NAME
HTML::GenToc - Generate a Table of Contents for HTML documents.
VERSION
version 3.20
SYNOPSIS
use HTML::GenToc;
# create a new object
my $toc = new HTML::GenToc();
my $toc = new HTML::GenToc(title=>"Table of Contents",
toc_entry=>{
H1=>1,
H2=>2
},
toc_end=>{
H1=>'/H1',
H2=>'/H2'
}
);
# generate a ToC from a file
$toc->generate_toc(input=>$html_file,
footer=>$footer_file,
header=>$header_file
);
DESCRIPTION
HTML::GenToc generates anchors and a table of contents for HTML
documents. Depending on the arguments, it will insert the information it
generates, or output to a string, a separate file or STDOUT.
While it defaults to taking H1 and H2 elements as the significant
elements to put into the table of contents, any tag can be defined as a
significant element. Also, it doesn't matter if the input HTML code is
complete, pure HTML, one can input pseudo-html or page-fragments, which
makes it suitable for using on templates and HTML meta-languages such as
WML.
Also included in the distrubution is hypertoc, a script which uses the
module so that one can process files on the command-line in a
user-friendly manner.
DETAILS
The ToC generated is a multi-level level list containing links to the
significant elements. HTML::GenToc inserts the links into the ToC to
significant elements at a level specified by the user.
Example:
If H1s are specified as level 1, than they appear in the first level
list of the ToC. If H2s are specified as a level 2, than they appear in
a second level list in the ToC.
Information on the significant elements and what level they should occur
are passed in to the methods used by this object, or one can use the
defaults.
There are two phases to the ToC generation. The first phase is to put
suitable anchors into the HTML documents, and the second phase is to
generate the ToC from HTML documents which have anchors in them for the
ToC to link to.
For more information on controlling the contents of the created ToC, see
"Formatting the ToC".
HTML::GenToc also supports the ability to incorporate the ToC into the
HTML document itself via the inline option. See "Inlining the ToC" for
more information.
In order for HTML::GenToc to support linking to significant elements,
HTML::GenToc inserts anchors into the significant elements. One can use
HTML::GenToc as a filter, outputing the result to another file, or one
can overwrite the original file, with the original backed up with a
suffix (default: "org") appended to the filename. One can also output
the result to a string.
METHODS
Default arguments can be set when the object is created, and overridden
by setting arguments when the generate_toc method is called. Arguments
are given as a hash of arguments.
Method -- new
$toc = new HTML::GenToc();
$toc = new HTML::GenToc(toc_entry=>\%my_toc_entry,
toc_end=>\%my_toc_end,
bak=>'bak',
...
);
Creates a new HTML::GenToc object.
These arguments will be used as defaults in invocations of other
methods.
See generate_tod for possible arguments.
generate_toc
$toc->generate_toc(outfile=>"index2.html");
my $result_str = $toc->generate_toc(to_string=>1);
Generates a table of contents for the significant elements in the HTML
documents, optionally generating anchors for them first.
Options
bak bak => *string*
If the input file/files is/are being overwritten (overwrite is on),
copy the original file to "*filename*.*string*". If the value is
empty, no backup file will be created. (default:org)
debug
debug => 1
Enable verbose debugging output. Used for debugging this module; in
other words, don't bother. (default:off)
entrysep
entrysep => *string*
Separator string for non-<li> item entries (default: ", ")
filenames
filenames => \@filenames
The filenames to use when creating table-of-contents links. This
overrides the filenames given in the input option, and is expected
to have exactly the same number of elements. This can also be used
when passing in string-content to the input option, to give a (fake)
filename to use for the links relating to that content.
footer
footer => *file_or_string*
Either the filename of the file containing footer text for ToC; or a
string containing the footer text.
header
header => *file_or_string*
Either the filename of the file containing header text for ToC; or a
string containing the header text.
ignore_only_one
ignore_only_one => 1
If there would be only one item in the ToC, don't make a ToC.
ignore_sole_first
ignore_sole_first => 1
If the first item in the ToC is of the highest level, AND it is the
only one of that level, ignore it. This is useful in web-pages where
there is only one H1 header but one doesn't know beforehand whether
there will be only one.
inline
inline => 1
Put ToC in document at a given point. See "Inlining the ToC" for
more information.
input
input => \@filenames
input => $content
This is expected to be either a reference to an array of filenames,
or a string containing content to process.
