README

Github:

Packagist:

Write Markdown documents

created on 2022-01-14 by peter@forret.com

Installation

You can install the package via composer:

composer require pforret/php_markdown_writer

Usage

Basic Usage (in-memory)

use Pforret\PhpMarkdownWriter\PhpMarkdownWriter;

$writer = new PhpMarkdownWriter();
$writer
    ->h1('Document Title')
    ->paragraph('Introduction text')
    ->h2('Section 1')
    ->bullet('Point 1')
    ->bullet('Point 2', 1)  // indented
    ->h2('Section 2')
    ->code('echo "Hello";', 'php');

echo $writer->asMarkdown();

Write directly to file

$writer = new PhpMarkdownWriter('output.md');
$writer->h1('Report')->paragraph('Content here.');
// File is written automatically when $writer goes out of scope

Export to different formats

$writer = new PhpMarkdownWriter();
$writer->h1('Title')->paragraph('Content');

// Save as Markdown
$writer->saveAsMarkdown('output.md');

// Save as HTML
$writer->saveAsHtml('output.html');

// Save as PDF (requires mpdf/mpdf)
$writer->saveAsPdf('output.pdf');

// Get HTML string
$html = $writer->asHtml();

Available Methods

Headings & Structure

h1($text) - Level 1 heading
h2($text) - Level 2 heading
h3($text) - Level 3 heading
h4($text) - Level 4 heading
h5($text) - Level 5 heading
h6($text) - Level 6 heading
hr() - Horizontal rule/divider
pagebreak() - Page break for PDF output (adds <pagebreak />)

Text Formatting

paragraph($text, $continued = false) - Paragraph (use $continued = true for single line break)
bold($text, $continued = false) - Bold text
italic($text, $continued = false) - Italic text
strikethrough($text, $continued = false) - Strikethrough text (~~text~~)
blockquote($text, $continued = false) - Blockquote (> text)

Links & Images

link($text, $url) - Inline link text
image($alt, $url, $title = '') - Image

Lists

bullet($text, $indent = 0) - Bullet point (use $indent for nested items)
numbered($text, $number = 1, $indent = 0) - Numbered list item
check($text, $indent = 0, $done = false) - Checkbox item

Code

code($text, $language = '') - Fenced code block with optional language
fixed($text) - Fixed-width/preformatted text (indented)
inlineCode($text) - Returns inline code string (`text`)

Tables

table($array, $with_headers = true) - Full table from array
table_header($array) - Table header row
table_row($array) - Table data row

Output

asMarkdown() - Get accumulated Markdown as string
asHtml() - Convert to HTML string
saveAsMarkdown($filename) - Save to Markdown file
saveAsHtml($filename) - Save to HTML file
saveAsPdf($filename) - Save to PDF file

Utility

reset() - Clear accumulated content
setOutput($filename) - Set file output after construction
markup($text) - Auto-convert URLs and emails to links
getConverterConfig() - Get current CommonMark converter config
setConverterConfig($config) - Modify CommonMark converter settings
getPdfConfig() - Get current mPDF config
setPdfConfig($config) - Modify mPDF settings

Converter Configuration

The HTML converter can be configured with these options:

$writer = new PhpMarkdownWriter();
$writer->setConverterConfig([
    'html_input' => 'escape',      // 'strip', 'allow', or 'escape'
    'allow_unsafe_links' => false, // Block javascript:, vbscript:, etc.
]);

PDF Configuration

The PDF output can be configured with these options:

$writer = new PhpMarkdownWriter();

// Quick font settings
$writer->setPdfFontFamily('DejaVuSerif');  // DejaVuSans, DejaVuSerif, FreeSans, etc.
$writer->setPdfFontSize(11);

// Or use full config
$writer->setPdfConfig([
    'format' => 'Letter',          // 'A4', 'Letter', 'A5', etc.
    'default_font_size' => 11,
    'margin_left' => 20,
    'margin_right' => 20,
]);
$writer->saveAsPdf('document.pdf');

PDF Headers, Footers, and Metadata

Add headers, footers, metadata, and watermarks to PDF documents:

$writer = new PhpMarkdownWriter();

// Set document metadata
$writer->addPdfTitle('Annual Report 2025');
$writer->addPdfAuthor('John Doe');
$writer->addPdfSubject('Financial Overview');
$writer->addPdfKeywords('finance, report, annual, 2025');

// Set header and footer
$writer->addPdfHeader('<div style="text-align: center;">My Document</div>');
$writer->addPdfFooter('<div style="text-align: center;">Page {PAGENO} of {nbpg}</div>');

// Add watermark (optional)
$writer->addPdfWatermark('DRAFT');

$writer->h1('Title')->paragraph('Content...');
$writer->saveAsPdf('document.pdf');

Available mPDF variables: {PAGENO}, {nbpg}, {DATE j-m-Y}, {DOCNUM}

Testing

composer test

Changelog

Please see CHANGELOG for more information on what has changed recently.

Contributing

Please see CONTRIBUTING for details.

Security

If you discover any security related issues, please email author_email instead of using the issue tracker.

Credits

License

The MIT License (MIT). Please see License File for more information.

pforret / php_markdown_writer

Maintainers

Details