Replaced markdown library `com.commonsware.cwac:anddown` with jetbrains' markdown for html conversions #1738

mzorz · 2025-08-03T14:42:51Z

Fix

replaced markdown library com.commonsware.cwac:anddown which was not 16kb-page-size compatible, with org.jetbrains:markdown:0.7.3 to handle markdown to html conversions
converted NoteMarkdownFragment to Kotlin

Test

Edit an entry, verify the markdown option is checked in the three dots menu
add a markdown title with ###, checkboxes, a quote, etc
exist to save
open the entry on another platform (i.e. web or desktop) and see the titles being rendered in bold

Review

Release

…t 16kb-page-size compatible, with org.jetbrains:markdown:0.7.3 to handle markdown to html conversions - converted NoteMarkdownFragment to Kotlin

dangermattic · 2025-08-03T14:43:33Z

	2 Warnings
⚠️	This PR is larger than 300 lines of changes. Please consider splitting it into smaller PRs for easier and faster reviews.
⚠️	Class `SimplenoteMarkdownFlavorDescriptor` is missing tests, but `unit-tests-exemption` label was set to ignore this.

Generated by 🚫 Danger

wpmobilebot · 2025-08-03T14:51:44Z

📲 You can test the changes from this Pull Request in Simplenote Android by scanning the QR code below to install the corresponding build.

	App Name	Simplenote Android
	Build Type	Debug
	Commit	`1f2f06f`
	Direct Download	`simplenote-android-prototype-build-pr1738-1f2f06f-01987b72-3f80-4003-958a-c4e855573564.apk`

Copilot

Pull Request Overview

This PR replaces an outdated markdown library with JetBrains' markdown parser and converts a Java fragment to Kotlin. The main purpose is to resolve compatibility issues with 16kb-page-size configurations by migrating from com.commonsware.cwac:anddown to org.jetbrains:markdown:0.7.3.

Replaced the anddown markdown library with JetBrains markdown library for HTML conversion
Converted NoteMarkdownFragment from Java to Kotlin
Updated the markdown parsing implementation to use the new library's API

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

File	Description
NoteMarkdownFragment.kt	New Kotlin implementation replacing the Java version with updated markdown parsing
NoteMarkdownFragment.java	Removed the original Java file
build.gradle	Updated dependency from anddown to JetBrains markdown library

Simplenote/src/main/java/com/automattic/simplenote/NoteMarkdownFragment.kt

…wn-library

…nFragment.kt Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>

ParaskP7

👋 @mzorz !

I have reviewed and tested this PR as per the instructions, everything works as expected (ish), nicely done replacing com.commonsware.cwac:anddown! 🙌 x 🙌 ^ 🙌

I have left one warning (⚠️) and a couple of future suggestions (💡) for you. I am NOT going to approve this PR just yet, mainly because of this one warning (⚠️), but other than that this all LGTM.

ParaskP7 · 2025-08-05T14:20:13Z

Simplenote/src/main/java/com/automattic/simplenote/NoteMarkdownFragment.kt

+import org.intellij.markdown.parser.MarkdownParser
+import java.lang.ref.SoftReference
+
+class NoteMarkdownFragment : Fragment(), Bucket.Listener<Note> {


Suggestion (💡): I always recommend to have a Java-to-Kotlin conversion commit first, before making any additional manual change to a file. Otherwise, it can become quite tricky to review. For example, in this case I had to make sure to review both the conversation and the getMarkdownFormattedContent(...) change, all in one commit, risking missing bits.

