Sticking with Pandoc, you could use a BBEdit shell script to create a
clickable table of contents at the beginning of the document.
Create script in ~/Library/Application Support/BBEdit/pandoc-toc.sh
#!/usr/bin/env sh
pandoc \
--standalone \
--from=markdown \
--to=markdown \
--table-of-contents \
-V toc-title:"Table of Contents" \
--template="${HOME}/.pandoc/template.markdown" \
--toc-depth=4 \
--reference-links \
--reference-location=section \
-o "${BB_DOC_PATH}" -
Create the following template in ~/.pandoc/template.markdown
$if(titleblock)$
$titleblock$
$endif$
$for(header-includes)$
$header-includes$
$endfor$
$for(include-before)$
$include-before$
$endfor$
$if(toc)$
$if(toc-title)$
# $toc-title$
$endif$
$table-of-contents$
$endif$
$body$
$for(include-after)$
$include-after$
$endfor$
And use the straight Pandoc Markdown Processor in BBEdit's Preferences.
This is not exactly what you want, but maybe by reading the documentation
and tweaking Pandoc a bit more you could get what you are after.
HTH
Jean Jourdain
On Thursday, August 11, 2022 at 6:48:25 PM UTC+2 craigh wrote:
> It looks like the default cmark preprocessor doesn’t include a “tag” for
> generating a table of contents? I have used MultiMarkdown in the past so I
> just installed v6.6.0 and inserted a {{TOC}} in my document - select
> MultiMarkdown as the Markdown processor in the BBEdit preferences and I get
> a clickable TOC in the preview. I believe this is similar to what Jean
> recommended except using MultiMarkdown instead of Pandoc.
>
> Good idea on the use of a preview template but in the end, I would need to
> have the preview window open to see or make use of the TOC. I have too many
> windows open as it is so I’m trying to avoid that option.
>
> Other options I’ve explored:
>
> Joplin - I have a co-worker who’s a big fan but our setup has been
> unstable (server at his location, everything encrypted, lost some files,
> etc.) so I’m avoiding this at the moment. Also not a big electron-based app
> fan but that’s a minor point. I do like the fact that you can easily toggle
> between plain text and markdown preview in the editor via a “Toggle
> editors” button. It also supports automatic TOC generation via [[toc]].
>
> Obsidian - similar to Joplin in that you can easily switch views between
> plain text and processed. You can also open a parallel pane to see the
> processed text. Requires a plugin for TOC generation but it does seem to
> work well. The plugin includes some support for external editors (e.g.
> [/toc/], {{doc}}, [[__TOC__]], and [toc]). If the editor pane is set to
> source mode, you can’t see the TOC but if set to live preview mode, the TOC
> is visible and clickable (need to click an edit button to edit the TOC when
> in this mode).
>
> I’ve been a Bbedit user since the earliest days so hoping to find a
> workable solution. Maybe a simple request to BBEdit support for a “toggle
> view” button in the editor window to switch between plain text and markdown
> preview mode!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Craig
>
>
> On Aug 11, 2022, at 10:30 AM, Greg Raven <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I was thinking you could have your Markdown window on one side of your
> screen and BBEdit's preview window (which is HTML) on the other side.
> Changes to the Markdown file show virtually immediately in the preview
> window. You could even create a preview template with the TOC tag in it so
> you wouldn't have to add that to each working file in order for it to
> appear in your preview window.
>
> On Thursday, August 11, 2022 at 8:12:14 AM UTC-7 craigh wrote:
>
>> Thanks for the good ideas but all those solutions only seem to show the
>> TOC in the markdown preview. I probably wasn’t clear enough that the main
>> goal is to *generate the TOC in the .md file and have it display in the
>> .md file while still editing in BBEdit.*
>>
>> I’d prefer to not have to manually add any special attributes such as <a
>> name=“my section name"></a> to each header as some tools require but
>> that wouldn’t be a show stopper.
>>
>> For example, after putting the insertion point at the start of my
>> document (or not doing that if the script is smart enough to do it for me),
>> then running the script/plugin/etc. I’d expect to see the TOC inserted at
>> the start of the document or just below the “title” (H1 header). Something
>> similar to the following...
>>
>> *Before*
>>
>> Document Title
>> ==============
>>
>> ---
>> ## Section One
>>
>> Blah
>>
>> ---
>> ## Section Two
>>
>> Blah blah
>>
>>
>>
>> *After without clickable links*
>>
>> Document Title
>> ==============
>>
>> ---
>> ## Table of Contents
>> 1. Section One
>> 2. Section Two
>>
>> ---
>> ## Section One
>>
>> Blah
>>
>> ---
>> ## Section Two
>>
>> Blah blah
>>
>>
>> *After with clickable links*
>>
>> Document Title
>> ==============
>>
>> ---
>> ## Table of Contents
>> 1. [Section One](#section-one)
>> 2. [Section Two](#section-two)
>>
>> —
>> <a name="section-one"></a>
>> ## Section One
>>
>> Blah
>>
>> ---
>> <a name=“section-two"></a>
>> ## Section Two
>>
>> Blah blah
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Craig
>>
>> On Aug 11, 2022, at 1:13 AM, Craig Maynard <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> The Jekyll gem uses a markdown processor called kramdown. When I want a
>> table of contents, I add this two-line directive to my markdown file:
>>
>> * TOC
>> {:toc}
>>
>> I suppose you could take a look at the source code for kramdown to see
>> how it works.
>>
>>
>> On Wednesday, August 10, 2022 at 5:26:05 PM UTC-4 craigh wrote:
>>
>>> I see that there are various methods of generating a markdown table of
>>> contents (TOC) in markdown-specific editors or via plugins/scripts.
>>>
>>> For example, if I include <!—TOC—> in my doc.md file, then open it in
>>> Marked 2, Marked 2 will generate and display a table of contents at the top
>>> of the document. Looking at the html generated by Marked 2 shows that it’s
>>> doing something fancy in that it’s adding ids to each heading (e.g., <h2
>>> id="documents">Documents</h2>) and then has some magic (to me) at the
>>> top (<div class="mkrelocated-toc"></div>) to show the TOC.
>>>
>>> What I’m really looking for is something (probably a script?) that I can
>>> run while editing the .md file in bbedit to generate the TOC directly in
>>> the .md file. I’m guessing that having the TOC update itself automatically
>>> is asking way too much but I’d be happy just being able to delete an old
>>> TOC and regenerate a new one manually.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Craig
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Craig Heilman
>>> Bugaboo Software
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> --
>> This is the BBEdit Talk public discussion group. If you have a feature
>> request or need technical support, please email "[email protected]"
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>> .
>>
>>
>> --
>> Craig Heilman
>> Bugaboo Software
>>
>>
>>
>>
> --
> This is the BBEdit Talk public discussion group. If you have a feature
> request or need technical support, please email "[email protected]"
> rather than posting here. Follow @bbedit on Twitter: <
> https://twitter.com/bbedit>
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> .
>
>
> --
> Craig Heilman
> Bugaboo Software
>
>
>
>
--
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or need technical support, please email "[email protected]" rather than
posting here. Follow @bbedit on Twitter: <https://twitter.com/bbedit>
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