The three main uses would be:
(a) you have more than one file to process, so pass in multiple
filenames
(b) you have one file to process, so pass in its filename as the
only array item
(c) you have HTML content to process, so pass in just the content as
a string
(default:undefined)
notoc_match
notoc_match => *string*
If there are certain individual tags you don't wish to include in
the table of contents, even though they match the "significant
elements", then if this pattern matches contents inside the tag (not
the body), then that tag will not be included, either in generating
anchors nor in generating the ToC. (default: "class="notoc"")
ol ol => 1
Use an ordered list for level 1 ToC entries.
ol_num_levels
ol_num_levels => 2
The number of levels deep the OL listing will go if ol is true. If
set to zero, will use an ordered list for all levels. (default:1)
overwrite
overwrite => 1
Overwrite the input file with the output. (default:off)
outfile
outfile => *file*
File to write the output to. This is where the modified HTML output
goes to. Note that it doesn't make sense to use this option if you
are processing more than one file. If you give '-' as the filename,
then output will go to STDOUT. (default: STDOUT)
quiet
quiet => 1
Suppress informative messages. (default: off)
textonly
textonly => 1
Use only text content in significant elements.
title
title => *string*
Title for ToC page (if not using header or inline or toc_only)
(default: "Table of Contents")
toc_after
toc_after => \%toc_after_data
%toc_after_data = { *tag1* => *suffix1*, *tag2* => *suffix2* };
toc_after => { H2=>'</em>' }
For defining layout of significant elements in the ToC.
This expects a reference to a hash of tag=>suffix pairs.
The *tag* is the HTML tag which marks the start of the element. The
*suffix* is what is required to be appended to the Table of Contents
entry generated for that tag.
(default: undefined)
toc_before
toc_before => \%toc_before_data
%toc_before_data = { *tag1* => *prefix1*, *tag2* => *prefix2* };
toc_before=>{ H2=>'<em>' }
For defining the layout of significant elements in the ToC. The
*tag* is the HTML tag which marks the start of the element. The
*prefix* is what is required to be prepended to the Table of
Contents entry generated for that tag.
(default: undefined)
toc_end
toc_end => \%toc_end_data
%toc_end_data = { *tag1* => *endtag1*, *tag2* => *endtag2* };
toc_end => { H1 => '/H1', H2 => '/H2' }
For defining significant elements. The *tag* is the HTML tag which
marks the start of the element. The *endtag* the HTML tag which
marks the end of the element. When matching in the input file, case
is ignored (but make sure that all your *tag* options referring to
the same tag are exactly the same!).
toc_entry
toc_entry => \%toc_entry_data
%toc_entry_data = { *tag1* => *level1*, *tag2* => *level2* };
toc_entry => { H1 => 1, H2 => 2 }
For defining significant elements. The *tag* is the HTML tag which
marks the start of the element. The *level* is what level the tag is
considered to be. The value of *level* must be numeric, and
non-zero. If the value is negative, consective entries represented
by the significant_element will be separated by the value set by
entrysep option.
toclabel
toclabel => *string*
HTML text that labels the ToC. Always used. (default: "<h1>Table of
Contents</h1>")
toc_tag
toc_tag => *string*
If a ToC is to be included inline, this is the pattern which is used
to match the tag where the ToC should be put. This can be a
start-tag, an end-tag or a comment, but the < should be left out;
that is, if you want the ToC to be placed after the BODY tag, then
give "BODY". If you want a special comment tag to make where the ToC
should go, then include the comment marks, for example: "!--toc--"
(default:BODY)
toc_tag_replace
toc_tag_replace => 1
In conjunction with toc_tag, this is a flag to say whether the given
tag should be replaced, or if the ToC should be put after the tag.
This can be useful if your toc_tag is a comment and you don't need
it after you have the ToC in place. (default:false)
toc_only
toc_only => 1
Output only the Table of Contents, that is, the Table of Contents
plus the toclabel. If there is a header or a footer, these will also
be output.
If toc_only is false then if there is no header, and inline is not
true, then a suitable HTML page header will be output, and if there
is no footer and inline is not true, then a HTML page footer will be
output.
(default:false)
to_string
to_string => 1
Return the modified HTML output as a string. This *does* override
other methods of output (unlike version 3.00). If *to_string* is
false, the method will return 1 rather than a string.
use_id
use_id => 1
Use id="*name*" for anchors rather than <a name="*name*"/> anchors.
However if an anchor already exists for a Significant Element, this
won't make an id for that particular element.
useorg
useorg => 1
Use pre-existing backup files as the input source; that is, files of
the form *infile*.*bak* (see input and bak).
