` tags. In this case,
[section identifiers](#header-identifiers-in-html)
are attached to the enclosing `
` rather than the header itself.
`--no-wrap`
: disables text-wrapping in output. By default, text is wrapped
appropriately for the output format.
`--sanitize-html`
: sanitizes HTML (in markdown or HTML input) using a whitelist.
Unsafe tags are replaced by HTML comments; unsafe attributes
are omitted. URIs in links and images are also checked against a
whitelist of URI schemes.
`--email-obfuscation`*=none|javascript|references*
: specifies a method for obfuscating `mailto:` links in HTML documents.
*none* leaves `mailto:` links as they are. *javascript* obfuscates
them using javascript. *references* obfuscates them by printing their
letters as decimal or hexadecimal character references. If `--strict`
is specified, *references* is used regardless of the presence
of this option.
`--id-prefix`*=string*
: specifies a prefix to be added to all automatically generated identifiers
in HTML output. This is useful for preventing duplicate identifiers
when generating fragments to be included in other pages.
`--indented-code-classes`*=classes*
: specifies classes to use for indented code blocks--for example,
`perl,numberLines` or `haskell`. Multiple classes may be separated
by spaces or commas.
`--bibliography`*=FILE*
: specifies bibliography database to be used in resolving
citations. The database type will be determined from the
extension of *FILE*, which may be `.xml` (MODS format),
`.bib` (BibTeX format), or `.json` (citeproc JSON).
`--csl`*=FILE*
: specifies [CSL] style to be used in formatting citations and
the bibliography. If *FILE* is not found, pandoc will look
for it in
$HOME/.csl
in unix and
C:\Documents And Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\csl
in Windows. If the `--csl` option is not specified, pandoc
will use a default style: either `default.csl` in the
user data directory (see `--data-dir`), or, if that is
not present, the Chicago author-date style.
`--data-dir`*=directory*
: specifies the user data directory to search for pandoc data files.
If this option is not specified, the default user data directory
will be used:
$HOME/.pandoc
in unix and
C:\Documents And Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\pandoc
in Windows. A `reference.odt`, `epub.css`, `templates` directory,
or `s5` directory placed in this directory will override pandoc's
normal defaults.
`--dump-args`
: is intended to make it easier to create wrapper scripts that use
Pandoc. It causes Pandoc to dump information about the arguments
with which it was called to stdout, then exit. The first line
printed is the name of the output file specified using the `-o`
or `--output` option, or `-` if output would go to stdout. The
remaining lines, if any, list command-line arguments. These will
include the names of input files and any special options passed
after ` -- ` on the command line. So, for example,
pandoc --dump-args -o foo.html -s foo.txt \
appendix.txt -- -e latin1
will cause the following to be printed to stdout:
foo.html foo.txt appendix.txt -e latin1
`--ignore-args`
: causes Pandoc to ignore all command-line arguments.
Regular Pandoc options are not ignored. Thus, for example,
pandoc --ignore-args -o foo.html -s foo.txt -- -e latin1
is equivalent to
pandoc -o foo.html -s
`-v` or `--version`
: prints the version number to STDERR.
`-h` or `--help`
: prints a usage message to STDERR.
[Smartypants]: http://daringfireball.net/projects/smartypants/
[LaTeXMathML]: http://math.etsu.edu/LaTeXMathML/
[jsMath]: http://www.math.union.edu/~dpvc/jsmath/
[MathJax]: http://www.mathjax.org/
[gladTeX]: http://www.math.uio.no/~martingu/gladtex/index.html
[mimeTeX]: http://www.forkosh.com/mimetex.html
[Dublin Core elements]: http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/
[CSL]: http://CitationStyles.org
Templates
=========
When the `-s/--standalone` option is used, pandoc uses a template to
add header and footer material that is needed for a self-standing
document. To see the default template that is used, just type
pandoc -D FORMAT
where `FORMAT` is the name of the output format. A custom template
can be specified using the `--template` option. You can also override
the system default templates for a given output format `FORMAT`
by putting a file `templates/FORMAT.template` in the user data
directory (see `--data-dir`, above).
