= AsciiDoc Syntax

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:page-partial:


This page describes the main syntax conventions when writing Asciidoctor/AsciiDoc.

For more info, see:

//* link:asciidoc-syntax-quick-reference.pdf[asciidoc-syntax-quick-reference.pdf]
//
//* link:asciidoc-writers-guide.pdf[asciidoc-writers-guide.pdf]

* link:https://powerman.name/doc/asciidoc[online cheat sheet]

* link:http://asciidoctor.org/docs/user-manual[asciidoctor online user manual]

* link:http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/userguide.html[asciidoc online user manual]


== Headings

The number of preceding `=` signs indicates the heading level.

[cols="3a,2a", options="header"]
|===

| Syntax
| Meaning

|....
= Level 1
....

|There can only be one level 1 per .adoc (at the very top).

The paragraph immediately following the heading is the "preamble", and is rendered in a larger font.
It's therefore a good place to summarize the content of the document.

|....
== Level 2
....

|Level 2

|....
=== Level 3
....

|Level 3

|....
==== Level 4
....
|Level 4

|===


== Paragraphs

[cols="3a,2a", options="header"]
|===

| Syntax
| Example

|....
Paragraphs are separated by one or more blank lines.

So, this is a separate paragraph.
....

|Paragraphs are separated by one or more blank lines.

So, this is a separate paragraph.


|....
All consecutive sentences are rendered in the same paragraph.
This is another sentence in the para.
And another one.
Yet another.
....

|Sentences without a blank line are in the same paragraph.
Don't worry about word wrapping, just start the next sentence on the next line.

|===


In general, there's no need to indent paragraphs; keep things left-aligned.
Let the markup specify the logical indentation.

.Start each sentence on a new line
****
Don't worry about wrapping sentences at 80 characters, just start each new sentence on a new line.
AsciiDoc will take care of the rendering.

This simple tip has a number of other benefits:

1. when the document is edited (eg correct a typo or insert a missing word), then only a single line in the file is changed. +
+
This will reduce change of merge conflicts, too.

2. You can easily see if a sentence is too long, and should be split

3. You can easily see if all sentences are the same length: good writing should vary the length of sentences

4. You can easily see if successive sentences start with the same phrase (that might be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending).

****


== Bulleted lists

[cols="3a,2a", options="header"]
|===

| Syntax
| Example

|....
The blank line after this para is required:

* Bullet 1 +
+
Indented paragraph (note the '+' to to chain this para with the bullet)

* Bullet 2

** Child bullets +
+
More indenting

** Another child bullet

* Bullet 3
....

|The blank line after this para is required:

* Bullet 1 +
+
Indented paragraph (note the '+' to chain this para with the bullet)

* Bullet 2

** Child bullets +
+
More indenting

** Another child bullet

* Bullet 3

|===


== Numbered lists

There's no need to keep track of numbers, just use '1' or 'a' etc:

[cols="3a,2a", options="header"]
|===

| Syntax
| Example

|....
The blank line after this para is required:

1. Bullet 1 +
+
Indented paragraph

2. Bullet 2

a. Child bullets +
+
More indenting

b. Another child bullet

3. Bullet 3
....

|The blank line after this para is required:

1. Bullet 1 +
+
Indented paragraph

2. Bullet 2

a. Child bullets +
+
More indenting

b. Another child bullet

3. Bullet 3

|===

While it isn't necessary to maintain the ordering manually (could just use '1' for all bullets), this does generate warnings when the document is built.


== Links and Cross-references

[cols="3a,2a,3a", options="header"]
|===

| Syntax
| Example
| Purpose

|....
link:http://ciserver:8080[CI Server]
....
|link:http://ciserver:8080[CI Server]
|Link to an external hyperlink

|....
link:http://ciserver:8080[CI Server^]
....
|link:http://ciserver:8080[CI Server^]
|Link to an external hyperlink, with `target=blank`

|....
xref:conguide:ROOT:about.adoc#contributors-guide[background]
....
|xref:conguide:ROOT:about.adoc#contributors-guide[background]
|Cross-reference to section in Antora document


|===



== Tables

....
.Some table
[cols="3a,2a", options="header"]
|===

| Header col 1
| Header col 2

| Row 1 col 1
| Row 1 col 2

| Row 2 col 1
| Row 2 col 2

|===
....

renders as:

