[lexical-markdown][lexical-playground] Feature: Option to include blanklines in markdown render

packages/lexical-markdown/src/MarkdownExport.ts

@@ -22,12 +22,14 @@ import {
   $isTextNode,
 } from 'lexical';
 
-import {transformersByType} from './utils';
+import {isEmptyParagraph, transformersByType} from './utils';
 
 export function createMarkdownExport(
   transformers: Array<Transformer>,
+  shouldPreserveNewLines: boolean = false,
 ): (node?: ElementNode) => string {
   const byType = transformersByType(transformers);
+  const isNewlineDelimited = !shouldPreserveNewLines;
 
   // Export only uses text formats that are responsible for single format
   // e.g. it will filter out *** (bold, italic) and instead use separate ** and *
@@ -39,7 +41,8 @@ export function createMarkdownExport(
     const output = [];
     const children = (node || $getRoot()).getChildren();
 
-    for (const child of children) {
+    for (let i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
+      const child = children[i];
       const result = exportTopLevelElements(
         child,
         byType.element,
@@ -48,11 +51,20 @@ export function createMarkdownExport(
       );
 
       if (result != null) {
-        output.push(result);
+        output.push(
+          // seperate consecutive group of texts with a line break: eg. ["hello", "world"] -> ["hello", "/nworld"]
+          isNewlineDelimited &&
+            i > 0 &&
+            !isEmptyParagraph(child) &&
+            !isEmptyParagraph(children[i - 1])
+            ? '\n'.concat(result)
+            : result,
+        );
       }
     }
-
-    return output.join('\n\n');
+    // Ensure consecutive groups of texts are atleast \n\n apart while each empty paragraph render as a newline.
+    // Eg. ["hello", "", "", "hi", "\nworld"] -> "hello\n\n\nhi\n\nworld"
+    return output.join('\n');
   };
 }
 
@@ -116,6 +128,7 @@ function exportChildren(
         exportTextFormat(child, child.getTextContent(), textTransformersIndex),
       );
     } else if ($isElementNode(child)) {
+      // empty paragraph returns ""
       output.push(
         exportChildren(child, textTransformersIndex, textMatchTransformers),
       );

packages/lexical-markdown/src/MarkdownImport.ts

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import type {
   TextMatchTransformer,
   Transformer,
 } from '@lexical/markdown';
-import type {LexicalNode, TextNode} from 'lexical';
+import type {TextNode} from 'lexical';
 
 import {$createCodeNode} from '@lexical/code';
 import {$isListItemNode, $isListNode, ListItemNode} from '@lexical/list';
@@ -26,14 +26,16 @@ import {
   $getRoot,
   $getSelection,
   $isParagraphNode,
-  $isTextNode,
   ElementNode,
 } from 'lexical';
 import {IS_APPLE_WEBKIT, IS_IOS, IS_SAFARI} from 'shared/environment';
 
-import {PUNCTUATION_OR_SPACE, transformersByType} from './utils';
+import {
+  isEmptyParagraph,
+  PUNCTUATION_OR_SPACE,
+  transformersByType,
+} from './utils';
 
-const MARKDOWN_EMPTY_LINE_REG_EXP = /^\s{0,3}$/;
 const CODE_BLOCK_REG_EXP = /^[ \t]*```(\w{1,10})?\s?$/;
 type TextFormatTransformersIndex = Readonly<{
   fullMatchRegExpByTag: Readonly<Record<string, RegExp>>;
@@ -43,6 +45,7 @@ type TextFormatTransformersIndex = Readonly<{
 
 export function createMarkdownImport(
   transformers: Array<Transformer>,
+  shouldPreserveNewLines = false,
 ): (markdownString: string, node?: ElementNode) => void {
   const byType = transformersByType(transformers);
   const textFormatTransformersIndex = createTextFormatTransformersIndex(
@@ -77,11 +80,16 @@ export function createMarkdownImport(
       );
     }
 
-    // Removing empty paragraphs as md does not really
-    // allow empty lines and uses them as delimiter
+    // By default, removing empty paragraphs as md does not really
+    // allow empty lines and uses them as delimiter.
+    // If you need empty lines set shouldPreserveNewLines = true.
     const children = root.getChildren();
     for (const child of children) {
-      if (isEmptyParagraph(child) && root.getChildrenSize() > 1) {
+      if (
+        !shouldPreserveNewLines &&
+        isEmptyParagraph(child) &&
+        root.getChildrenSize() > 1
+      ) {
         child.remove();
       }
     }
@@ -92,20 +100,6 @@ export function createMarkdownImport(
   };
 }
 