Templates may contain *variables*. Variable names are sequences of
alphanumerics, `-`, and `_`, starting with a letter. A variable name
surrounded by `$` signs will be replaced by its value. For example,
the string `$title$` in
$title$
will be replaced by the document title.
To write a literal `$` in a template, use `$$`.
Some variables are set automatically by pandoc. These vary somewhat
depending on the output format, but include:
`legacy-header`
: contents specified by `-C/--custom-header`
`header-includes`
: contents specified by `-H/--include-in-header` (may have multiple
values)
`toc`
: non-null value if `--toc/--table-of-contents` was specified
`include-before`
: contents specified by `-B/--include-before-body` (may have
multiple values)
`include-after`
: contents specified by `-A/--include-after-body` (may have
multiple values)
`body`
: body of document
`title`
: title of document, as specified in title block
`author`
: author of document, as specified in title block (may have
multiple values)
`date`
: date of document, as specified in title block
Variables may be set at the command line using the `-V/--variable`
option. This allows users to include custom variables in their
templates.
Templates may contain conditionals. The syntax is as follows:
$if(variable)$
X
$else$
Y
$endif$
This will include `X` in the template if `variable` has a non-null
value; otherwise it will include `Y`. `X` and `Y` are placeholders for
any valid template text, and may include interpolated variables or other
conditionals. The `$else$` section may be omitted.
When variables can have multiple values (for example, `author` in
a multi-author document), you can use the `$for$` keyword:
$for(author)$
$endfor$
You can optionally specify a separator to be used between
consecutive items:
$for(author)$$author$$sep$, $endfor$
Pandoc's markdown vs. standard markdown
=======================================
In parsing markdown, Pandoc departs from and extends [standard markdown]
in a few respects. Except where noted, these differences can
be suppressed by specifying the `--strict` command-line option.
[standard markdown]: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax
"Markdown syntax description"
Backslash escapes
-----------------
Except inside a code block or inline code, any punctuation or space
character preceded by a backslash will be treated literally, even if it
would normally indicate formatting. Thus, for example, if one writes
*\*hello\**
one will get
*hello*
instead of
hello
This rule is easier to remember than standard markdown's rule,
which allows only the following characters to be backslash-escaped:
\`*_{}[]()>#+-.!
A backslash-escaped space is parsed as a nonbreaking space. It will
appear in TeX output as `~` and in HTML and XML as `\ ` or
`\ `.
A backslash-escaped newline (i.e. a backslash occurring at the end of
a line) is parsed as a hard line break. It will appear in TeX output as
`\\` and in HTML as `
`. This is a nice alternative to
markdown's "invisible" way of indicating hard line breaks using
two trailing spaces on a line.
Subscripts and superscripts
---------------------------
Superscripts may be written by surrounding the superscripted text by `^`
characters; subscripts may be written by surrounding the subscripted
text by `~` characters. Thus, for example,
H~2~O is a liquid. 2^10^ is 1024.
If the superscripted or subscripted text contains spaces, these spaces
must be escaped with backslashes. (This is to prevent accidental
superscripting and subscripting through the ordinary use of `~` and `^`.)
Thus, if you want the letter P with 'a cat' in subscripts, use
`P~a\ cat~`, not `P~a cat~`.
