Markdown ↔ HTML Link Converter

A Python script for the command line interface of your operating system to convert between Markdown links and HTML links.

The script supports:

Converting Markdown links to HTML links (-n or --normal). Converting HTML links to Markdown links (-m or --markdown). Adding target="_blank" to HTML links (-b or --blank).

Prerequisites:

Ensure you have Python 3.x installed. You can check by running:

python --version

If Python 3 is not installed, download it from python.org.

Download the Script:

Download the script convert_links.py from the repository.

Run the Script:

Open a terminal or command prompt. Navigate to the directory where convert_links.py is located. Run the script using Python:

python convert_links.py -h

This will display the help message and confirm that the script is working.

Usage

Basic Usage The script requires the following arguments:

-in or --input: Path to the input file.

-out or --output: Path to the output file.

One of the following mutually exclusive options:

-m or --markdown: Convert HTML links to Markdown links.

-n or --normal: Convert Markdown links to HTML links.

Optional: -b or --blank: Add target="_blank" to HTML links (only works with -n, as default Markdown does not support opening in a new tab or window).

Examples

1. Convert Markdown Links to HTML Links Input File (input.md):

Here is a link to [Google](https://www.google.com) and another to [GitHub](https://github.com).

Command:

python convert_links.py -in input.md -out output.html -n Output File (output.html):

Here is a link to <a href="https://www.google.com">Google</a> and another to <a href="https://github.com">GitHub</a>.

2. Convert HTML Links to Markdown Links Input File (input.html):

<p>Here is a link to <a href="https://www.google.com">Google</a> and another to <a href="https://github.com" target="_blank">GitHub</a>.</p>

Command:

python convert_links.py -in input.html -out output.md -m Output File (output.md):

<p>Here is a link to [Google](https://www.google.com) and another to [GitHub](https://github.com).</p>

3. Add target="_blank" to HTML Links

Input File (input.md):

Here is a link to [Google](https://www.google.com) and another to [GitHub](https://github.com).

Command:

python convert_links.py -in input.md -out output.html -n -b

Output File (output.html):

Here is a link to <a href="https://www.google.com" target="_blank">Google</a> and another to <a href="https://github.com" target="_blank">GitHub</a>.

Options

Flag Description -in, --input Path to the input file (required). -out, --output Path to the output file (required). -m, --markdown Convert HTML links to Markdown links. -n, --normal Convert Markdown links to HTML links. -b, --blank Add target="_blank" to HTML links (only works with -n).

Error Handling

The script includes error handling to make this a smoother experiences. Here are some common scenarios:

Input File Not Found:

If the input file does not exist, the script will exit with an error:

Error: The input file 'input.md' does not exist.

Output File Already Exists:

If the output file already exists, the script will prompt the user to confirm overwriting:

The file 'output.html' already exists. Overwrite? (y/n):

Invalid File Encoding:

If the input file is not UTF-8 encoded, the script will exit with an error:

Error: The input file 'input.md' could not be decoded as UTF-8.

No Links Found:

If the input file does not contain any links, the script will issue a warning:

Warning: The input file does not appear to contain Markdown links.

Keyboard Interrupt:

If the user interrupts the script (e.g., with Ctrl+C), it will exit gracefully:

Process interrupted by the user.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.