Nested parens in inline markup

On Thu, 2015-02-05 at 12:37 -0500, Shaun McCance wrote:
> https://github.com/projectmallard/mallard-ducktype/issues/1
> 
> = Inline Test
> Let’s put nested non-syntax brackets in an inline: $code(AddContact(ss)
> → (u)).
> 
> The first ) is parsed as closing the $code(. The correct way to write
> this right now is $code(AddContact(ss$) → (u$)), escaping the right
> parens. I could see this being a common gotcha, because parentheses are
> rather common. Options:
> 
> 1) Leave it as-is. Markup is markup, and sometimes you have to escape
> stuff.
> 
> 2) Change the bracket characters to {}, which are less common in normal
> prose (though more common in code): $code{AddContact(ss) → (u)}.

Eww, that would make things look ugly. I quite like Ducktype as it
appears now.

> 3) Let you choose between {} and () for the bracket characters. I think
> this is unambiguous, though I'd have to write the parsing code to be
> sure.

That would require as much input/thought from the document author as
manually escaping the closing parens, but would be as ugly as option
(2).

> 4) Let you optionally double up parens to avoid escaping:
> $code((AddContact(ss) → (u$))). Oops, still doesn't help when the
> non-markup right paren is at the end. Also, if your content begins with
> a left paren, you'll have to escape that to avoid the parser thinking
> you've done double parens.

Also requires as much thought as options (2) and (3) and, as you say, is
flaky.

> 5) Keep track of non-markup parens so that $code(AddContact(ss) → (u))
> actually works. I don't know if any other format does this. Seems simple
> on the surface, but it could get hairy. Imagine a situation where you're
> putting markup around unbalanced expressions:
> WRONG:   $em(()parenthesized text where the parens are italic$em())
> WITH #1: $em(()parenthesized text where the parens are italic$em($))
> WITH #5: $em($()parenthesized text where the parens are italic$em($))

My vote would be for this, since it would lead to the most natural
markup in common situations. One thing we could do is only enable it for
some inline elements which we expect to typically require it. e.g.
Assume balanced bracketing within $code() and $cmd() elements, but not
within $em() or $link() (for example).

Philip
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 213 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <http://projectmallard.org/pipermail/mallard-list/attachments/20150205/8126177d/attachment.sig>