Strikeout
---------
To strikeout a section of text with a horizontal line, begin and end it
with `~~`. Thus, for example,
This ~~is deleted text.~~
Nested Lists
------------
Pandoc behaves differently from standard markdown on some "edge
cases" involving lists. Consider this source:
1. First
2. Second:
- Fee
- Fie
- Foe
3. Third
Pandoc transforms this into a "compact list" (with no `
` tags around
"First", "Second", or "Third"), while markdown puts `
` tags around
"Second" and "Third" (but not "First"), because of the blank space
around "Third". Pandoc follows a simple rule: if the text is followed by
a blank line, it is treated as a paragraph. Since "Second" is followed
by a list, and not a blank line, it isn't treated as a paragraph. The
fact that the list is followed by a blank line is irrelevant. (Note:
Pandoc works this way even when the `--strict` option is specified. This
behavior is consistent with the official markdown syntax description,
even though it is different from that of `Markdown.pl`.)
Ordered Lists
-------------
Unlike standard markdown, Pandoc allows ordered list items to be marked
with uppercase and lowercase letters and roman numerals, in addition to
arabic numerals. (This behavior can be turned off using the `--strict`
option.) List markers may be enclosed in parentheses or followed by a
single right-parentheses or period. They must be separated from the
text that follows by at least one space, and, if the list marker is a
capital letter with a period, by at least two spaces.[^2]
[^2]: The point of this rule is to ensure that normal paragraphs
starting with people's initials, like
B. Russell was an English philosopher.
do not get treated as list items.
This rule will not prevent
(C) 2007 Joe Smith
from being interpreted as a list item. In this case, a backslash
escape can be used:
(C\) 2007 Joe Smith
Pandoc also pays attention to the type of list marker used, and to the
starting number, and both of these are preserved where possible in the
output format. Thus, the following yields a list with numbers followed
by a single parenthesis, starting with 9, and a sublist with lowercase
roman numerals:
9) Ninth
10) Tenth
11) Eleventh
i. subone
ii. subtwo
iii. subthree
Note that Pandoc pays attention only to the *starting* marker in a list.
So, the following yields a list numbered sequentially starting from 2:
(2) Two
(5) Three
1. Four
* Five
If default list markers are desired, use `#.`:
#. one
#. two
#. three
Numbered examples
-----------------
The special list marker `@` can be used for sequentially numbered
examples. The first list item with a `@` marker will be numbered '1',
the next '2', and so on, throughout the document. The numbered examples
need not occur in a single list; each new list using `@` will take up
where the last stopped. So, for example:
(@) My first example will be numbered (1).
(@) My second example will be numbered (2).
Explanation of examples.
(@) My third example will be numbered (3).
Numbered examples can be labeled and referred to elsewhere in the
document:
(@good) This is a good example.
As (@good) illustrates, ...
The label can be any string of alphanumeric characters, underscores,
or hyphens.
Definition lists
----------------
Pandoc supports definition lists, using a syntax inspired by
[PHP Markdown Extra] and [reStructuredText]:[^3]
Term 1
: Definition 1
Term 2 with *inline markup*
: Definition 2
{ some code, part of Definition 2 }
Third paragraph of definition 2.
Each term must fit on one line, which may optionally be followed by
a blank line, and must be followed by one or more definitions.
A definition begins with a colon or tilde, which may be indented one
or two spaces. A term may have multiple definitions, and each definition
may consist of one or more block elements (paragraph, code block, list,
etc.), each indented four spaces or one tab stop.
If you leave space after the definition (as in the example above),
the blocks of the definitions will be considered paragraphs. In some
output formats, this will mean greater spacing between term/definition
pairs. For a compact definition list, do not leave space between the
definition and the next term:
Term 1
~ Definition 1
Term 2
~ Definition 2a
~ Definition 2b
[^3]: I have also been influenced by the suggestions of [David Wheeler](http://www.justatheory.com/computers/markup/modest-markdown-proposal.html).
[PHP Markdown Extra]: http://www.michelf.com/projects/php-markdown/extra/
Reference links
---------------
Pandoc allows implicit reference links with just a single set of
brackets. So, the following links are equivalent:
1. Here's my [link]
2. Here's my [link][]
[link]: linky.com
(Note: Pandoc works this way even if `--strict` is specified, because
`Markdown.pl` 1.0.2b7 allows single-bracket links.)