.Some table
[cols="3a,2a", options="header"]
|===

| Header col 1
| Header col 2

| Row 1 col 1
| Row 1 col 2

| Row 2 col 1
| Row 2 col 2

|===

where:

* the `cols` attribute says how many columns there are and their respective widths.
* the "a" suffix indicates that the contents is parsed as AsciiDoc

=== Column Attributes

Other options are (link:http://mrhaki.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/awesome-asciidoctor-styling-columns-and.html[credit]):

* e: emphasized
* a: AsciiDoc markup
* m: monospace
* h: header style, all column values are styled as header
* s: strong
* l: literal, text is shown in monospace font and line breaks are kept
* d: default
* v: verse, keeps line breaks

For example:

....
.Table with column style e,a,m
[cols="e,a,m"]
|===
| Emphasized (e) | AsciiDoc (a) | Monospaced (m)

| Asciidoctor
| NOTE: *Awesome* way to write documentation
| It is just code

|===
....

renders as

.Table with column style e,a,m
[cols="e,a,m"]
|===
| Emphasized (e) | AsciiDoc (a) | Monospaced (m)

| Asciidoctor
| NOTE: *Awesome* way to write documentation
| It is just code

|===

and:

....
.Table with column style h,s,l
[cols="h,s,l"]
|===
| Header (h) | Strong (s) | Literal (l)

| Asciidoctor
| Awesome way to write documentation
| It is
just code

|===
....

renders as

.Table with column style h,s,l
[cols="h,s,l"]
|===
| Header (h) | Strong (s) | Literal (l)

| Asciidoctor
| Awesome way to write documentation
| It is
just code

|===

and:

....
.Table with column style d,v
[cols="d,v"]
|===
| Default (d) | Verse (v)

| Asciidoctor
| Awesome way
to write
documentation

|===
....

renders as

.Table with column style d,v
[cols="d,v"]
|===
| Default (d) | Verse (v)

| Asciidoctor
| Awesome way
to write
documentation

|===


=== Column Alignment

This can be combined with alignment markers (link:http://mrhaki.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/awesome-asciidoctor-table-column-and.html[credit]):

* <: top align values (default)
* >: bottom align values
* ^: center values

For example:

....
[cols="^.>,<.<,>.^", options="header"]
|===

| Name
| Description
| Version

| Asciidoctor
| Awesome way to write documentation
| 1.5.0
|===
....

renders as:

[cols="^.>,<.<,>.^", options="header"]
|===

| Name
| Description
| Version

| Asciidoctor
| Awesome way to write documentation
| 1.5.0
|===

where:

* the first column is centered and bottom aligned,
* the second column is left and top aligned and
* the third column is right aligned and centered vertically.


=== Column/Row Spanning

We can also have columns or rows spanning multiple cells (link:http://mrhaki.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/awesome-asciidoctor-span-cell-over-rows.html[credit]):

For example:

....
.Cell spans columns
|===
| Name | Description

| Asciidoctor
| Awesome way to write documentation

2+| The statements above say it all

|===
....

renders as:


.Cell spans columns
|===
| Name | Description

| Asciidoctor
| Awesome way to write documentation

2+| The statements above say it all

|===

The `N+` sign notation tells Asciidoctor to span this cell over N columns.


while:

....
.Cell spans rows
|===
| Name | Description

.2+| Asciidoctor
| Awesome way to write documentation

| Works on the JVM

|===
....

renders as:


.Cell spans rows
|===
| Name | Description

.2+| Asciidoctor
| Awesome way to write documentation

| Works on the JVM

|===

The `.N+` notation tells Asciidoctor to span this cell over N rows.


and:

....
.Cell spans both rows and columns
|===

| Row 1, Col 1 | Row 1, Col 2 | Row 1, Col 3

2.2+| Cell spans 2 cols, 2 rows
| Row 2, Col 3
| Row 3, Col 3

|===
....

renders as:

.Cell spans both rows and columns
|===

| Row 1, Col 1 | Row 1, Col 2 | Row 1, Col 3

2.2+| Cell spans 2 cols, 2 rows
| Row 2, Col 3
| Row 3, Col 3

|===

The `N.M+` notation tells Asciidoctor to span this cell over N columns and M rows.



== Admonitions

Callout or highlight content of particular note.