INTERNAL METHODS
These methods are documented for developer purposes and aren't intended
to be used externally.
make_anchor_name
$toc->make_anchor_name(content=>$content,
anchors=>\%anchors);
Makes the anchor-name for one anchor. Bases the anchor on the content of
the significant element. Ensures that anchors are unique.
make_anchors
my $new_html = $toc->make_anchors(input=>$html,
notoc_match=>$notoc_match,
use_id=>$use_id,
toc_entry=>\%toc_entries,
toc_end=>\%toc_ends,
);
Makes the anchors the given input string. Returns a string.
make_toc_list
my @toc_list = $toc->make_toc_list(input=>$html,
labels=>\%labels,
notoc_match=>$notoc_match,
toc_entry=>\%toc_entry,
toc_end=>\%toc_end,
filename=>$filename);
Makes a list of lists which represents the structure and content of (a
portion of) the ToC from one file. Also updates a list of labels for the
ToC entries.
build_lol
Build a list of lists of paths, given a list of hashes with info about
paths.
output_toc
$self->output_toc(toc=>$toc_str,
input=>\@input,
filenames=>\@filenames);
Put the output (whether to file, STDOUT or string). The "output" in this
case could be the ToC, the modified (anchors added) HTML, or both.
put_toc_inline
my $newhtml = $toc->put_toc_inline(toc_str=>$toc_str,
filename=>$filename, in_string=>$in_string);
Puts the given toc_str into the given input string; returns a string.
cp
cp($src, $dst);
Copies file $src to $dst. Used for making backups of files.
FILE FORMATS
Formatting the ToC
The toc_entry and other related options give you control on how the ToC
entries may look, but there are other options to affect the final
appearance of the ToC file created.
With the header option, the contents of the given file (or string) will
be prepended before the generated ToC. This allows you to have
introductory text, or any other text, before the ToC.
Note:
If you use the header option, make sure the file specified contains
the opening HTML tag, the HEAD element (containing the TITLE
element), and the opening BODY tag. However, these tags/elements
should not be in the header file if the inline option is used. See
"Inlining the ToC" for information on what the header file should
contain for inlining the ToC.
With the toclabel option, the contents of the given string will be
prepended before the generated ToC (but after any text taken from a
header file).
With the footer option, the contents of the file will be appended after
the generated ToC.
Note:
If you use the footer, make sure it includes the closing BODY and
HTML tags (unless, of course, you are using the inline option).
If the header option is not specified, the appropriate starting HTML
markup will be added, unless the toc_only option is specified. If the
footer option is not specified, the appropriate closing HTML markup will
be added, unless the toc_only option is specified.
If you do not want/need to deal with header, and footer, files, then you
are allowed to specify the title, title option, of the ToC file; and it
allows you to specify a heading, or label, to put before ToC entries'
list, the toclabel option. Both options have default values.
If you do not want HTML page tags to be supplied, and just want the ToC
itself, then specify the toc_only option. If there are no header or
footer files, then this will simply output the contents of toclabel and
the ToC itself.
Inlining the ToC
The ability to incorporate the ToC directly into an HTML document is
supported via the inline option.
Inlining will be done on the first file in the list of files processed,
and will only be done if that file contains an opening tag matching the
toc_tag value.
If overwrite is true, then the first file in the list will be
overwritten, with the generated ToC inserted at the appropriate spot.
Otherwise a modified version of the first file is output to either
STDOUT or to the output file defined by the outfile option.
The options toc_tag and toc_tag_replace are used to determine where and
how the ToC is inserted into the output.
Example 1
$toc->generate_toc(inline=>1,
toc_tag => 'BODY',
toc_tag_replace => 0,
...
);
This will put the generated ToC after the BODY tag of the first file. If
the header option is specified, then the contents of the specified file
are inserted after the BODY tag. If the toclabel option is not empty,
then the text specified by the toclabel option is inserted. Then the ToC
is inserted, and finally, if the footer option is specified, it inserts
the footer. Then the rest of the input file follows as it was before.
Example 2
$toc->generate_toc(inline=>1,
toc_tag => '!--toc--',
toc_tag_replace => 1,
...
);
This will put the generated ToC after the first comment of the form
<!--toc-->, and that comment will be replaced by the ToC (in the order
header toclabel ToC footer) followed by the rest of the input file.
Note:
The header file should not contain the beginning HTML tag and HEAD
element since the HTML file being processed should already contain
these tags/elements.
