lowtex

                           The LowTeX Manual                                
                           --- ------ ------                                
                             By Hardmath123                                 

LowTeX--pronounced "low-tech"--is a small text transformation package that generates pretty monospace outputs, specifically for READMEs, licenses, or even large block comments. This documentation was generated by LowTeX, and its source is bundled with the package. We will walk through the basics of LowTeX here. The source for this tutorial is in example.lt.

                            Monospace is nice.                              
                         Everything is scriptable.                          
                             Readable sources.                              
                                                                            
                             Make it a filter.                              
                      Write small, powerful modules.                        
                            Format haikus well.                             

Getting started

Install LowTeX with npm install -g A setting is declared with the line lowtex. Create a new document in your @set <name> <value>. LowTeX mantains favorite text editor, preferably set an internal stack of settings. To to a mode that wraps lines of text. To restore a setting to its previous compile, use the lowtex command. value, use @unset <name>. A block is declared with the line A LowTeX document consists of text, @begin <name> <arguments>, and with interspersed DIRECTIVES, which terminated with the line @end. are prefixed with an @. A directive Blocks transform the text inside them. is either a SETTING, a BLOCK, or a An example of a block is the UNDERLINE COMMAND. Text is processed block, which underlines the text line-by-line, being wrapped and inside it. aligned according to the settings. A A command is simply @<name> blank line (or directive) indicates <arguments>. For example, @VSPACE N the end of a paragraph. A line adds n blank lines. prefixed with # is a comment and is begin and end can be skipped silently. abbreviated to ! and /, respectively.

Planned features

1. Embedded tables
2. Figlet support for headers, etc.
3. Better documentation
4. More ordered list styles, such as alphabetized and roman.
5. Better error catching and messages

Modules

NOTE: LowTeX is now INCOMPATIBLE with the old module system implemented by @sl. LowTeX is highly configurable. You can (and should!) write your own modules for your documents. Modules are nodejs-style. Your module exports a function, which accepts a converter instance as an argument, and modifies it somehow. Modules are imported using the @require <path> syntax, where the path is relative to the current working directory.

module.exports = function(converter) {
  converter.commands.banana = function() {
    this.feedLines(["Banana" + this.nspace(this.get("width") - 6)]);
  };
};

Converters expose the @ syntax with methods such as set(name, value), get(name), unset(name), begin_filter(name, args), and end_filter().