Ordered and unordered lists

[robinmitra]

Thank you for your work on this library!

Do you have any plans for implementing ordered and unordered lists?

[tomekzaw]

Hello and thanks for opening this issue.

Do you have any plans for implementing ordered and unordered lists?

Currently, we don't support ordered and unordered lists. This is mostly because currently the library uses a hard-coded Markdown parser called ExpensiMark and it does not have this feature.

However, in the future, library users will be able to pass custom Markdown parser and use custom styles for formatting so theoretically this should be possible.

If you need this feature now, I think it should be pretty straightforward to extend this library in terms of Markdown parser as well as on the native side. If you need any guidance, I could provide you exact steps how to do that.

I will keep you updated on that.

[robinmitra]

Thanks for coming back to me, yes I think I'd like some guidance on extending this library for supporting these feature. Appreciate the help 🙌🏼

[tomekzaw]

Sure! First you'll need to make changes in the JS parser here: https://github.com/Expensify/react-native-live-markdown/blob/main/parser/index.ts There's a function called parseExpensiMarkToRanges that accepts a string with the message and returns an array of styled ranges. Don't forget to bundle the code with yarn build and test it with yarn test.

Once that's complete, you'll need to implement the actual styling logic on the native side.

For iOS, you'll need to edit this file:

react-native-live-markdown/ios/RCTMarkdownUtils.mm

Lines 97 to 136 in 457a90c

	if ([type isEqualToString:@"syntax"]) {
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.syntaxColor range:range];
	} else if ([type isEqualToString:@"strikethrough"]) {
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSStrikethroughStyleAttributeName value:[NSNumber numberWithInteger:NSUnderlineStyleSingle] range:range];
	} else if ([type isEqualToString:@"code"]) {
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.codeColor range:range];
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSBackgroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.codeBackgroundColor range:range];
	} else if ([type isEqualToString:@"mention-here"]) {
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.mentionHereColor range:range];
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSBackgroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.mentionHereBackgroundColor range:range];
	} else if ([type isEqualToString:@"mention-user"]) {
	// TODO: change mention color when it mentions current user
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.mentionUserColor range:range];
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSBackgroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.mentionUserBackgroundColor range:range];
	} else if ([type isEqualToString:@"mention-report"]) {
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.mentionReportColor range:range];
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSBackgroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.mentionReportBackgroundColor range:range];
	} else if ([type isEqualToString:@"link"]) {
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSUnderlineStyleAttributeName value:[NSNumber numberWithInteger:NSUnderlineStyleSingle] range:range];
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.linkColor range:range];
	} else if ([type isEqualToString:@"blockquote"]) {
	CGFloat indent = (_markdownStyle.blockquoteMarginLeft + _markdownStyle.blockquoteBorderWidth + _markdownStyle.blockquotePaddingLeft) * depth;
	NSMutableParagraphStyle *paragraphStyle = [NSMutableParagraphStyle new];
	paragraphStyle.firstLineHeadIndent = indent;
	paragraphStyle.headIndent = indent;
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSParagraphStyleAttributeName value:paragraphStyle range:range];
	[_blockquoteRangesAndLevels addObject:@{
	@"range": [NSValue valueWithRange:range],
	@"depth": @(depth)
	}];
	} else if ([type isEqualToString:@"pre"]) {
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.preColor range:range];
	NSRange rangeForBackground = [inputString characterAtIndex:range.location] == '\n' ? NSMakeRange(range.location + 1, range.length - 1) : range;
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSBackgroundColorAttributeName value:_markdownStyle.preBackgroundColor range:rangeForBackground];
	// TODO: pass background color and ranges to layout manager
	} else if ([type isEqualToString:@"h1"]) {
	NSMutableParagraphStyle *paragraphStyle = [NSMutableParagraphStyle new];
	NSRange rangeWithHashAndSpace = NSMakeRange(range.location - 2, range.length + 2); // we also need to include prepending "# "
	[attributedString addAttribute:NSParagraphStyleAttributeName value:paragraphStyle range:rangeWithHashAndSpace];
	}

For Android, you'll need to make changes here:

react-native-live-markdown/android/src/main/java/com/expensify/livemarkdown/MarkdownUtils.java

Lines 105 to 168 in 457a90c

	switch (type) {
	case "bold":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownBoldSpan(), start, end);
	break;
	case "italic":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownItalicSpan(), start, end);
	break;
	case "strikethrough":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownStrikethroughSpan(), start, end);
	break;
	case "emoji":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownEmojiSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getEmojiFontSize()), start, end);
	break;
	case "mention-here":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownForegroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getMentionHereColor()), start, end);
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownBackgroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getMentionHereBackgroundColor()), start, end);
	break;
	case "mention-user":
	// TODO: change mention color when it mentions current user
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownForegroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getMentionUserColor()), start, end);
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownBackgroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getMentionUserBackgroundColor()), start, end);
	break;
	case "mention-report":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownForegroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getMentionReportColor()), start, end);
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownBackgroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getMentionReportBackgroundColor()), start, end);
	break;
	case "syntax":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownForegroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getSyntaxColor()), start, end);
	break;
	case "link":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownUnderlineSpan(), start, end);
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownForegroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getLinkColor()), start, end);
	break;
	case "code":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownFontFamilySpan(mMarkdownStyle.getCodeFontFamily(), mAssetManager), start, end);
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownFontSizeSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getCodeFontSize()), start, end);
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownForegroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getCodeColor()), start, end);
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownBackgroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getCodeBackgroundColor()), start, end);
	break;
	case "pre":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownFontFamilySpan(mMarkdownStyle.getPreFontFamily(), mAssetManager), start, end);
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownFontSizeSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getPreFontSize()), start, end);
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownForegroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getPreColor()), start, end);
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownBackgroundColorSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getPreBackgroundColor()), start, end);
	break;
	case "h1":
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownBoldSpan(), start, end);
	CustomLineHeightSpan[] spans = ssb.getSpans(0, ssb.length(), CustomLineHeightSpan.class);
	if (spans.length >= 1) {
	int lineHeight = spans[0].getLineHeight();
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownLineHeightSpan(lineHeight * 1.5f), start, end);
	}
	// NOTE: size span must be set after line height span to avoid height jumps
	setSpan(ssb, new MarkdownFontSizeSpan(mMarkdownStyle.getH1FontSize()), start, end);
	break;
	case "blockquote":
	MarkdownBlockquoteSpan span = new MarkdownBlockquoteSpan(
	mMarkdownStyle.getBlockquoteBorderColor(),
	mMarkdownStyle.getBlockquoteBorderWidth(),
	mMarkdownStyle.getBlockquoteMarginLeft(),
	mMarkdownStyle.getBlockquotePaddingLeft(),
	depth);
	setSpan(ssb, span, start, end);
	break;

FYI We also offer consulting services, so if you need some more help with extending this library, we'd be more than happy to do so, just drop us a line at [email protected].

[robinmitra]

Thank you! I'll give it a try this weekend.