NOTES
* HTML::GenToc is smart enough to detect anchors inside significant
elements. If the anchor defines the NAME attribute, HTML::GenToc
uses the value. Else, it adds its own NAME attribute to the anchor.
If use_id is true, then it likewise checks for and uses IDs.
* The TITLE element is treated specially if specified in the toc_entry
option. It is illegal to insert anchors (A) into TITLE elements.
Therefore, HTML::GenToc will actually link to the filename itself
instead of the TITLE element of the document.
* HTML::GenToc will ignore a significant element if it does not
contain any non-whitespace characters. A warning message is
generated if such a condition exists.
* If you have a sequence of significant elements that change in a
slightly disordered fashion, such as H1 -> H3 -> H2 or even H2 ->
H1, though HTML::GenToc deals with this to create a list which is
still good HTML, if you are using an ordered list to that depth,
then you will get strange numbering, as an extra list element will
have been inserted to nest the elements at the correct level.
For example (H2 -> H1 with ol_num_levels=1):
1.
* My H2 Header
2. My H1 Header
For example (H1 -> H3 -> H2 with ol_num_levels=0 and H3 also being
significant):
1. My H1 Header
1.
1. My H3 Header
2. My H2 Header
2. My Second H1 Header
In cases such as this it may be better not to use the ol option.
CAVEATS
* Version 3.10 (and above) generates more verbose (SEO-friendly)
anchors than prior versions. Thus anchors generated with earlier
versions will not match version 3.10 anchors.
* Version 3.00 (and above) of HTML::GenToc is not compatible with
Version 2.x of HTML::GenToc. It is now designed to do everything in
one pass, and has dropped certain options: the infile option is no
longer used (it has been replaced with the input option); the
toc_file option no longer exists; use the outfile option instead;
the tocmap option is no longer supported. Also the old array-parsing
of arguments is no longer supported. There is no longer a
generate_anchors method; everything is done with generate_toc.
It now generates lower-case tags rather than upper-case ones.
* HTML::GenToc is not very efficient (memory and speed), and can be
slow for large documents.
* Now that generation of anchors and of the ToC are done in one pass,
even more memory is used than was the case before. This is more
notable when processing multiple files, since all files are read
into memory before processing them.
* Invalid markup will be generated if a significant element is
contained inside of an anchor. For example:
<a name="foo"><h1>The FOO command</h1></a>
will be converted to (if H1 is a significant element),
<a name="foo"><h1><a name="The">The</a> FOO command</h1></a>
which is illegal since anchors cannot be nested.
It is better style to put anchor statements within the element to be
anchored. For example, the following is preferred:
<h1><a name="foo">The FOO command</a></h1>
HTML::GenToc will detect the "foo" name and use it.
* name attributes without quotes are not recognized.
BUGS
Tell me about them.
REQUIRES
The installation of this module requires "Module::Build". The module
depends on "HTML::SimpleParse", "HTML::Entities" and "HTML::LinkList"
and uses "Data::Dumper" for debugging purposes. The hypertoc script
depends on "Getopt::Long", "Getopt::ArgvFile" and "Pod::Usage". Testing
of this distribution depends on "Test::More".
INSTALLATION
To install this module, run the following commands:
perl Build.PL
./Build
./Build test
./Build install
Or, if you're on a platform (like DOS or Windows) that doesn't like the
"./" notation, you can do this:
perl Build.PL
perl Build
perl Build test
perl Build install
In order to install somewhere other than the default, such as in a
directory under your home directory, like "/home/fred/perl" go
perl Build.PL --install_base /home/fred/perl
as the first step instead.
This will install the files underneath /home/fred/perl.
You will then need to make sure that you alter the PERL5LIB variable to
find the modules, and the PATH variable to find the script.
Therefore you will need to change: your path, to include
/home/fred/perl/script (where the script will be)
PATH=/home/fred/perl/script:${PATH}
the PERL5LIB variable to add /home/fred/perl/lib
PERL5LIB=/home/fred/perl/lib:${PERL5LIB}
SEE ALSO
perl(1) htmltoc(1) hypertoc(1)
AUTHOR
Kathryn Andersen (RUBYKAT) http://www.katspace.org/tools/hypertoc/
Based on htmltoc by Earl Hood ehood AT medusa.acs.uci.edu
Contributions by Dan Dascalescu, <http://dandascalescu.com>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1994-1997 Earl Hood, ehood AT medusa.acs.uci.edu Copyright
(C) 2002-2008 Kathryn Andersen
This program 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 2 of the License, or (at your
option) any later version.
This program 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 this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.