= reStructuredText Support in Trac

== Introduction


Trac supports [http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/ref/rst/restructuredtext.html reStructuredText (RST)] as an alternative to wiki markup where WikiFormatting is used.

From the reStucturedText webpage:
 "reStructuredText is an easy-to-read, what-you-see-is-what-you-get plaintext markup syntax and parser system. It is useful for in-line program documentation (such as Python docstrings), for quickly creating simple web pages, and for standalone documents. reStructuredText is designed for extensibility for specific application domains."

If you want a file from your Subversion repository to be displayed as reStructuredText in the Trac source browser, set `text/x-rst` as the value for the Subversion property `svn:mime-type`. See [trac:source:/trunk/INSTALL this example].

=== Requirements

To activate RST support in Trac, install the python docutils package: `easy_install docutils`. If not already available on your operating system, you can download it at the [http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html RST Website].

Do not use the package manager of your OS, eg `apt-get install python-docutils`, because Trac will not find docutils then.

=== More information on RST

 * reStructuredText Website -- http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html
 * RST Quick Reference -- http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/rst/quickref.html

== Using RST in Trac

To specify that a block of text should be parsed using RST, use the ''rst'' processor. 

=== TracLinks in reStructuredText

 * Trac provides a custom RST directive `trac::` to allow TracLinks from within RST text.
   ||= Wiki Markup ||= Display ||
   {{{#!td
     {{{
     {{{
     #!rst
     This is a reference to |a ticket|

     .. |a ticket| trac:: #42
     }}}
     }}}
   }}}
   {{{#!td
     {{{
     #!rst
     This is a reference to |a ticket|

     .. |a ticket| trac:: #42
     }}}
   }}}

 * Trac allows an even easier way of creating TracLinks in RST, using the custom `:trac:` role.
   ||= Wiki Markup ||= Display ||
   {{{#!td
     {{{
     {{{
     #!rst
     This is a reference to ticket `#12`:trac:

     To learn how to use Trac, see `TracGuide`:trac:
     }}}
     }}}
   }}}
   {{{#!td
     {{{
     #!rst
     This is a reference to ticket `#12`:trac:

     To learn how to use Trac, see `TracGuide`:trac:
     }}}
   }}}

 For a complete example of all uses of the `:trac:` role, please see WikiRestructuredTextLinks. 

=== Syntax highlighting in reStructuredText

There is a directive for doing TracSyntaxColoring in RST as well. The directive is called code-block:

||= Wiki Markup ||= Display ||
{{{#!td
  {{{
  {{{
  #!rst

  .. code-block:: python

     class Test:

         def TestFunction(self):
             pass
  
  }}}
  }}}
}}}
{{{#!td
  {{{
  #!rst

  .. code-block:: python

     class Test:

         def TestFunction(self):
             pass

  }}}
}}}
Note the need to indent the code at least one character after the `.. code-block` directive.

=== Wiki Macros in reStructuredText

To enable [WikiMacros Wiki Macros] in RST, you use the same directive as for syntax highlighting, ie code-block:

||= Wiki Markup ||= Display ||
{{{#!td
  {{{
  {{{
  #!rst

  .. code-block:: RecentChanges

     Trac,3

  }}}
  }}}
}}}
{{{#!td
  {{{
  #!rst

  .. code-block:: RecentChanges

     Trac,3

  }}}
}}}

Or a more concise Wiki Macro-like syntax is also available, using the `:code-block:` role:

||= Wiki Markup ||= Display ||
{{{#!td
  {{{
  {{{
  #!rst

  :code-block:`RecentChanges:Trac,3`
  }}}
  }}}
}}}
{{{#!td
  {{{
  #!rst

  :code-block:`RecentChanges:Trac,3`
  }}}
}}}

=== Bigger RST Example

The example below should be self-explanatory:

||= Wiki Markup ||= Display ||
{{{#!td
{{{
#!html
<pre class="wiki">{{{
#!rst
FooBar Header
=============
reStructuredText is **nice**. It has its own webpage_.

A table:

=====  =====  ======
   Inputs     Output
------------  ------
  A      B    A or B
=====  =====  ======
False  False  False
True   False  True
False  True   True
True   True   True
=====  =====  ======

RST TracLinks
-------------

See also ticket `#42`:trac:.

.. _webpage: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html
}}}</pre>
}}}
}}}
{{{#!td
{{{
#!rst
FooBar Header
=============
reStructuredText is **nice**. It has its own webpage_.

A table:

=====  =====  ======
   Inputs     Output
------------  ------
  A      B    A or B
=====  =====  ======
False  False  False
True   False  True
False  True   True
True   True   True
=====  =====  ======

RST TracLinks
-------------

See also ticket `#42`:trac:.

.. _webpage: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html
}}}
}}}

----
See also: WikiRestructuredTextLinks, WikiProcessors, WikiFormatting