-function isEmptyParagraph(node: LexicalNode): boolean {
-  if (!$isParagraphNode(node)) {
-    return false;
-  }
-
-  const firstChild = node.getFirstChild();
-  return (
-    firstChild == null ||
-    (node.getChildrenSize() === 1 &&
-      $isTextNode(firstChild) &&
-      MARKDOWN_EMPTY_LINE_REG_EXP.test(firstChild.getTextContent()))
-  );
-}
-
 function $importBlocks(
   lineText: string,
   rootNode: ElementNode,

packages/lexical-markdown/src/__tests__/unit/LexicalMarkdown.test.ts

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ describe('Markdown', () => {
     md: string;
     skipExport?: true;
     skipImport?: true;
+    shouldPreserveNewLines?: true;
   }>;
 
   const URL = 'https://lexical.dev';
@@ -147,6 +148,16 @@ describe('Markdown', () => {
       html: '<p><i><em style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello </em></i><i><b><strong style="white-space: pre-wrap;">world</strong></b></i><i><em style="white-space: pre-wrap;">!</em></i></p>',
       md: '*Hello **world**!*',
     },
+    {
+      html: '<h1><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello</span></h1><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><b><strong style="white-space: pre-wrap;">world</strong></b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">!</span></p>',
+      md: '# Hello\n\n\n\n**world**!',
+      shouldPreserveNewLines: true,
+    },
+    {
+      html: '<h1><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello</span></h1><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">hi</span></p><p><br></p><p><b><strong style="white-space: pre-wrap;">world</strong></b></p><p><br></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">hi</span></p><blockquote><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">hello</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">hello</span></blockquote><p><br></p><h1><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">hi</span></h1><p><br></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">hi</span></p>',
+      md: '# Hello\nhi\n\n**world**\n\nhi\n> hello\n> hello\n\n# hi\n\nhi',
+      shouldPreserveNewLines: true,
+    },
     {
       // Import only: export will use * instead of _ due to registered transformers order
       html: '<p><i><em style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello</em></i><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> world</span></p>',
@@ -221,7 +232,12 @@ describe('Markdown', () => {
     },
   };
 
-  for (const {html, md, skipImport} of IMPORT_AND_EXPORT) {
+  for (const {
+    html,
+    md,
+    skipImport,
+    shouldPreserveNewLines,
+  } of IMPORT_AND_EXPORT) {
     if (skipImport) {
       continue;
     }
@@ -240,10 +256,12 @@ describe('Markdown', () => {
 
       editor.update(
         () =>
-          $convertFromMarkdownString(md, [
-            ...TRANSFORMERS,
-            HIGHLIGHT_TEXT_MATCH_IMPORT,
-          ]),
+          $convertFromMarkdownString(
+            md,
+            [...TRANSFORMERS, HIGHLIGHT_TEXT_MATCH_IMPORT],
+            undefined,
+            shouldPreserveNewLines,
+          ),
         {
           discrete: true,
         },
@@ -255,7 +273,12 @@ describe('Markdown', () => {
     });
   }
 
-  for (const {html, md, skipExport} of IMPORT_AND_EXPORT) {
+  for (const {
+    html,
+    md,
+    skipExport,
+    shouldPreserveNewLines,
+  } of IMPORT_AND_EXPORT) {
     if (skipExport) {
       continue;
     }
@@ -288,7 +311,13 @@ describe('Markdown', () => {
       expect(
         editor
           .getEditorState()
-          .read(() => $convertToMarkdownString(TRANSFORMERS)),
+          .read(() =>
+            $convertToMarkdownString(
+              TRANSFORMERS,
+              undefined,
+              shouldPreserveNewLines,
+            ),
+          ),
       ).toBe(md);
     });
   }

packages/lexical-markdown/src/index.ts

@@ -72,16 +72,24 @@ function $convertFromMarkdownString(
   markdown: string,
   transformers: Array<Transformer> = TRANSFORMERS,
   node?: ElementNode,
+  shouldPreserveNewLines = false,
 ): void {
-  const importMarkdown = createMarkdownImport(transformers);
+  const importMarkdown = createMarkdownImport(
+    transformers,
+    shouldPreserveNewLines,
+  );
   return importMarkdown(markdown, node);
 }
 
 function $convertToMarkdownString(
   transformers: Array<Transformer> = TRANSFORMERS,
   node?: ElementNode,
+  shouldPreserveNewLines: boolean = false,
 ): string {
-  const exportMarkdown = createMarkdownExport(transformers);
+  const exportMarkdown = createMarkdownExport(
+    transformers,
+    shouldPreserveNewLines,
+  );
   return exportMarkdown(node);
 }
 

