# YAML/RedCloth Question **URL:** \ **Category:** ruby-talk\ **Created:** [20 February 2005 17:59 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/yaml-redcloth-question/16633 "2005-02-20T17:59:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Michael\_Leonard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Michael\_Leonard](https://rubytalk.org/u/Michael_Leonard)\ **Post date:** [20 February 2005 17:59 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/yaml-redcloth-question/16633/1 "2005-02-20T17:59:42Z")
Hello all, I'm very new to Ruby, so appy-polly-loggies in advance if the answer to this is obvious. I have a file, qbf.yml, the contents of which are: ----------------qbf.yml---------------- title: "on dogs and foxes" author: "q.b. foks, esq." text: "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" > **···** > > --------------------------------------- > > I want to import it into a Ruby hash and use RedCloth to convert the > "text" portion to html. The code I'm using is this: > > ----------------qbf.rb---------------- > require 'yaml' > require 'redcloth' > > qbf=YAML::load(File.open('qbf.yml')) > > puts RedCloth.new(qbf["text"]).to\_html > -------------------------------------- > > The output I get from this is: > > \the quick brown > fox jumps > over > the lazy dog\ > > Whereas, I would like: > > \the quick brown\ > \fox jumps\ > \over\ > \the lazy dog\ > > It looks like when I import the YAML, my paragraph breaks get eaten up. > I'd like to avoid this if at all possible. I'm sure the solution is > very simple, but I can't seem to get my head around it. Any help would > be greatly appreciated. > > Thanks in advance, > > Mike Leonard ---
**Author:** ![Jamis\_Buck3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Jamis\_Buck3](https://rubytalk.org/u/Jamis_Buck3)\ **Post date:** [20 February 2005 18:25 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/yaml-redcloth-question/16633/2 "2005-02-20T18:25:16Z")
Use triple line breaks to indicate paragraph breaks. It's just the way YAML works: 1) A single newline gets eaten (resulting in one long line with no    newlines) 2) Two newlines get collapsed to one newline 3) Three newlines give you the expected blank line between paragraphs Also, a syntax like this might read a little easier in your yaml file:    title: on dogs and foxes    author: q.b. foks, esq.    text: \>-      the quick brown          fox jumps          over          the lazy dog (Notice the quotes are almost always optional, except when there is some question as to what format the data should be. Also, the \>- after text: says to eat all following lines wih a greater indentation level and treat them as a single text value.) Hope that helps, Jamis > **···** > > On 02:59 Mon 21 Feb , mikeleonard wrote: > > > Hello all, > > > > I'm very new to Ruby, so appy-polly-loggies in advance if the answer to > > this is obvious. > > > > I have a file, qbf.yml, the contents of which are: > > > > ----------------qbf.yml---------------- > > title: "on dogs and foxes" > > author: "q.b. foks, esq." > > text: "the quick brown > > > > fox jumps > > > > over > > > > the lazy dog" > > --------------------------------------- > > > > I want to import it into a Ruby hash and use RedCloth to convert the > > "text" portion to html. The code I'm using is this: > > > > ----------------qbf.rb---------------- > > require 'yaml' > > require 'redcloth' > > > > qbf=YAML::load(File.open('qbf.yml')) > > > > puts RedCloth.new(qbf["text"]).to\_html > > -------------------------------------- > > > > The output I get from this is: > > > > \the quick brown > > fox jumps > > over > > the lazy dog\ > > > > Whereas, I would like: > > > > \the quick brown\ > > \fox jumps\ > > \over\ > > \the lazy dog\ > > > > It looks like when I import the YAML, my paragraph breaks get eaten up. > > I'd like to avoid this if at all possible. I'm sure the solution is > > very simple, but I can't seem to get my head around it. Any help would > > be greatly appreciated. > > -- > Jamis Buck > jamis\_buck@byu.edu > [http://jamis.jamisbuck.org](http://jamis.jamisbuck.org) > ------------------------------ > "I am Victor of Borge. You will be assimil-nine-ed." ---
**Author:** ![why\_the\_lucky\_stiff1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/898d66/32.png) [@why\_the\_lucky\_stiff1](https://rubytalk.org/u/why_the_lucky_stiff1)\ **Post date:** [20 February 2005 23:19 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/yaml-redcloth-question/16633/3 "2005-02-20T23:19:30Z")
Jamis Buck wrote: > Use triple line breaks to indicate paragraph breaks. It's just the way > > YAML works: Unless you use a literal block. ----------------qbf.yml---------------- title: "on dogs and foxes" author: "q.b. foks, esq." text: |   the quick brown   fox jumps   over   the lazy dog > **···** > > --------------------------------------- > > Double-quoted multiline strings act like folded blocks (the rules Jamis described). > > See 'Blocks' in the YAML Cookbook. \<[http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net/cookbook/#blocks>](http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net/cookbook/#blocks>); > > \_why ---
**Author:** ![Jamis\_Buck3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Jamis\_Buck3](https://rubytalk.org/u/Jamis_Buck3)\ **Post date:** [20 February 2005 23:39 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/yaml-redcloth-question/16633/4 "2005-02-20T23:39:36Z")
Gah! Now \*that's\* something I wish I'd known six months ago. Would have made it much less painful to do the Needle/Net::SSH/etc. documentation in YAML. Thanks for the tip, \_why. - Jamis > **···** > > On 08:19 Mon 21 Feb , why the lucky stiff wrote: > > > Jamis Buck wrote: > > > > \>Use triple line breaks to indicate paragraph breaks. It's just the way > > \> > > \>YAML works: > > \> > > \> > > Unless you use a literal block. > > > > ----------------qbf.yml---------------- > > title: "on dogs and foxes" > > author: "q.b. foks, esq." > > text: | > > the quick brown > > > > fox jumps > > > > over > > > > the lazy dog > > --------------------------------------- > > > > Double-quoted multiline strings act like folded blocks (the rules Jamis > > described). > > > > See 'Blocks' in the YAML Cookbook. > > \<[http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net/cookbook/#blocks>](http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net/cookbook/#blocks>); > > -- > Jamis Buck > jamis\_buck@byu.edu > [http://jamis.jamisbuck.org](http://jamis.jamisbuck.org) > ------------------------------ > "I am Victor of Borge. You will be assimil-nine-ed."