Indenting python for blog comments

Note: Script updated 5 Oct 2007

Normally I use vim to turn my python code into nicely formatted and syntax-coloured examples for my posts, but blog comment fields can swallow leading spaces leaving any posted Python code without indentation.



Most blog comment fields only accept a small set of HTML tags (if any), so I cannot use the vim output.


I have written blogger.py to turn leading spaces into HTML space characters which seems to work on blogger and wordpress.


Here is the code:

'''
blogspace.py
Turns leading spaces into HTML &nbsp tokens which shows 
as correct indentation on Blogger comment fields 
(and maybe other blogs).

Donald. 'Paddy' McCarthy Sept,Oct 2011
'''
import fileinput, re, cgi

def escape(lineiterator=fileinput.input,
           cgi_escape=True, tag_with_pre=True, tag_with_br=False):
  output = 
  if tag_with_pre: output.append('<pre>\n')
  for line in lineiterator():
    if cgi_escape: line = cgi.escape(line)
    line =  re.sub(r'^(\s*)\s', 
                 lambda m: '&nbsp;'*m.end(), 
                 line.rstrip())
    output.append(line)
    if tag_with_br:
      output.append('<br>\n')
    else:
      output.append('\n')
  if tag_with_pre: output.append('</pre>\n')
  return ''.join(output)

if __name__ == '__main__':
  print escape()

- Paddy.

( Also posted here and here)