Footnotes
---------
Pandoc's markdown allows footnotes, using the following syntax:
Here is a footnote reference,[^1] and another.[^longnote]
[^1]: Here is the footnote.
[^longnote]: Here's one with multiple blocks.
Subsequent paragraphs are indented to show that they
belong to the previous footnote.
{ some.code }
The whole paragraph can be indented, or just the first
line. In this way, multi-paragraph footnotes work like
multi-paragraph list items.
This paragraph won't be part of the note, because it isn't indented.
The identifiers in footnote references may not contain spaces, tabs,
or newlines. These identifiers are used only to correlate the
footnote reference with the note itself; in the output, footnotes
will be numbered sequentially.
The footnotes themselves need not be placed at the end of the
document. They may appear anywhere except inside other block elements
(lists, block quotes, tables, etc.).
Inline footnotes are also allowed (though, unlike regular notes,
they cannot contain multiple paragraphs). The syntax is as follows:
Here is an inline note.^[Inlines notes are easier to write, since
you don't have to pick an identifier and move down to type the
note.]
Inline and regular footnotes may be mixed freely.
Tables
------
Three kinds of tables may be used. All three kinds presuppose the use of
a fixed-width font, such as Courier.
**Simple tables** look like this:
Right Left Center Default
------- ------ ---------- -------
12 12 12 12
123 123 123 123
1 1 1 1
Table: Demonstration of simple table syntax.
The headers and table rows must each fit on one line. Column
alignments are determined by the position of the header text relative
to the dashed line below it:[^4]
- If the dashed line is flush with the header text on the right side
but extends beyond it on the left, the column is right-aligned.
- If the dashed line is flush with the header text on the left side
but extends beyond it on the right, the column is left-aligned.
- If the dashed line extends beyond the header text on both sides,
the column is centered.
- If the dashed line is flush with the header text on both sides,
the default alignment is used (in most cases, this will be left).
[^4]: This scheme is due to Michel Fortin, who proposed it on the
[Markdown discussion list](http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/markdown-discuss/2005-March/001097.html).
The table must end with a blank line, or a line of dashes followed by
a blank line. A caption may optionally be provided (as illustrated in
the example above). A caption is a paragraph beginning with the string
`Table:` (or just `:`), which will be stripped off. It may appear either
before or after the table.
The column headers may be omitted, provided a dashed line is used
to end the table. For example:
------- ------ ---------- -------
12 12 12 12
123 123 123 123
1 1 1 1
------- ------ ---------- -------
When headers are omitted, column alignments are determined on the basis
of the first line of the table body. So, in the tables above, the columns
would be right, left, center, and right aligned, respectively.
**Multiline tables** allow headers and table rows to span multiple lines
of text (but cells that span multiple columns or rows of the table are
not supported). Here is an example:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Centered Default Right Left
Header Aligned Aligned Aligned
----------- ------- --------------- -------------------------
First row 12.0 Example of a row that
spans multiple lines.
Second row 5.0 Here's another one. Note
the blank line between
rows.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Table: Here's the caption. It, too, may span
multiple lines.
These work like simple tables, but with the following differences:
- They must begin with a row of dashes, before the header text
(unless the headers are omitted).
- They must end with a row of dashes, then a blank line.
- The rows must be separated by blank lines.
In multiline tables, the table parser pays attention to the widths of
the columns, and the writers try to reproduce these relative widths in
the output. So, if you find that one of the columns is too narrow in the
output, try widening it in the markdown source.
Headers may be omitted in multiline tables as well as simple tables:
----------- ------- --------------- -------------------------
First row 12.0 Example of a row that
spans multiple lines.
Second row 5.0 Here's another one. Note
the blank line between
rows.
-------------------------------------------------------------
: Here's a multiline table without headers.
It is possible for a multiline table to have just one row, but the row
should be followed by a blank line (and then the row of dashes that ends
the table), or the table may be interpreted as a simple table.
