@bartificer/linkify 2.3.5 → 2.4.1

package/README.md

@@ -8,61 +8,161 @@ Pull requests and issues are welcomed, but on the understanding that this is a v
 
 Given this reality, **do not use this repository for anything mission-critical!**.
 
-## Instalation
+# Intended Purpose & Key Features
 
-```sh
-npm install '@bartificer/linkifier';
-```
+This module's reason for existing is to take a URL, fetch and parse the web page's HTML to extract the page and section titles, pass the extracted data through a transformer function appropriate for the domain to extract the page's title, then render that to a link in any language using a desired template.
 
-## Examples
+This is not a module for simply converting a URL to a generic link. What makes it different is:
 
-This is an ES6 module, so when used with NPM, your scripts must have the `.mjs` file extension (to force ES module mode).
+1. Link titles are automatically exctracted from the actual web page using customiusable *data transformers*
+2. Links can be rendered in any language using customisible templates.
+3. Web page processing functions and output templates are associated with domain names in a DNS-aware way
 
-### Generate a Link from a URL Using all the Defaults
+Data transformers and templates are resolved using the DNS hierarchy. For example, if you register a data transformer for the domain `bartificer.ie`, and then you process a link on the `www.bartificer.ie` domain, the module will first check if there is a transformer registered for `www.bartificer.ie`, if not it will find the  one registered for `bartificer.ie` and use that. This means that the data transformer and template registered against the DNS root domain `.` acts as defaults for all domains that don't have their own custom settings.
 
+To use this module you will need to write your own NodeJS script that:
 
-Create a file named `demo.mjs` with the following content:
+1. Imports this module
+2. Registers your required templates and data transformers
+3. Invokes the module's link generation function
 
-```javascript
-// import the linkify module
-import linkify from '@bartificer/linkify';
+If this is more than you need, this module is not for you!
 
-// generate a link from a URL using the default template
-(async () => {
-    let link = await linkify.generateLink('https://pbs.bartificer.net/pbs128');
-    console.log(link);
-})();
-```
+# Instalation & Minimal NodeJS Example
+
+Before you begin, make sure you have [the latest LTS version of NodeJS](https://nodejs.org/en/download) installed!
+
+Create an empty folder and open a shell in that folder.
 
-Execute the script with `node`:
+First, install the module into your folder with the command:
 
 ```sh
-node demo.mjs
+npm install '@bartificer/linkifier';
 ```
 
-### Using the Bundled Templates
-
-The following demo code will generate a link using each of the bundled link templates:
+Test the module is working with a basic script that uses all the defaults and makes no customisations. Create a file named `test.mjs` with the following content:
 
 ```javascript
-// import the linkify module
-import linkify from '@bartificer/linkify';
-
-// get a list of all registered template names
-const templateNames = linkify.templateNames;
-console.log('registered templates:', templateNames);
+import { linkify } from '@bartificer/linkify';
 
-// iterate over each tempalte with an example URL
 (async () => {
-    let testURL = 'https://pbs.bartificer.net/pbs128';
-    for(let templateName of templateNames){
-        let link = await linkify.generateLink(testURL, templateName);
-        console.log(`- ${templateName}: ${link}`);
-    }
+    console.log(await linkify.generateLink('https://github.com/bartificer'));
 })();
 ```
 
