Method -- new¶

    $toc = new HTML::GenToc();
    $toc = new HTML::GenToc(toc_entry=>\%my_toc_entry,
        toc_end=>\%my_toc_end,
        bak=>'bak',
        ...
        );

Creates a new HTML::GenToc object.

These arguments will be used as defaults in invocations of other methods.

See generate_tod for possible arguments.

generate_toc¶

    $toc->generate_toc(outfile=>"index2.html");
    my $result_str = $toc->generate_toc(to_string=>1);

Generates a table of contents for the significant elements in the HTML documents, optionally generating anchors for them first.

Options

bak

bak => string

If the input file/files is/are being overwritten (overwrite is on), copy the original file to "filename.string". If the value is empty, no backup file will be created. (default:org)

debug

debug => 1

Enable verbose debugging output. Used for debugging this module; in other words, don't bother. (default:off)

entrysep

entrysep => string

Separator string for non-<li> item entries (default: ", ")

filenames

filenames => \@filenames

The filenames to use when creating table-of-contents links. This overrides the filenames given in the input option, and is expected to have exactly the same number of elements. This can also be used when passing in string-content to the input option, to give a (fake) filename to use for the links relating to that content.

footer

footer => file_or_string

Either the filename of the file containing footer text for ToC; or a string containing the footer text.

header

header => file_or_string

Either the filename of the file containing header text for ToC; or a string containing the header text.

ignore_only_one

ignore_only_one => 1

If there would be only one item in the ToC, don't make a ToC.

ignore_sole_first

ignore_sole_first => 1

If the first item in the ToC is of the highest level, AND it is the only one of that level, ignore it. This is useful in web-pages where there is only one H1 header but one doesn't know beforehand whether there will be only one.

inline

inline => 1

Put ToC in document at a given point. See "Inlining the ToC" for more information.

input

input => \@filenames

input => $content

This is expected to be either a reference to an array of filenames, or a string containing content to process.

The three main uses would be:

notoc_match

notoc_match => string

If there are certain individual tags you don't wish to include in the table of contents, even though they match the "significant elements", then if this pattern matches contents inside the tag (not the body), then that tag will not be included, either in generating anchors nor in generating the ToC. (default: "class="notoc"")

ol

ol => 1

Use an ordered list for level 1 ToC entries.

ol_num_levels

ol_num_levels => 2

The number of levels deep the OL listing will go if ol is true. If set to zero, will use an ordered list for all levels. (default:1)

overwrite

overwrite => 1

Overwrite the input file with the output. (default:off)

outfile

outfile => file

File to write the output to. This is where the modified HTML output goes to. Note that it doesn't make sense to use this option if you are processing more than one file. If you give '-' as the filename, then output will go to STDOUT. (default: STDOUT)

quiet

quiet => 1

Suppress informative messages. (default: off)

textonly

textonly => 1

Use only text content in significant elements.

title

title => string

Title for ToC page (if not using header or inline or toc_only) (default: "Table of Contents")

toc_after

toc_after => \%toc_after_data

%toc_after_data = { tag1 => suffix1,
tag2 => suffix2
};

toc_after => { H2=>'</em>' }

For defining layout of significant elements in the ToC.

This expects a reference to a hash of tag=>suffix pairs.

The tag is the HTML tag which marks the start of the element. The suffix is what is required to be appended to the Table of Contents entry generated for that tag.

(default: undefined)

toc_before

toc_before => \%toc_before_data

%toc_before_data = { tag1 => prefix1,
tag2 => prefix2
};

toc_before=>{ H2=>'<em>' }

For defining the layout of significant elements in the ToC. The tag is the HTML tag which marks the start of the element. The prefix is what is required to be prepended to the Table of Contents entry generated for that tag.

(default: undefined)

toc_end

toc_end => \%toc_end_data

%toc_end_data = { tag1 => endtag1,
tag2 => endtag2
};

toc_end => { H1 => '/H1', H2 => '/H2' }

For defining significant elements. The tag is the HTML tag which marks the start of the element. The endtag the HTML tag which marks the end of the element. When matching in the input file, case is ignored (but make sure that all your tag options referring to the same tag are exactly the same!).

toc_entry

toc_entry => \%toc_entry_data

%toc_entry_data = { tag1 => level1,
tag2 => level2
};

toc_entry => { H1 => 1, H2 => 2 }

For defining significant elements. The tag is the HTML tag which marks the start of the element. The level is what level the tag is considered to be. The value of level must be numeric, and non-zero. If the value is negative, consective entries represented by the significant_element will be separated by the value set by entrysep option.

toclabel

toclabel => string

HTML text that labels the ToC. Always used. (default: "<h1>Table of Contents</h1>")

toc_tag

toc_tag => string

If a ToC is to be included inline, this is the pattern which is used to match the tag where the ToC should be put. This can be a start-tag, an end-tag or a comment, but the < should be left out; that is, if you want the ToC to be placed after the BODY tag, then give "BODY". If you want a special comment tag to make where the ToC should go, then include the comment marks, for example: "!--toc--" (default:BODY)

toc_tag_replace

toc_tag_replace => 1

In conjunction with toc_tag, this is a flag to say whether the given tag should be replaced, or if the ToC should be put after the tag. This can be useful if your toc_tag is a comment and you don't need it after you have the ToC in place. (default:false)

toc_only

toc_only => 1

Output only the Table of Contents, that is, the Table of Contents plus the toclabel. If there is a header or a footer, these will also be output.

