ryd

ryd ( /rɑɪt/, pronounced like the verb "write" ) is a preprocessor for text based documents, that builds upon the multi-document capabilities of YAML files/streams.

The use of multi-document in ryd allows for clear separation between document text and any programs referenced in those text. Thereby making it possible to run (c.q. compile) the program parts of a document, e.g. to check whether they are syntactically correct. It can also capture the actual output of those programs to be included in the document.

This allows for easier maintenance of (correct) program sources, in document source texts like reStructuredText, LaTeX, etc.

Example

A "normal" .ryd file consists of multiple YAML documents in one file.

The first of these documents has, at the top-level, a mapping. This mapping is the ryd configuration data for this stream of documents, and is used to define ryd document version used, output and other configuration informationis.

The documents following the first document are usually block style literal scalars with an optional tag. The tag influences how the scalar string is processed within the selected output system:

---
version: 0.1
output: rst
fix_inline_single_backquotes: true
--- |
Example Python program
++++++++++++++++++++++

This is an example of a python program
--- !python |
n = 7
print(n**2 - n)
--- !stdout |
The answer is::

this will generate (using: ryd convert test.ryd) the following test.rst:

Example Python program
++++++++++++++++++++++

This is an example of a Python program
::

  n = 7
  print(n**2 - n)

The answer is::

  42

which can then be converted to PDF using rst2pdf or HTML using rst2html.

Command-line options

The command-line of ryd consists of multiple components:

ryd [--global-option] command [--options] [arguments]

Although not indicated most global options can occur after the command as well.

commands

convert             generate output as per first YAML document
clean               clean output files for .ryd files
roundtrip           roundtrip .ryd file, updating sections
from-rst (fromrst)  convert .rst to .ryd

You'll most often use convert it takes one or more filenames as argument and generates output as specified in the ryd configuration data. Some options allow you to override settings there (e.g. --pdf and -no-pdf)

The command from-rst converts a .rst file into .ryd doing some section underline checking and adding the ryd configuration data document.

The roundtrip command has an option --oitnb running in place code-formatting on the !Python)-pre) sections of the .ryd file. You need to have oitnb in your path for this.

Doing ryd command --help might indicate extra options that have not yet made it into the documentation.

Documents and document tags

Each YAML document is separated from others documents the stream by the document start marker ---. Apart from the first document, most documents contain a single, multi-line, non-indented, scalar. This marker is therefor followed by the pipe (|) symbol which is the YAML indication for a multi-line scalar.

That scalar can be "typed" in the normal way of YAML by inserting a tag before the |. E.g. a document that is a type of Python program has a tag !python.

What a document tag exactly does, depends on the tag, but, potentially, also, on the output file format selected, on previously processed tagged documents, other .ryd files processed previously and the environment. The following are short descriptions for all tags, independent of the selected output format:

!code

Include program in text. Do not mark as executable, doesn't influence !stdout

!comment

The whole document will be discarded, i.e. not included in the output.

!incraw

Include the listed files raw (i.e. without processing) into the output.

!python

Include Python program in text. Prefix and mark as executable.

!python-pre

Prefix all following !python documents with this document (e.g. used for imports)

!stdout

Include output from last executable document (e.g. !python) as code.

!stdout-raw

Include output from the last program, as source for the output format.

RST

The output to .rst expects non-code YAML documents to be valid reStructuredText. Any non-tagged documents, i.e. those starting with:

--- |

are assumed to be text input.

Section underlining

Because of the special meaning of --- (and ...) at the beginning of a line, followed by newline or space, the section under/over-line characters used in .ryd files that are source for .rst should not use - or . sequences if a any of those section names consist of three letters (e.g. a section named API or RST). It is recommended to use the following scheme:

Sections, subsections, etc. in .ryd files
 # with over-line, for parts
 * with over-line, for chapters
 =, for sections
 +, for subsections
 ^, for sub-subsections
 ", for paragraphs

Single backquotes

The fix_inline_single_backquotes: true tells ryd to indicate lines that have single backquotes, that need fixing (by replacing them with double backquotes):

README.ryd
47: this will generate (`ryd convert test.ryd`) the following
                      --^
                                           --^

(If you are used to other inline code markup editing e.g. on Stack Overflow, that uses single backquotes, you'll come to appreciate this.)

Python

Python code is indicated by:

--- !python |

The document is inserted into the .rst with a two space indent. If the previous block does not end in :: this double colon, and a newline, are explicitly inserted before the program. The difference being that a text block ending in :: will have a single : rendered, a :: on a line of its own will not. An empty line between the preceding text and the code is inserted when needed.

If your program relies on specific packages, those packages, need to be available in the environment in which ryd is started (which can e.g. be a specifically set up virtualenv)

It is possible to have "partial programs" by preceding a python document with e.g.:

--- !python-pre |
from __future__ import print_function
import sys
import ruamel.yaml
from ruamel.std.pathlib import Path, pushd, popd, PathLibConversionHelper
pl = PathLibConversionHelper()

Such a block is pre-pended to all following --- !python | documents (until superseded by another --- !python-pre | block)

Captured output

The output from the last program that was run (--- !python |) is stored and can be post-pended to a reStructuredText document by tagging it with !stdout (i.e. --- !stdout |)

non-running code

A document tagged !code will be represented as one tagged !python, but the code will not be run (and hence the output used for !stdout not changed).

Comments

Block style literal scalars do not allow YAML comments. To insert comments in a text, either use the format acceptable by the output, e.g. when generating .rst use:

..
   this will show up in the resulting .rst file, but will
   not render

Alternatively you can create a comment YAML document (--- !comment |), for which the text will not be represented in the output file format at all.

History

ryd grew out of a in-house solution where sections of reStructuredText files were updated, in-place, by running Python programs specified in separate files. Also allowing the inclusion of the (error) output.

An example of this can be seen in this old version of the example.rst file of the ruamel.yaml package:

Basic round trip of parsing YAML to Python objects, modifying
and generating YAML::

  import sys
  from ruamel.yaml import YAML

  inp = """\
  # example
  name:
    # details
    family: Smith   # very common
    given: Alice    # one of the siblings
  """

  yaml = YAML()
  code = yaml.load(inp)
  code['name']['given'] = 'Bob'

  yaml.dump(code, sys.stdout)

.. example code small.py

Resulting in ::

  # example
  name:
    # details
    family: Smith   # very common
    given: Bob      # one of the siblings


.. example output small.py

The program was inserted before the .. example code line and its output before .. example output, replacing all the text starting after the previous ::

The small.py referenced a separate file for this piece of code. This resulted in multiple source files that were associated with a single .rst file. There was no mechanism to have partial programs that could be tested by execution, which precluded getting output from such program as well.

Although the code could have been edited in place, and used to get the output, this would force one to use the extra indentation required for lines following reST's ::.

Once this system came under review, the solution with a structured YAML header, as used with various file formats, combined with multiple document consisting of (tagged) top level, non-indented, block style literal scalars, was chosen instead.