**Grid tables** look like this:
: Sample grid table.
+---------------+---------------+--------------------+
| Fruit | Price | Advantages |
+===============+===============+====================+
| Bananas | $1.34 | - built-in wrapper |
| | | - bright color |
+---------------+---------------+--------------------+
| Oranges | $2.10 | - cures scurvy |
| | | - tasty |
+---------------+---------------+--------------------+
The row of `=`s separates the header from the table body, and can be
omitted for a headerless table. The cells of grid tables may contain
arbitrary block elements (multiple paragraphs, code blocks, lists,
etc.). Alignments are not supported, nor are cells that span multiple
columns or rows. Grid tables can be created easily using [Emacs table mode].
[Emacs table mode]: http://table.sourceforge.net/
Delimited Code blocks
---------------------
In addition to standard indented code blocks, Pandoc supports
*delimited* code blocks. These begin with a row of three or more
tildes (`~`) and end with a row of tildes that must be at least
as long as the starting row. Everything between the tilde-lines
is treated as code. No indentation is necessary:
~~~~~~~
{code here}
~~~~~~~
Like regular code blocks, delimited code blocks must be separated
from surrounding text by blank lines.
If the code itself contains a row of tildes, just use a longer
row of tildes at the start and end:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
code including tildes
~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Optionally, you may specify the language of the code block using
this syntax:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ {.haskell .numberLines}
qsort [] = []
qsort (x:xs) = qsort (filter (< x) xs) ++ [x] ++
qsort (filter (>= x) xs)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some output formats can use this information to do syntax highlighting.
Currently, the only output format that uses this information is HTML.
If pandoc has been compiled with syntax highlighting support, then the
code block above will appear highlighted, with numbered lines. (To see
which languages are supported, do `pandoc --version`.)
If pandoc has not been compiled with syntax highlighting support, the
code block above will appear as follows:
...
Images with captions
--------------------
An image occurring by itself in a paragraph will be rendered as
a figure with a caption.[^5] (In LaTeX, a figure environment will be
used; in HTML, the image will be placed in a `div` with class
`figure`, together with a caption in a `p` with class `caption`.)
The image's alt text will be used as the caption.
[^5]: This feature is not yet implemented for RTF, OpenDocument, or
ODT. In those formats, you'll just get an image in a paragraph by
itself, with no caption.
If you just want a regular inline image, just make sure it is not
the only thing in the paragraph. One way to do this is to insert a
nonbreaking space after the image:
\
Title blocks
------------
If the file begins with a title block
% title
% author(s) (separated by semicolons)
% date
it will be parsed as bibliographic information, not regular text. (It
will be used, for example, in the title of standalone LaTeX or HTML
output.) The block may contain just a title, a title and an author,
or all three elements. If you want to include an author but no
title, or a title and a date but no author, you need a blank line:
%
% Author
% My title
%
% June 15, 2006
The title may occupy multiple lines, but continuation lines must
begin with leading space, thus:
% My title
on multiple lines
If a document has multiple authors, the authors may be put on
separate lines with leading space, or separated by semicolons, or
both. So, all of the following are equivalent:
% Author One
Author Two
% Author One; Author Two
% Author One;
Author Two
The date must fit on one line.
All three metadata fields may contain standard inline formatting
(italics, links, footnotes, etc.).
Title blocks will always be parsed, but they will affect the output only
when the `--standalone` (`-s`) option is chosen. In HTML output, titles
will appear twice: once in the document head -- this is the title that
will appear at the top of the window in a browser -- and once at the
beginning of the document body. The title in the document head can have
an optional prefix attached (`--title-prefix` or `-T` option). The title
in the body appears as an H1 element with class "title", so it can be
suppressed or reformatted with CSS. If a title prefix is specified with
`-T` and no title block appears in the document, the title prefix will
be used by itself as the HTML title.