If toc_only is false then if there is no header, and inline is not true, then a suitable HTML page header will be output, and if there is no footer and inline is not true, then a HTML page footer will be output.

(default:false)

to_string

to_string => 1

Return the modified HTML output as a string. This does override other methods of output (unlike version 3.00). If to_string is false, the method will return 1 rather than a string.

use_id

use_id => 1

Use id="name" for anchors rather than <a name="name"/> anchors. However if an anchor already exists for a Significant Element, this won't make an id for that particular element.

useorg

useorg => 1

Use pre-existing backup files as the input source; that is, files of the form infile.bak (see input and bak).

make_anchor_name¶

    $toc->make_anchor_name(content=>$content,
        anchors=>\%anchors);

Makes the anchor-name for one anchor. Bases the anchor on the content of the significant element. Ensures that anchors are unique.

make_anchors¶

    my $new_html = $toc->make_anchors(input=>$html,
        notoc_match=>$notoc_match,
        use_id=>$use_id,
        toc_entry=>\%toc_entries,
        toc_end=>\%toc_ends,
        );

Makes the anchors the given input string. Returns a string.

make_toc_list¶

    my @toc_list = $toc->make_toc_list(input=>$html,
        labels=>\%labels,
        notoc_match=>$notoc_match,
        toc_entry=>\%toc_entry,
        toc_end=>\%toc_end,
        filename=>$filename);

Makes a list of lists which represents the structure and content of (a portion of) the ToC from one file. Also updates a list of labels for the ToC entries.

build_lol¶

Build a list of lists of paths, given a list of hashes with info about paths.

output_toc¶

    $self->output_toc(toc=>$toc_str,
        input=>\@input,
        filenames=>\@filenames);

Put the output (whether to file, STDOUT or string). The "output" in this case could be the ToC, the modified (anchors added) HTML, or both.

put_toc_inline¶

    my $newhtml = $toc->put_toc_inline(toc_str=>$toc_str,
        filename=>$filename, in_string=>$in_string);

Puts the given toc_str into the given input string; returns a string.

cp¶

    cp($src, $dst);

Copies file $src to $dst. Used for making backups of files.

Formatting the ToC¶

The toc_entry and other related options give you control on how the ToC entries may look, but there are other options to affect the final appearance of the ToC file created.

With the header option, the contents of the given file (or string) will be prepended before the generated ToC. This allows you to have introductory text, or any other text, before the ToC.

Note:

If you use the header option, make sure the file specified contains the opening HTML tag, the HEAD element (containing the TITLE element), and the opening BODY tag. However, these tags/elements should not be in the header file if the inline option is used. See "Inlining the ToC" for information on what the header file should contain for inlining the ToC.

With the toclabel option, the contents of the given string will be prepended before the generated ToC (but after any text taken from a header file).

With the footer option, the contents of the file will be appended after the generated ToC.

Note:

If you use the footer, make sure it includes the closing BODY and HTML tags (unless, of course, you are using the inline option).

If the header option is not specified, the appropriate starting HTML markup will be added, unless the toc_only option is specified. If the footer option is not specified, the appropriate closing HTML markup will be added, unless the toc_only option is specified.

If you do not want/need to deal with header, and footer, files, then you are allowed to specify the title, title option, of the ToC file; and it allows you to specify a heading, or label, to put before ToC entries' list, the toclabel option. Both options have default values.

If you do not want HTML page tags to be supplied, and just want the ToC itself, then specify the toc_only option. If there are no header or footer files, then this will simply output the contents of toclabel and the ToC itself.

Inlining the ToC¶

The ability to incorporate the ToC directly into an HTML document is supported via the inline option.

Inlining will be done on the first file in the list of files processed, and will only be done if that file contains an opening tag matching the toc_tag value.

If overwrite is true, then the first file in the list will be overwritten, with the generated ToC inserted at the appropriate spot. Otherwise a modified version of the first file is output to either STDOUT or to the output file defined by the outfile option.

The options toc_tag and toc_tag_replace are used to determine where and how the ToC is inserted into the output.

Example 1

    $toc->generate_toc(inline=>1,
                       toc_tag => 'BODY',
                       toc_tag_replace => 0,
                       ...
                       );

This will put the generated ToC after the BODY tag of the first file. If the header option is specified, then the contents of the specified file are inserted after the BODY tag. If the toclabel option is not empty, then the text specified by the toclabel option is inserted. Then the ToC is inserted, and finally, if the footer option is specified, it inserts the footer. Then the rest of the input file follows as it was before.

Example 2

    $toc->generate_toc(inline=>1,
                       toc_tag => '!--toc--',
                       toc_tag_replace => 1,
                       ...
                       );

This will put the generated ToC after the first comment of the form <!--toc-->, and that comment will be replaced by the ToC (in the order
header
toclabel
ToC
footer) followed by the rest of the input file.

Note:

The header file should not contain the beginning HTML tag and HEAD element since the HTML file being processed should already contain these tags/elements.