-### Real-World Examples
+Execute this script with the command:
+
+```sh
+node ./examples/clipboardURLToMarkdown.mjs
+```
+
+This should print an HTML link to this module's Git repository.
+
+# Customising Link Generation
+
+The module is very much intended to be customised, and while the module has been designed to make your customisation code concise and as self-documenting as possible, it's vital to understand the module's process for generating links.
+
+## The Link Generation Process
+
+The module's `generateLink(url)` function is the primary entry point, and the only required argument is a URL.
+
+This URL will be converted to a `PageData` object which capture's the various titles and headings found on the page.
+
+Based on the URL's domain, a *data transformer* will be resolved, and that function will convert the `PageData` object to a `LinkData` object containing just the fields needed to render a link.
+
+Based on the URL's domain, a `LinkTemplate` will be resolved, and that template will be combined with the `LinkData` object to render the link.
+
+```mermaid
+flowchart TD
+    classDef inputNode fill:#090,color:#fff;
+    URL([fa:fa-circle-down URL]):::inputNode
+    TPLNAME([fa:fa-circle-down Template Name — Optional]):::inputNode
+
+    TPLMAP[(Domain → Default Template Mappings)]
+    TPLS[(Registered Tempaltes)]
+    TRANSMAP[(Domain → Transformer Mappings)]
+
+    FETCH{Try Fetch Page}
+    HAVETPLNAME{Template Name Specified?}
+    
+    PARSE[fa:fa-gears Parse]
+    REVSLUG[fa:fa-gears Reverse Slug]
+    RSLVTPLNAME[fa:fa-gears Resolve Template Name]
+    RSLVTPL[fa:fa-gears Resolve Template]
+    RSLVTRANS[fa:fa-gears Resolve Transformer]
+    TRANS[fa:fa-gears Transform]
+    RENDER[fa:fa-gears Render]
+
+    PDATA{{fa:fa-table-cells PageData Object}}
+    LDATA{{fa:fa-table-cells LinkData Object}}
+    TPLNAMESTR{{fa:fa-quote-left Template Name}}
+    TPLOBJ{{fa:fa-table-cells Template Object}}
+    TRANSFN{{fa:fa-code Transformer Function}}
+    
+    classDef outputNode fill:#090,color:#fff;
+    LINK([fa:fa-quote-left Link]):::outputNode
+
+    URL --> FETCH
+    TPLNAME --> HAVETPLNAME
+    FETCH -->|Success| PARSE
+    FETCH -->|Fail| REVSLUG
+    PARSE --> PDATA
+    REVSLUG --> PDATA
+    HAVETPLNAME -->|Yes| TPLNAMESTR
+    HAVETPLNAME -->|No| RSLVTPLNAME
+    TPLMAP --> RSLVTPLNAME
+    RSLVTPLNAME --> TPLNAMESTR
+    TPLNAMESTR --> RSLVTPL
+    RSLVTPL --> TPLOBJ
+    TPLS --> RSLVTPL
+    TRANSMAP --> RSLVTRANS
+    RSLVTRANS --> TRANSFN
+    PDATA --> TRANS
+    TRANSFN --> TRANS
+    TRANS --> LDATA
+    LDATA --> RENDER
+    TPLOBJ --> RENDER
+    RENDER --> LINK
+```
+
+## Customisation Points
+
+To customise the module effectively you'll need the API documentation — [bartificer.github.io/linkify](https://bartificer.github.io/linkify/).
+
+Before rendering links, you should do the following:
+
+1. Use an expanded import with at least the following:
+   ```javascript
+   import {linkify, LinkData, LinkTemplate} from '@bartificer/linkify';
+   ```
+2. If none of the out-of-the-box templates are appropriate (`linkify.templateNames` is the array of registered template names), register a custom template of you own and make it the defaukt. For example:
+   ```javascript
+   // register a template for Markdown links with an emoji pre-fixed
+   linkify.registerTemplate('md-emoji', '🔗 [{{{title}}}]({{{url}}})');
+
+   // make the new template the default for all domains
+   linkfiy.registerDefaultTemplateMapping('.', 'md-emoji');
+   ```
+3. If the default data transformer's logic does not fit with your needs, register a new default. For example:
+   ```javascript
+   linkify.registerTransformer('.', (pData) => { new LinkData(pData.url, pData.title.replace(/ · GitHub$/, ' on GitHub')) });
+   ```
+4. Register all needed domain-specific custom transformers. For Example:
+   ```javascript
+   linkify.RegisterTransformer('some.domain', (pData) => { new LinkData(pData.url, pData.h1s[1]) });
+   ```
+5. Very rarely, a different tempalte is required for a given domain, in that case, assign the desirec tempalte at the domain level. For example:
+   ```javascript
+   // create a special template for your home domain
+   linkify.registerTemplate('md-home', '🏠 [{{{title}}}]({{{url}}})');
+
+   // set that template as the default for just your domain (and its subdomains)
+   linkfiy.registerDefaultTemplateMapping('your.home.domain', 'md-home');
+   ```
+
+# Real-World Examples
+
+_**Note:** these examples are written to work on a development clone of the module, to use them outside of that, change the import statements to import from `'@bartificer/linkify'` rather than `'../dist.index.js'`. Alternatively, fork, download and build the module (`npm ci && npm run build`)._
 
 Two real-world scripts Bart users to build shownotes are included in [the `/example` folder in the GitHub repostitory](https://github.com/bartificer/linkify/tree/master/example):