[cols="3a,2a", options="header"]
|===

| Syntax
| Example

|....
NOTE: the entire note must be a single sentence.
....

|NOTE: the entire note must be a single sentence.

|....
[NOTE]
====
the note is multiple paragraphs, and can have all the usual styling,
* eg bullet points:
* etc etc
====
....

|
[NOTE]
====
the note is multiple paragraphs, and can have all the usual styling,

* eg bullet points:
* etc etc
====

|....
[TIP]
====
Here's something worth knowing...
====
....

|
[TIP]
====
Here's something worth knowing...
====


|....
[WARNING]
====
Be careful...
====
....

|
[WARNING]
====
Be careful...
====

|....
[IMPORTANT]
====
Don't forget...
====
....

|
[IMPORTANT]
====
Don't forget...
====

|===


== Source code

Use `[source]` macro to specify source content:

....
[source,powershell]
----
get-command -module BomiArtifact
----
....

will render as:

[source,powershell]
----
get-command -module BomiArtifact
----

Some languages support syntax highlighting.
For example:

....
[source,java]
----
public class SomeClass extends SomeOtherClass {
    ...
}
----
....

will render as:

[source,java]
----
public class SomeClass extends SomeOtherClass {
    ...
}
----

Callouts can also be added using an appropriate comment syntax.
For example:

....
[source,java]
----
public class SomeClass
                extends SomeOtherClass {        // \<1>
    public static void main(String[] args) {    // \<2>
        ...
    }
}
----
<1> inherits from `SomeOtherClass`
<2> entry point into the program
....

will render as:

[source,java]
----
public class SomeClass
                extends SomeOtherClass {        //<1>
    public static void main(String[] args) {    //<2>
        ...
    }
}
----
<1> inherits from `SomeOtherClass`
<2> entry point into the program


and

....
[source,xml]
----
<a>
    <b c="foo"/>     \<!--1-->
</a>
----
<1> some comment
....

renders as:

[source,xml]
----
<a>
    <b c="foo"/>     <!--1-->
</a>
----
<1> some comment


It's also possible to include source code snippets; see the guides linked previously


== Images

Use the `image:` macro to reference images.
For example:

....
image:vscode.png[]
....

To make the image clickable, add in the `link` attribute:

....
image:vscode.png[link="{attachmentsdir}/some-doc.pdf"]
....



It's also possible to specify the width using `scaledwidth` (for PDF/HTML) or `width` and `height` (for HTML only).

For example:

....
image:vscode.png[width="800px"]
....



== Child Documents


Use the `include:` macro to break up a document into multiple sections.

The `leveloffset=+1` means that each included file's heading levels are automatically adjusted.
The net effect is that all documents can and should use heading 1 as their top-level.


== Metadata

The top-level document must include the `_basedir` attribute; this points to the parent directory `src/main/asciidoc`.
This attribute is set immediately after the top-level heading.

In addition, the `:toc:` adds a table of contents.

For example, the `setting-up/concepts/concepts.adoc` file starts:

[source,asciidoc]
----
[[concepts]]
= Concepts
:_basedir: ../../

...
----



== Diagrams

Asciidoctor supports numerous diagram types through the link:https://github.com/Mogztter/asciidoctor-kroki[asciidoctor-kroki] plugin.

This calls the link:https://kroki.io/[kroki] online service (it can also be link:https://kroki.io/#install[installed] to run on-prem) which generates diagrams from textual markup.

PlantUml, PlantUML + C4, ditaa, graphviz and numerous other formats are supported.
The sections below provide examples of some of these.


=== UML diagrams

Asciidoctor includes support for the link:http://plantuml.com/[plantuml], allowing simple UML diagrams to be easily sketched.

[TIP]
====
for much more on the layout of plantuml diagrams, see https://crashedmind.github.io/PlantUMLHitchhikersGuide/layout/layout.html
====

For example:

....
[plantuml]
----
class Car

Driver - Car : drives >
Car *- Wheel : have 4 >
Car -- Person : < owns
----
....

renders as:

[plantuml]
----
class Car

Driver - Car : drives >
Car *- Wheel : have 4 >
Car -- Person : < owns
----


=== C4 diagrams

Asciidoctor includes support for the link:https://c4model.com//[c4 model].

For example:

....
[c4plantuml,c4-demo,svg]
----
@startuml
!includeurl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RicardoNiepel/C4-PlantUML/master/C4_Container.puml

title System Context diagram for Internet Banking System

Person(customer, "Banking Customer", "A customer of the bank, with personal bank accounts.")
System(banking_system, "Internet Banking System", "Allows customers to check their accounts.")