The man page writer extracts a title, man page section number, and
other header and footer information from the title line. The title
is assumed to be the first word on the title line, which may optionally
end with a (single-digit) section number in parentheses. (There should
be no space between the title and the parentheses.) Anything after
this is assumed to be additional footer and header text. A single pipe
character (`|`) should be used to separate the footer text from the header
text. Thus,
% PANDOC(1)
will yield a man page with the title `PANDOC` and section 1.
% PANDOC(1) Pandoc User Manuals
will also have "Pandoc User Manuals" in the footer.
% PANDOC(1) Pandoc User Manuals | Version 4.0
will also have "Version 4.0" in the header.
Markdown in HTML blocks
-----------------------
While standard markdown leaves HTML blocks exactly as they are, Pandoc
treats text between HTML tags as markdown. Thus, for example, Pandoc
will turn
| *one* |
[a link](http://google.com) |
into
whereas `Markdown.pl` will preserve it as is.
There is one exception to this rule: text between `` tags is not interpreted as markdown.
This departure from standard markdown should make it easier to mix
markdown with HTML block elements. For example, one can surround
a block of markdown text with `
` tags without preventing it
from being interpreted as markdown.
Header identifiers in HTML
--------------------------
Each header element in pandoc's HTML output is given a unique
identifier. This identifier is based on the text of the header. To
derive the identifier from the header text,
- Remove all formatting, links, etc.
- Remove all punctuation, except underscores, hyphens, and periods.
- Replace all spaces and newlines with hyphens.
- Convert all alphabetic characters to lowercase.
- Remove everything up to the first letter (identifiers may
not begin with a number or punctuation mark).
- If nothing is left after this, use the identifier `section`.
Thus, for example,
Header Identifier
------------------------------------- ---------------------------
Header identifiers in HTML `header-identifiers-in-html`
*Dogs*?--in *my* house? `dogs--in-my-house`
[HTML], [S5], or [RTF]? `html-s5-or-rtf`
3. Applications `applications`
33 `section`
These rules should, in most cases, allow one to determine the identifier
from the header text. The exception is when several headers have the
same text; in this case, the first will get an identifier as described
above; the second will get the same identifier with `-1` appended; the
third with `-2`; and so on.
These identifiers are used to provide link targets in the table of
contents generated by the `--toc|--table-of-contents` option. They
also make it easy to provide links from one section of a document to
another. A link to this section, for example, might look like this:
See the section on [header identifiers](#header-identifiers-in-html).
Note, however, that this method of providing links to sections works
only in HTML.
If the `--section-divs` option is specified, then each section will
be wrapped in a `div`, and the identifier will be attached to the
enclosing `
` tag rather than the header itself. This allows entire
sections to be manipulated using javascript or treated differently in
CSS.
Blank lines before headers and blockquotes
------------------------------------------
Standard markdown syntax does not require a blank line before a header
or blockquote. Pandoc does require this (except, of course, at the
beginning of the document). The reason for the requirement is that
it is all too easy for a `>` or `#` to end up at the beginning of a
line by accident (perhaps through line wrapping). Consider, for
example:
I like several of their flavors of ice cream: #22, for example, and
#5.
Math
----
Anything between two $ characters will be treated as TeX math. The
opening $ must have a character immediately to its right, while the
closing $ must have a character immediately to its left. Thus,
`$20,000 and $30,000` won't parse as math. If for some reason
you need to enclose text in literal $ characters, backslash-escape
them and they won't be treated as math delimiters.
TeX math will be printed in all output formats. In Markdown,
reStructuredText, LaTeX, and ConTeXt output, it will appear verbatim
between $ characters.
In reStructuredText output, it will be rendered using an interpreted
text role `:math:`, as described
[here](http://www.american.edu/econ/itex2mml/mathhack.rst).
In Texinfo output, it will be rendered inside a `@math` command.
In groff man output, it will be rendered verbatim without $'s.
In MediaWiki output, it will be rendered inside `