HtmlToText Ruby Reference Documentation
CkHtmlToText
Current Version: 11.5.0
Chilkat.HtmlToText
Convert HTML markup into readable text suitable for display, logging,
indexing, email alternatives, or text-only output.
Decode HTML entities so text such as named entities and numeric
character references becomes normal readable output.
Use
Suppress hyperlink URLs for cleaner text, or emit URLs when the output
needs to preserve the destination of HTML links.
Convert HTML directly from a
Read HTML from files and write text output using a specified character
encoding.
For an extended overview, see
HtmlToText Class Overview.
Convert HTML into readable plain text with control over links, wrapping, and encoding.
Chilkat.HtmlToText converts HTML content into readable plain
text. It can decode HTML entities, wrap output at a configurable right
margin, optionally include or suppress hyperlink URLs, convert HTML supplied
as a string or StringBuilder, and read or write files using an
explicit character encoding.
HTML to plain text
Entity decoding
Line wrapping
RightMargin to wrap text at a chosen width, or set it to
0 when no right-margin wrapping is wanted.
Link handling
StringBuilder support
StringBuilder when working with
larger or incrementally built HTML content.
File and charset helpers
StringBuilder, choose
whether to decode entities and include link URLs, set the desired right
margin, then convert the result to plain text. Use
HtmlToText when the goal is readable text, not structured XML
or DOM-style parsing.
Object Creation
obj = Chilkat::CkHtmlToText.new()
Properties
DebugLogFilePath
# ckStr is a CkString
htmlToText.get_DebugLogFilePath(ckStr);
strVal = htmlToText.debugLogFilePath();
htmlToText.put_DebugLogFilePath(strVal);
If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.
Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.
Possible causes of hangs include:
- A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
- A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
- An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.
DecodeHtmlEntities
boolVal = htmlToText.get_DecodeHtmlEntities();
htmlToText.put_DecodeHtmlEntities(boolVal);
If true, then HTML entities are automatically decoded. For example & is automatically decoded to &. If this property is set to false, then HTML entities are not decoded. The default value is true.
LastErrorHtml
# ckStr is a CkString
htmlToText.get_LastErrorHtml(ckStr);
strVal = htmlToText.lastErrorHtml();
Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastErrorText
# ckStr is a CkString
htmlToText.get_LastErrorText(ckStr);
strVal = htmlToText.lastErrorText();
Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
LastErrorXml
# ckStr is a CkString
htmlToText.get_LastErrorXml(ckStr);
strVal = htmlToText.lastErrorXml();
Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastMethodSuccess
boolVal = htmlToText.get_LastMethodSuccess();
htmlToText.put_LastMethodSuccess(boolVal);
Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: true means success, false means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.
RightMargin
intVal = htmlToText.get_RightMargin();
htmlToText.put_RightMargin(intVal);
Used to control wrapping of text. The default value is 80. When the text gets close to this margin, the converter will try to break the line at a SPACE character. Set this property to 0 for no right margin.
topSuppressLinks
boolVal = htmlToText.get_SuppressLinks();
htmlToText.put_SuppressLinks(boolVal);
If false, then link URL's are listed as references at the end of the plain-text. For example, the following HTML fragment:
<p>Test <a href="https://www.chilkatsoft.com/">chilkat</a></p>converts to:
Test chilkat References: 1: https://www.chilkatsoft.com/If this property is
true, the above HTML would convert to:
Test chilkatThe default value of this property is
true.
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UncommonOptions
# ckStr is a CkString
htmlToText.get_UncommonOptions(ckStr);
strVal = htmlToText.uncommonOptions();
htmlToText.put_UncommonOptions(strVal);
This property usually remains an empty string but can be set to a list of comma-separated keywords.
NoReferencesList- Do not generate the list of hyperlink references at the end of the plain-text.EmitUrls- Emit hyperlink URLs inlined in the plain text output. The default (without this keyword) is to list hyperlink URLs at the end of the plain text.
Utf8
boolVal = htmlToText.get_Utf8();
htmlToText.put_Utf8(boolVal);
When set to true, all string arguments and return values are interpreted as UTF-8 strings. When set to false, they are interpreted as ANSI strings.
In Chilkat v11.0.0 and later, the default value is true. Before v11.0.0, it was false.
VerboseLogging
boolVal = htmlToText.get_VerboseLogging();
htmlToText.put_VerboseLogging(boolVal);
If set to true, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is false. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.
Version
# ckStr is a CkString
htmlToText.get_Version(ckStr);
strVal = htmlToText.version();
Methods
ReadFileToString
# srcCharset is a string
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = htmlToText.ReadFileToString(filename, srcCharset, outStr);
retStr = htmlToText.readFileToString(filename, srcCharset);
Convenience method for reading a text file into a string. The character encoding of the text file is specified by srcCharset. Valid values, such as iso-8895-1 or utf-8 are listed at: List of Charsets.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
ToText
# outStr is a CkString (output)
status = htmlToText.ToText(html, outStr);
retStr = htmlToText.toText(html);
Converts HTML to plain-text.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
ToTextSb
WriteStringToFile
# filename is a string
# charset is a string
status = htmlToText.WriteStringToFile(stringToWrite, filename, charset);
Convenience method for saving a string to a file. The character encoding of the output text file is specified by charset (the string is converted to this charset when writing). Valid values, such as iso-8895-1 or utf-8 are listed at: List of Charsets.
Returns true for success, false for failure.
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