README Preview

readme_preview.el

;; README preview helper thanks to pandoc
;; ------------------------------
(defun readme-preview ()
  "Preview the README rendered to html in a browser tab via pandoc"
  (interactive)
  (let* ((html-filename (format "%s.html" (file-name-base buffer-file-name)))
         (input-format (cond
                        ((derived-mode-p 'rst-mode) "rst")
                        ((derived-mode-p 'markdown-mode) "markdown_github")))
         (cmd (format "pandoc -f %s -t html -o %s %s"
                      input-format html-filename buffer-file-name)))
    (shell-command cmd nil nil)
    (browse-url (concat "file://" (file-name-directory buffer-file-name) html-filename))))

;; Assign F12 to render README preview for select modes
(dolist (hook '(markdown-mode-hook rst-mode-hook))
  (add-hook hook
            '(lambda () (local-set-key (kbd "<f12>") 'readme-preview))))