hachoir VS KeenWrite

https://github.com/vstinner/hachoir/blob/main/hachoir/subfil...

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I contributed a number of file formats a few years ago (and attempted numerous others) but ran into a number of problems with certain file formats:

1. It's not possible to read from the file until a multiple byte termination sequence is detected. [1]

2. You can't read sections of a file where the termination condition is the presence of a sequence of bytes denoting the next unrelated section of the file (and you don't want to consume/read these bytes) [2]

3. The WebIDE at the time couldn't handle very large file format specifications such as Photoshop (PSD) [3]

4. Files containing compressed or encrypted sections require a compression/encryption algorithm to be hardcoded into Kaitai struct libraries for each programming language it can output to.

The WebIDE I particularly liked as it makes it easy to get started and share results. I also liked how Kaitai Struct allows easy definition of constraints (simple ones at least) into the file format specification so that you can say "this section of the file shall have a size not exceeding header.length * 2 bytes".

Some alternative binary file format specification attempts for those interested in seeing alternatives, each with their own set of problems/pros/cons:

1. 010 Editor [4]

2. Synalysis [5]

3. hachoir [6]

4. DFDL [7]

[1] https://github.com/kaitai-io/kaitai_struct/issues/158

[2] https://github.com/kaitai-io/kaitai_struct/issues/156

[3] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/davidhicks/kaitai_struct_f...

[4] https://www.sweetscape.com/010editor/repository/templates/

[5] https://github.com/synalysis/Grammars

[6] https://github.com/vstinner/hachoir/tree/main/hachoir/parser

[7] https://github.com/DFDLSchemas/

Another one sort of related is hachoir, and specifically the hachoir-metadata script: https://github.com/vstinner/hachoir

I wrote a series of blog posts about typesetting Markdown using pandoc:

https://dave.autonoma.ca/blog

I found pandoc on its own to be a little limiting:

* Awkward to use interpolated variables within prose.

* No real-time preview prior to rendering the final document.

* Limited options for TeX support (e.g., SVG vs. inline; ConTeXt vs. LaTeX).

* Inconsistent syntax for captions and cross-references.

For my purposes, I wanted to convert variable-laden Markdown and R Markdown to text, XHTML, and PDF formats. Eventually I replaced my tool chain of yamlp + pandoc + knitr with an integrated FOSS cross-platform desktop editor.

https://keenwrite.com/

KeenWrite uses flexmark-java + Renjin to provide a solution that can replace pandoc + knitr.

Note how the captions and cross-reference syntax for images, tables, and equations is unified to use a double-colon sigil:

https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/KeenWrite/-/blob/main/docs/ref...

My Typesetting Markdown series[1] describes crafting shell scripts to cobble together pandoc, knitr, math, ConTeXt, and YAML-based interpolated variables to produce PDF files.

For my sci-fi novel, my character sheet was inside of a spreadsheet. It dawned on me that the character sheet could be replaced with a YAML file and integrated with a Markdown editor. I developed KeenWrite[2] to replace the scripts while allowing me to use interpolated variables and R inside of the prose.

My novel has two separate timelines and I wanted to make sure that dates lined up correctly without having to do the date math manually. I implemented a number date functions in R[3] based around an "anchor" date. As long as all my other dates are relative (in days) to the anchor date, all the math checks out. Possessives and pronouns are also handled in R (meaning I can change a character's gender by changing a single variable, provided I haven't referenced any sex-specific body parts or characteristics).

Also, I wanted a nice-looking PDF file to send to alpha readers (more wanted, see profile). For that, I crafted KeenWrite Themes[4] along with a video tutorial series showing how all the software components work together.

[1]: https://dave.autonoma.ca/blog/2019/05/22/typesetting-markdow...

[2]: https://keenwrite.com/

[3]: https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/KeenWrite/-/blob/main/R/conver...

[4]: https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/keenwrite-themes/

[5]: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB-WIt1cZYLm1MMx2FBG9...

I developed KeenWrite[0] with similar ideas to mdbook: typeset into PDF from Markdown. Technically, this happens in three stages. First, the Markdown is converted to XHTML. Second, the XHTML is converted to TeX commands. Third, the ConTeXt typesetting system produces a PDF file. Both the GUI and CLI can export to PDF.[1]

Like mdbook, the themes are isolated. Instead of CSS, KeenWrite themes are written in ConTeXt. There are several example starter themes.[2] A "thesis" theme would be a nice addition, but there's a problem.

Markdown lacks a standard for cross-references and citations. An open KeenWrite issue animates a possible UX solution.[3] The topic of references/citations has been discussed on CommonMark[4] without much movement. Parsing cross-references and citations would benefit flexmark-java[5] integrations. KeenWrite uses flexmark-java, but I'm otherwise unaffiliated. If anyone is interested in helping, reach out (see profile).

[0]: https://keenwrite.com/

[1]: https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/KeenWrite/-/blob/main/docs/cmd...

[2]: https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/keenwrite-themes/

[3]: https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/KeenWrite/-/issues/145

[4]: https://talk.commonmark.org/t/cross-references-and-citations...

[5]: https://github.com/vsch/flexmark-java

My desktop text editor, KeenWrite, uses Wine, rcedit-x64.exe, osslsigncode, and a shell script. First, rcedit-x64.exe tags the binary with identifying information:

https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/KeenWrite/-/blob/main/installe...

Then osslsigncode applies the certificate:

https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/KeenWrite/-/blob/main/scripts/...

Echoing what Rodeoclash wrote: Having to pay to play on Windows for an open-source project that makes $0 is a decline of ownership over our own machines.

When I started developing KeenWrite[1], I wanted a modular architecture[2] that made the choice of Markdown vs. AsciiDoc vs. DocBook irrelevant with respect to generating PDF or HTML files. The core idea of writing pure text documents is to separate content from presentation; the syntax, while important to some, shouldn't sway the output format.

KeenWrite could integrate AsciidoctorJ and its XHTML5 back-end to support AsciiDoc in the future, if there was demand.

[1]: https://keenwrite.com/

[2]: https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/KeenWrite/-/raw/main/docs/imag...