System_Ext(mail_system, "E-mail system", "The internal Microsoft Exchange e-mail system.")
System_Ext(mainframe, "Mainframe Banking System", "Stores all of the core banking information.")

Rel(customer, banking_system, "Uses")
Rel_Back(customer, mail_system, "Sends e-mails to")
Rel_Neighbor(banking_system, mail_system, "Sends e-mails", "SMTP")
Rel(banking_system, mainframe, "Uses")
@enduml
----
....

renders as:

[c4plantuml,c4-demo,svg]
----
@startuml
!includeurl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RicardoNiepel/C4-PlantUML/master/C4_Container.puml

title System Context diagram for Internet Banking System

Person(customer, "Banking Customer", "A customer of the bank, with personal bank accounts.")
System(banking_system, "Internet Banking System", "Allows customers to check their accounts.")

System_Ext(mail_system, "E-mail system", "The internal Microsoft Exchange e-mail system.")
System_Ext(mainframe, "Mainframe Banking System", "Stores all of the core banking information.")

Rel(customer, banking_system, "Uses")
Rel_Back(customer, mail_system, "Sends e-mails to")
Rel_Neighbor(banking_system, mail_system, "Sends e-mails", "SMTP")
Rel(banking_system, mainframe, "Uses")
@enduml
----


=== Ditaa diagrams

Asciidoctor includes support for the link:http://ditaa.sourceforge.net/[ditaa], allowing boxes-and-lines diagrams to be easily sketched.

For example:

....
[ditaa,images/asciidoctor/ditaa-demo,png]
----
    +--------+   +-------+    +-------+
    |        | --+ ditaa +--> |       |
    |  Text  |   +-------+    |diagram|
    |Document|   |!magic!|    |       |
    |     {d}|   |       |    |       |
    +---+----+   +-------+    +-------+
        :                         ^
        |       Lots of work      |
        +-------------------------+
----
....

renders as:

[ditaa,images/asciidoctor/ditaa-demo,png]
----
    +--------+   +-------+    +-------+
    |        | --+ ditaa +--> |       |
    |  Text  |   +-------+    |diagram|
    |Document|   |!magic!|    |       |
    |     {d}|   |       |    |       |
    +---+----+   +-------+    +-------+
        :                         ^
        |       Lots of work      |
        +-------------------------+
----


=== Graphviz diagrams


Asciidoctor includes support for the link:http://ditaa.sourceforge.net/[ditaa], allowing boxes-and-lines diagrams to be easily sketched.

For example:

....
[graphviz,images/asciidoctor/graphviz-demo,png]
----
digraph automata_0 {
  size ="8.5, 11";
  node [shape = circle];
  0 [ style = filled, color=lightgrey ];
  2 [ shape = doublecircle ];
  0 -> 2 [ label = "a " ];
  0 -> 1 [ label = "other " ];
  1 -> 2 [ label = "a " ];
  1 -> 1 [ label = "other " ];
  2 -> 2 [ label = "a " ];
  2 -> 1 [ label = "other " ];
  "Machine: a" [ shape = plaintext ];
}
----
....

renders as:

[graphviz,images/asciidoctor/graphviz-demo,png]
----
digraph automata_0 {
  size ="8.5, 11";
  node [shape = circle];
  0 [ style = filled, color=lightgrey ];
  2 [ shape = doublecircle ];
  0 -> 2 [ label = "a " ];
  0 -> 1 [ label = "other " ];
  1 -> 2 [ label = "a " ];
  1 -> 1 [ label = "other " ];
  2 -> 2 [ label = "a " ];
  2 -> 1 [ label = "other " ];
  "Machine: a" [ shape = plaintext ];
}
----

[IMPORTANT]
====
This requires graphviz to be installed and the `dot.exe` on the PATH.
Alternatively, specify the location, eg using:

....
:graphvizdot: c:\Program Files (x86)\Graphviz2.38\bin\dot.exe
....
====


=== diagrams.net (draw.io) diagrams

Rather than describing diagrams in text format, an alternative is to just draw the diagrams using the link:https://www.diagrams.net/[diagrams.net] editor
(previously called draw.io).

You can find an example of a class diagram drawn this way in the xref:core:metamodel:class-diagram.adoc[internal design docs] for `core/metamodel` module.

If using IntelliJ, the link:https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/15635-diagrams-net-integration[diagrams.net] plugin embeds this within the IDE, and works seamlessly with the Asciidoctor plugin.

Diagrams can be saved in either `.svg` or `.png` format.
