Middleman - Markdown from text or url

config.rb

require 'open-uri'

###
# Compass
###

# Change Compass configuration
# compass_config do |config|
#   config.output_style = :compact
# end

###
# Page options, layouts, aliases and proxies
###

# Per-page layout changes:
#
# With no layout
# page "/path/to/file.html", :layout => false
#
# With alternative layout
# page "/path/to/file.html", :layout => :otherlayout
#
# A path which all have the same layout
# with_layout :admin do
#   page "/admin/*"
# end

# Proxy pages (http://middlemanapp.com/basics/dynamic-pages/)
# proxy "/this-page-has-no-template.html", "/template-file.html", :locals => {
#  :which_fake_page => "Rendering a fake page with a local variable" }

###
# Helpers
###

# Automatic image dimensions on image_tag helper
# activate :automatic_image_sizes

# Reload the browser automatically whenever files change
# activate :livereload

# Methods defined in the helpers block are available in templates
# helpers do
#   def some_helper
#     "Helping"
#   end
# end





# Methods defined in the helpers block are available in templates
helpers do
  
  def markdown(text)
    renderer = Redcarpet::Render::XHTML.new
    markdown = Redcarpet::Markdown.new(renderer)
    return markdown.render(text)
  end
  
  def markdownFromUrl(url)
    file = open(url)
    contents = file.read
    return markdown(contents);
  end
end

set :css_dir, 'stylesheets'

set :js_dir, 'javascripts'

set :images_dir, 'images'

# Build-specific configuration
configure :build do
  # For example, change the Compass output style for deployment
  # activate :minify_css

  # Minify Javascript on build
  # activate :minify_javascript

  # Enable cache buster
  # activate :asset_hash

  # Use relative URLs
  # activate :relative_assets

  # Or use a different image path
  # set :http_prefix, "/Content/images/"
end

Gemfile

# If you have OpenSSL installed, we recommend updating
# the following line to use "https"
source 'http://rubygems.org'

gem "middleman", "~>3.2.2"

gem 'redcarpet'

# Live-reloading plugin
gem "middleman-livereload", "~> 3.1.0"

# For faster file watcher updates on Windows:
gem "wdm", "~> 0.1.0", :platforms => [:mswin, :mingw]

index.html.erb

---
title: Middleman - Markdown from text or url
---
<div class="container">
	<article class="markdown-body">
		<%= markdownFromUrl("https://gist.githubusercontent.com/tiberiucorbu/67df6c13d61c0fb3a34a/raw/middleman-markdown_from_text.md") %>
	</article><!-- .welcome -->
</div>

middleman-markdown_from_text.md

Middleman - Markdown from text or URL

I was wondering if one can make a static wiki deployed on a private site, using middleman and the private gists from github (Muhahaha) and after a bit of investigation I manage to do it using two helpers in config.rb file with minimum effort.

Breakdown

I added into the gemfile redcapets gem:

gem "middleman", "~>3.2.2"

Ran install on the project folder with command :

$ bundle install

Uncommented helpers in config.rb and added markdown method:

# Methods defined in the helpers block are available in templates
helpers do
  # Initialize a redcarpet XHTML renderer and renders the input text
  def markdown(text)
    renderer = Redcarpet::Render::XHTML.new
    markdown = Redcarpet::Markdown.new(renderer)
    return markdown.render(text)
  end
end

markdown method can be called in a erb template with <%= markdown("#This is an H1") %>.

In addition to this method in the helpers I added another method that will get the text from a particular URL provided in the input, the content is passed further on to the markdown helper.

require 'open-uri'
# ...
# Methods defined in the helpers block are available in templates
helpers do
  # Initialize a redcarpet XHTML renderer and renders the input text
  # ...

  def markdownFromUrl(url)
    file = open(url)
    contents = file.read
    return markdown(contents);
  end
end

markdownFromUrl method can be called in a erb template with <%= markdownFromUrl("https://gist.githubusercontent.com/tiberiucorbu/67df6c13d61c0fb3a34a/raw/middleman-markdown_from_text.md") %>.

As for the gist markdown files there is a little trick to get a particular or the latest revision.

To get a particular revision construct the URLs like this :

 https://gist.githubusercontent.com/<username>/<gist_id>/raw/<revision>/<filename>

Otherwise if you want the latest revision omit the <revision> part :

 https://gist.githubusercontent.com/<username>/<gist_id>/raw/<filename>

Follow-ups (self-reviewed):

Here is a list of things considered but not implemented:

• Check memory leaks : Shame on me - I have no idea if opening an url requires a close as well in Ruby like in Java;
• Optimize to use minimum resources : Just by reviewing the code here markdown method can save a little initializations of redcarpet renderer instances with a lazy load pattern.
• These methods are not "monkey proofed" and they lack any validation or error handling whatsoever, just by expecting that they are not going to be exposed to "monkeys" - Is that something that you can really relay on ?