[Python-markdown-discuss] Limitations of inlinePatterns

[Waylan L. <wa...@gm...>]

We have a few bugs in our tracker that highlight a limitation of the
inlinePatterns. I'd like some feedback about which behavior is
preferred or if we should look for a different way of doing things.

Currently, it's only possible for one of the following to work in
python-markdown:

    A bold [**link**](http://example.com) currently works fine.

    A **bold [link](http://example.com)**  currently does not work.

For those that care, here's why:

Markdown parses the first line and finds the link. The label
`**link**` is then run through all remaining inlinePatterns and
properly identified as bold text.

The second line is parsed and, as the link pattern is run first, the
link is found and a link element is created. That line of text is now
represented as the following list in python:

    ["A **bold ", <markdown.element>, "** currently does not work.\n"]

Any remaining patterns are then run against each string in that list.
The problem should be obvious by now. The opening and closing `**` are
in separate strings split by the link element, so no match is made.
Finally, the list is looped through and any remaining strings are
converted to textnodes and the entire thing is added to the dom inside
a paragraph element.

The easy solution is to reverse the order of the inlinePatterns. But
then we can't do the first example as the link syntax is broken up in
the same way. Now, if no one ever uses that syntax, that would be
fine. Of course, both should work, so we may need a new approach to
the inlinePatterns. Any ideas?

-- 
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Waylan Limberg
wa...@gm...