Code formatting

[DudeMcGee]

When I format passages in a note as code, either with the inline code or the [code] feature, spaces get lost when the note has been saved and is displayed for reading.

Is there any method to do some classical typewriter-style formatting which will be kept when the note is displayed?

Thx a lot, greetings!

[mateusbraga]

Hi @DudeMcGee,

Some questions to clarify as I didn't understand the bug.

• What is the "inline code" you mentioned?
• Can you share an example of the spaces getting lost?

If possible, some screenshots of what you typed, what happened to it, and what you are looking for.

Regards!

[DudeMcGee]

I have created two screenshots, one shows the edit window and the other one shows the normal view on notes. I have chosen a fixed font to view my notes.

In the Format menu you find two items, Code and Inline Code, to format code. Only Ctrl-Alt-C works as expected for me.

I'd like to have white spaces kept, esp. if the view font is a fixed font but obviously they get lost in the process of storing the note. The whole issue isn't a big problem, I can get my work done using Menu -> Format -> Code (Ctrl-Alt-C).

Thanks for your attention, my best wishes to the team!

[mateusbraga]

Thanks for the screenshots.

I am new to this part of the code. I am going to write here what I understood. Feel free to skip this part if you want:

• We convert the note_text from the edit window to HTML and display it.
• HTML ignores white spaces normally, that is why the naked ascii example doesn't have the white spaces.
• [code] becomes <pre>. HTML respects the white spaces inside this. (reference)
• ` becomes <code>, which seems to be to force a monospace font but not only that. (reference)
• The Notes Section of the reference link for <code> recommends wrapping it with <pre> if you need multiline support. (This is odd.)

Regarding how to proceed with this issue:

• I am writing this comment on Github, and it also doesn't support ` across lines. Nor does it respect whitespaces. So I think "inline code format" is indeed how it is in Zettelkasten.
• About putting time on changing this, I think time would be better spent migrating Zettelkasten to Markdown instead of tweaking the current conversion to html.

So I think you should use [code] for this particular use case in the meanwhile. When support to Markdown arrives, it should be better. (Markdown support seems to be tracked in https://github.com/Zettelkasten-Team/Zettelkasten/projects/1)

I am going to close this issue, but feel free to reopen to continue a discussion.