packages/lexical-markdown/src/utils.ts

@@ -13,11 +13,17 @@ import type {
   TextMatchTransformer,
   Transformer,
 } from '@lexical/markdown';
-import type {ElementNode, LexicalNode, TextFormatType} from 'lexical';
 
 import {$isCodeNode} from '@lexical/code';
 import {$isListItemNode, $isListNode} from '@lexical/list';
 import {$isHeadingNode, $isQuoteNode} from '@lexical/rich-text';
+import {
+  $isParagraphNode,
+  $isTextNode,
+  type ElementNode,
+  type LexicalNode,
+  type TextFormatType,
+} from 'lexical';
 
 type MarkdownFormatKind =
   | 'noTransformation'
@@ -429,3 +435,19 @@ export function transformersByType(transformers: Array<Transformer>): Readonly<{
 }
 
 export const PUNCTUATION_OR_SPACE = /[!-/:-@[-`{-~\s]/;
+
+const MARKDOWN_EMPTY_LINE_REG_EXP = /^\s{0,3}$/;
+
+export function isEmptyParagraph(node: LexicalNode): boolean {
+  if (!$isParagraphNode(node)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const firstChild = node.getFirstChild();
+  return (
+    firstChild == null ||
+    (node.getChildrenSize() === 1 &&
+      $isTextNode(firstChild) &&
+      MARKDOWN_EMPTY_LINE_REG_EXP.test(firstChild.getTextContent()))
+  );
+}

packages/lexical-playground/src/Editor.tsx

@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ export default function Editor(): JSX.Element {
       showTreeView,
       showTableOfContents,
       shouldUseLexicalContextMenu,
+      shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown,
       tableCellMerge,
       tableCellBackgroundColor,
     },
@@ -239,7 +240,10 @@ export default function Editor(): JSX.Element {
         {isAutocomplete && <AutocompletePlugin />}
         <div>{showTableOfContents && <TableOfContentsPlugin />}</div>
         {shouldUseLexicalContextMenu && <ContextMenuPlugin />}
-        <ActionsPlugin isRichText={isRichText} />
+        <ActionsPlugin
+          isRichText={isRichText}
+          shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown={shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown}
+        />
       </div>
       {showTreeView && <TreeViewPlugin />}
     </>

packages/lexical-playground/src/Settings.tsx

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ export default function Settings(): JSX.Element {
       disableBeforeInput,
       showTableOfContents,
       shouldUseLexicalContextMenu,
+      shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown,
     },
   } = useSettings();
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -150,6 +151,16 @@ export default function Settings(): JSX.Element {
             checked={shouldUseLexicalContextMenu}
             text="Use Lexical Context Menu"
           />
+          <Switch
+            onClick={() => {
+              setOption(
+                'shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown',
+                !shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown,
+              );
+            }}
+            checked={shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown}
+            text="Preserve newlines in Markdown"
+          />
         </div>
       ) : null}
     </>

packages/lexical-playground/src/appSettings.ts

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ export const DEFAULT_SETTINGS = {
   isMaxLength: false,
   isRichText: true,
   measureTypingPerf: false,
+  shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown: false,
   shouldUseLexicalContextMenu: false,
   showNestedEditorTreeView: false,
   showTableOfContents: false,

packages/lexical-playground/src/plugins/ActionsPlugin/index.tsx

@@ -93,8 +93,10 @@ async function shareDoc(doc: SerializedDocument): Promise<void> {
 
 export default function ActionsPlugin({
   isRichText,
+  shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown,
 }: {
   isRichText: boolean;
+  shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown: boolean;
 }): JSX.Element {
   const [editor] = useLexicalComposerContext();
   const [isEditable, setIsEditable] = useState(() => editor.isEditable());
@@ -172,9 +174,15 @@ export default function ActionsPlugin({
         $convertFromMarkdownString(
           firstChild.getTextContent(),
           PLAYGROUND_TRANSFORMERS,
+          undefined, // node
+          shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown,
         );
       } else {
-        const markdown = $convertToMarkdownString(PLAYGROUND_TRANSFORMERS);
+        const markdown = $convertToMarkdownString(
+          PLAYGROUND_TRANSFORMERS,
+          undefined, //node
+          shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown,
+        );
         root
           .clear()
           .append(
@@ -183,7 +191,7 @@ export default function ActionsPlugin({
       }
       root.selectEnd();
     });
-  }, [editor]);
+  }, [editor, shouldPreserveNewLinesInMarkdown]);
 
   return (
     <div className="actions">