite_event ( & mut self, event: Event < 'src > , writer: & mut Writer < 'src > ); }

Again, seeing as this trait only has a single method it’s an ideal candidate for allowing people to use concise closures instead of needing to create a full type.

// src/rewriters/mod.rs impl < 'src , F > Rewriter < 'src > for F where F: FnMut (Event < 'src > , & mut Writer < 'src > ), { fn rewrite_event ( & mut self, event: Event < 'src > , writer: & mut Writer < 'src > ) { self(event, writer); } }

You may be wondering what this Writer is for, well that’s where a lot of the rewriting magic comes in.

// src/rewriters/writer.rs use pulldown_cmark::Event; use std::collections::VecDeque; /// The output buffer given to [`Rewriter::rewrite_event()`]. #[derive(Debug)] pub struct Writer < 'a > { pub ( crate ) buffer: VecDeque < Event < 'a >> , } impl < 'a > Writer < 'a > { pub ( crate ) fn new () -> Writer < 'a > { Writer { buffer: VecDeque ::new(), } } /// Queue an [`Event`] to be emitted. pub fn push ( & mut self, event: Event < 'a > ) { self.buffer.push_back(event); } } impl < 'a > Extend < Event < 'a >> for Writer < 'a > { fn extend < I: IntoIterator < Item = Event < 'a >>> ( & mut self, iter: I ) { self.buffer.extend(iter); } }

This innoculous Writer struct serves as a temporary holding place for events that needed to be spliced into the resulting stream of Event s. We can combine the Writer and our Rewrite trait to create a Rewritten stream of Event s.

// src/rewriters/rewritten.rs /// A stream of [`Event`]s that have been modified by a [`Rewriter`]. pub struct Rewritten < 'src , E, R > where E: Iterator < Item = Event < 'src >> , { events: E , rewriter: R , writer: Writer < 'src > , } impl < 'src , E, R > Iterator for Rewritten < 'src , E, R > where E: Iterator < Item = Event < 'src >> , R: Rewriter < 'src > , { type Item = Event < 'src > ; fn next ( & mut self) -> Option < Self::Item > { // we're still working through items buffered by the rewriter if let Some (ev) = self.writer.buffer.pop_front() { return Some (ev); } // we need to pop another event and process it let event = self.events.next() ? ; self.rewriter.rewrite_event(event, & mut self.writer); self.writer.buffer.pop_front() } }

The idea is to keep popping Event s from the Writer buffer until there are no more, then fetch the next Event from the underlying stream and ask our Rewriter to process it, updating the buffer in the process. Repeat until the inner stream runs out.

Making A Rewriter

Probably the easiest Rewriter to implement is something that will splice new events into the event stream before every match.

This lets us use something like the Heading::any_level().falling_edge() matcher to insert something immediately after a heading (we match the first item after the heading’s close tag).

// src/rewriters/mod.rs /// Splice some events into the resulting event stream before every match. pub fn insert_before < 'src , M > ( to_insert: Vec < Event < 'src >> , mut matcher: M , ) -> impl Rewriter < 'src > + 'src where M: Matcher + 'src , { move | ev: Event < 'src > , writer: & mut Writer < 'src >| { if matcher.matches_event( & ev) { writer.extend(to_insert.iter().cloned()); } writer.push(ev); } }

Once you get past the various 'src lifetime annotations, impl Trait , and closure syntax, this function is pretty simple. Whenever we get another event check whether our matcher matches it, and add a copy of the desired events to the stream. We want the matched event to also be outputted so we always need to add it to the Writer buffer.

Let’s also create an insert_markdown_before() function which takes a string of markdown text. Most users won’t want to be generating a list of Event s manually, so this allows us to present a more user-friendly interface.

// src/rewriters/mod.rs /// Inserts some markdown text before whatever is matched by the [`Matcher`]. /// /// # Examples /// /// ```rust /// use markedit::Matcher; /// let src = "# Heading

some text

"; /// /// let first_line_after_heading = markedit::exact_text("Heading") /// .falling_edge(); /// let rewriter = markedit::insert_markdown_before( /// "## Second Heading", /// first_line_after_heading, /// ); /// /// let events = markedit::parse(src); /// let rewritten: Vec<_> = markedit::rewrite(events, rewriter).collect(); /// /// // if everything went to plan, the output should contain "Second Heading" /// assert!(markedit::exact_text("Second Heading").is_in(&rewritten)); /// ``` pub fn insert_markdown_before < 'src , M, S > ( markdown_text: S , matcher: M , ) -> impl Rewriter < 'src > + 'src where M: Matcher + 'src , S: AsRef < str > + 'src , { let events = crate ::parse(markdown_text.as_ref()) .collect(); insert_before(events, matcher) }

Possible Applications

Now you’ve got a better understanding of the abstractions provided by the markedit crate, you should have a better idea of where they can be applied.

The Matcher idea is especially powerful when you want to extract information from a markdown document.

Unlike structured data formats like protobufs, the items in a markdown document don’t have a well defined order and you can’t make any sweeping assumptions about the Event stream coming from the parser. Instead we rely on conventions (a project README might have a level 1 header with the title, then a paragraph or two of description, then a level 2 header with getting started instructions, etc.) and need a concise, flexible mechanism for extracting data. That mechanism is the Matcher .

In the same way that you can build up an XPath query for searching an XML document or chain of sed , grep , and awk commands for searching plain text, the various Matcher combinators let you build up a markdown query.

The Rewriter mechanism lets you (surprise, surprise) rewrite part of a document. You can think of it as a markdown-aware sed , and as such can be used for a lot of the same operations.

After rewriting part of an Event you’ll need a way to turn it back into markdown text. The markedit crate doesn’t (yet!) have a pretty-printer, however you can leverage existing solutions like pulldown-cmark-to-cmark for the same effect.

Some places you might want to use the markedit crate instead of working with raw events from pulldown-cmark are,

extracting structured information from Rust docstrings (e.g. killercup/rust-docstrings)

mdbook preprocessors

preprocessors extracting links from markdown documents to verify they are still valid (mdbook-linkcheck)

automatically correcting spelling mistakes

Merging several markdown documents and updating inter-doc links so they point to their new location (mdcollate), and of course

Rewriting part of your CHANGELOG.md file in preparation for a release

Conclusions

This was a fun project to make and I’m pretty happy with the resulting abstractions. Preparing this write-up was also a great way to formalise the main concepts in my head and identify bugs or better ways of formulating the crate’s API.

If you’re working on a new project I’d definitely recommend writing up a blog post explaining how it works. A blog post also doubles as good high-level documentation.