2

In this HTML source:

<html>
  <head>
<title>mark test</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>mark test</h1>
<pre>
  <code data-trim>
    def add(a,b):
        <mark>return</mark> a+b
  </code>
</pre>

</body>
</html>

<mark> is used to highlight some of the content of the <pre><code> block. The marked code is highlighted by being rendered in a different style.

How can something similar be achieved with org export to HTML in SRC and EXAMPLE blocks?

The following naive attempt does not work:

* Code

#+BEGIN_SRC python
  def fib(n):
      if n < 2:
          <mark>return</mark> 1
      return fib(n-1) + fib(n-2)
#+END_SRC

#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE
  def fib(n):
      if n < 2:
          <mark>return</mark> 1
      return fib(n-1) + fib(n-2)
#+END_EXAMPLE

[Bonus question: is there an HTML-independent way of highlighting parts of SRC and EXAMPLE blocks?]

Edit: as discussed in Picaud Vincent's answer the ref mechanism doesn't do the job, because of the requirements:

  • the highlight must be visible without the reader's intervention,
  • it must be possible to highlight portions of lines, not just entire lines.
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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

This is something the export filter functions are particularly suited for, because they kick in after htmlize. See (info "(org) Advanced configuration").

(defun org-html-add-mark-tag (src backend _info)
  (when (org-export-derived-backend-p backend 'html)
    (replace-regexp-in-string "{{{\\([^\n]+\\)}}}" "<mark>\\1</mark>" src)))
(add-to-list 'org-export-filter-src-block-functions 'org-html-add-mark-tag)

def fib(n):
    if n < 2:
        {{{return}}} 1 
    return fib(n-1) + fib(n-2)
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4
  • Very nice. I wouldn't be surprised if there are other mechanisms, and I wouldn't mind hearing about them, so I'll hold off accepting this answer for a little while. But this certainly points to a way of creating a very decent solution to my problem.
    – jacg
    Nov 1, 2017 at 8:48
  • Might you know how to make the idea work with org reveal? org-reveal-src-block seems to throw some spanner into the works for source blocks, and it's not clear to me how to work around it.
    – jacg
    Nov 1, 2017 at 14:35
  • ... this seems to happen when use-highlight in non-nil (which seems to be a consequence of #+REVEAL_PLUGINS: (highlight) which I would like to use). The relevant branch appears to neutralize #'org-html-htmlize-region-for-paste by temporarily replacing it with #'buffer-substring ... but It's not clear to me where to go from there.
    – jacg
    Nov 1, 2017 at 15:08
  • I'm not familiar with org-reveal, sorry.
    – mutbuerger
    Nov 3, 2017 at 12:27
1

AFAIK you can use http://orgmode.org/manual/Literal-examples.html for code block, but this is at the best only a partial answer to your question. I am not aware of such equivalent for BEGIN_EXAMPLE ... END_EXAMPLE block.

Code line highlight example:

If you html-export this org mode example, the return 1 line will be automatically highlighted if your cursor is over the "use the link". Moreover, you will jump to the code line if you click on it. 

#+TITLE: Highlight

#+BEGIN_SRC python -n -r
  def fib(n):
      if n < 2:
          return 1                                                (ref:my link)
      return fib(n-1) + fib(n-2)
#+END_SRC

Now you can [[(my link)][use the link]].
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2
  • Apologies, I should have mentioned up-front why this doesn't satisfy my requirements: a) I need the highlight without any intervention on the reader's behalf, while this requires hovering over the relevant line; b) I need to be able to highlight portions of a line while this highlights entire lines.
    – jacg
    Oct 31, 2017 at 8:08
  • @jacg no needs for apologies, writing my answer I feared that your real requirements were those you described in your comment. Unfortunately, I do not know how to do that. Maybe an alternative idea is to build your code incrementally orgmode.org/manual/noweb_002dref.html#noweb_002dref . This let you the opportunity to detail important parts.
    – Picaud Vincent
    Oct 31, 2017 at 9:26

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