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Fix: keep literal <br> in code samples from collapsing to newlines
highlightOne() decoded entities before stripping <br> tags, which
conflated genuine line-separator breaks (stored unescaped) with a
literal <br> typed in a code sample (stored escaped as <br>).
A code block containing an HTML/Markdown <br> example had it silently
turned into a newline. Strip the breaks on the still-escaped source so
only real break tags are affected; add a regression test.
author
Jeremy Herve
date
(Jun 11, 2026, 9:36 AM +0200)
commit
8bf3558f
8bf3558f1397b40f8ac4a69b2e2eebea746affdb
parent
6b859e99
6b859e99a0effb25671eb8850ab8d77999976658
+14
-2
+10
src/lib/reader/highlight.test.ts
+10
src/lib/reader/highlight.test.ts
···
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expect( out ).toContain( '\n' ); // line breaks preserved as real newlines
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expect( out ).toContain( 'class="hljs' ); // still highlighted
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} );
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+
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it( 'keeps a literal <br> typed in a code sample as text, not a newline', () => {
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// A literal `<br>` in a code sample is stored escaped (`<br>`), unlike the
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// real break tags above. It must survive as escaped tag text after highlighting,
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// not be collapsed into a newline along with the genuine separators.
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const out = highlightCodeBlocks( block( 'const html = "<br>";' ) );
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expect( out ).toContain( '<br>' ); // literal example tag preserved as text
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expect( out ).not.toContain( '\n' ); // not turned into a line break
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expect( out ).toContain( 'class="hljs' ); // still highlighted
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} );
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} );
+4
-2
src/lib/reader/highlight.ts
+4
-2
src/lib/reader/highlight.ts
···
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// Stored code may use <br> for line breaks (render.ts passes it through and the
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// sanitiser keeps it as a real break). Turn those into real newlines BEFORE tokenising,
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// or the highlighter treats "<br>" as an xml tag and emits literal "<br>" text,
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// collapsing the code's line structure.
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const raw = decodeEntities( escapedSource ).replace( /<br\s*\/?>/gi, '\n' );
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// collapsing the code's line structure. Strip the breaks on the still-escaped source
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// so only genuine break tags are affected — a literal `<br>` typed in a code sample is
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// stored escaped (`<br>`) and must survive as text, not become a newline.
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const raw = decodeEntities( escapedSource.replace( /<br\s*\/?>/gi, '\n' ) );
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try {
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const { value, language, relevance } = hljs.highlightAuto( raw );
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// Zero relevance / no detected language → no useful tokens; keep it plain.