[HN Gopher] Pikchr - PIC-like markup language for diagrams in te...
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       Pikchr - PIC-like markup language for diagrams in technical
       documentation
        
       Author : leonim
       Score  : 26 points
       Date   : 2022-01-12 17:07 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (pikchr.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (pikchr.org)
        
       | OJFord wrote:
       | > Pikchr is designed to be embedded in fenced code blocks of
       | Markdown
       | 
       | Odd choice, usually that's how you'd show the (possibly syntax-
       | highlighted) code as-is, not execute/render it in situ.
       | 
       | E.g. what if I want a document that says 'this pikchr code
       | generates this'? I'd expect to write something like:
       | ```pikchr         arrow 200% "whatever"         ```
       | renders:         $pikchr         arrow 200% "whatever"         $
       | 
       | (Or some other syntax) not the code block twice, once with some
       | kind of escaping.
        
         | kragen wrote:
         | That's maybe the most interesting idea out of the whole setup!
         | 
         | You could reasonably put options on the fenced-code-block
         | header line:                   ```pikchr --source         ...
         | ```              ```pikchr --caption  # caption rendered figure
         | with source         ...         ```
         | 
         | I don't know if pikchr supports anything like this, but it
         | seems like you could add it pretty easily if you wanted to.
        
       | electroly wrote:
       | Pikchr is really great. The syntax looks strange at first, but
       | the learning curve is actually low. Within 5 minutes of looking
       | at the pikchr source of some SQLite diagrams, you'll get it. I
       | use it to produce railroad syntax diagrams in the same style as
       | the ones in the SQLite docs. I don't use the Markdown
       | integration; I just generate SVGs using PikchrShow[0] and treat
       | them as images in my HTML-based docs.
       | 
       | [0] https://pikchr.org/home/pikchrshow
        
       | paulsmith wrote:
       | If it's not immediately apparent, Pikchr is by SQLite creator D.
       | Richard Hipp, and is how SQLite's syntax diagrams are generated
       | on its website.
       | 
       | It's a great little diagram language that's quite capable, and I
       | think of it like a modern web upgrade to Brian Kernighan's PIC.
        
       | fabiospampinato wrote:
       | Pikchr is awesome! I'll just mention that the Markdown-based
       | note-taking app I'm working on as far as I know is the only app
       | on the planet that can syntax-highlight Pikchr code:
       | https://github.com/notable/notable-insiders/releases/tag/v1....
        
       | otherflavors wrote:
       | contrary to pikchr documentation, troff is not obsolete
        
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       (page generated 2022-01-12 23:02 UTC)