Suggestion (💡): This is just future suggestion for such Java-to-Kotlin conversions, that using an extra commit for .java > .kt renames helps with preserving the files history and makes it easier to diff the changes, for example:

Before committing the change, you could ☑️ this Extra commit for .java > .kt renames on that IDE commit dialog:

And then, instead of having a change like this below, where the Java file is deleted, and another Kotlin file is created:

You now get this instead:

This above is possible because prior to that an automated Rename .java to .kt is commit for you:

Really hope that this will become handy next time you'll converted a Java file! 🙏

oh I use the command line for git stuff. I'll remember to do the rename, commit, then convert, commit 👍

followed the advice and converted the utils file on this other PR in 3543434 and f42e53e 👍

This is awesome @mzorz , I did saw you doing that trick on this other PR and worked fantastically, much much better, thanks so much! 🙇 ❤️

ParaskP7 · 2025-08-05T14:29:27Z

Simplenote/src/main/java/com/automattic/simplenote/NoteMarkdownFragment.kt

+
+            val flavour = CommonMarkFlavourDescriptor()
+            val parsedTree = MarkdownParser(flavour).buildMarkdownTreeFromString(sourceContent)
+            var parsedMarkdown = HtmlGenerator(sourceContent, parsedTree, flavour).generateHtml()


Warning (⚠️): I asked my friend the AI to compare the previous com.commonsware.cwac:anddown Java implementation to this new org.jetbrains:markdown Kotlin implementation, it comparing these 2 versions:

java

If this Java code below, which is using the 'com.commonsware.cwac:anddown' library: String parsedMarkdown = new AndDown().markdownToHtml( sourceContent, AndDown.HOEDOWN_EXT_STRIKETHROUGH | AndDown.HOEDOWN_EXT_FENCED_CODE | AndDown.HOEDOWN_EXT_QUOTE | AndDown.HOEDOWN_EXT_TABLES, AndDown.HOEDOWN_HTML_ESCAPE );

kotlin

val flavour = CommonMarkFlavourDescriptor() val parsedTree = MarkdownParser(flavour).buildMarkdownTreeFromString(sourceContent) var parsedMarkdown = HtmlGenerator(sourceContent, parsedTree, flavour).generateHtml()

It came back with this table below:

Feature AndDown (Hoedown) JetBrains Markdown (CommonMarkFlavourDescriptor)

Strikethrough Yes (with HOEDOWN_EXT_STRIKETHROUGH) No (CommonMark); Yes with GFMFlavourDescriptor

Fenced code blocks Yes (with HOEDOWN_EXT_FENCED_CODE) Yes (supported by default)

Block quotes Yes (with HOEDOWN_EXT_QUOTE) Yes (supported by default)

Tables Yes (with HOEDOWN_EXT_TABLES) No (CommonMark); Yes with GFMFlavourDescriptor

Task lists No (unless using custom extensions) No (CommonMark); Yes with GFMFlavourDescriptor

I then tested Strikethrough, Tables and Task lists and actually it was right, see below:

EDIT

PREVIEW (before) -> val flavour = CommonMarkFlavourDescriptor()

PREVIEW (after) -> val flavour = GFMFlavourDescriptor()

This too me looks like AI is right and we should use the GFMFlavourDescriptor in favor of CommonMarkFlavourDescriptor. Yes, for some reason the ~~Strikethrough~~ doesn't look too good (I don't see the actual strikethrough), same with the task lists, but it is nevertheless better than before, right? 🤔

Great catch, I thought I had GFMFlavourDescriptor in one of my branches but no!

I did observe the prod app was not particularly good in the Preview tab so I didn't check one by one, see for example how an empty checkbox looks like on preview on prod:

Will update and perhaps try something about that sneaky strikethrough 👍

Great catch, I thought I had GFMFlavourDescriptor in one of my branches but no!

Never when you need it, right! 🤣

I did observe the prod app was not particularly good in the Preview tab so I didn't check one by one, see for example how an empty checkbox looks like on preview on prod:

Yea, I know... 🤷

Will update and perhaps try something about that sneaky strikethrough 👍

Thanks so much @mzorz ! 🙇 ❤️

ParaskP7 · 2025-08-05T14:41:56Z

Ah, and btw @mzorz, unrelated to this PR, but as I was testing this PR, I found another "bug" related to the screen scrolling behavior as well as the keyboard being on top of the content, without a means to move the content up, above the keyboard, see below:

Notice that I can't scroll the content up to show this 3rd [ ] Test Three in that task list of mine, nor the content scrolls automatically when the keyboard is called-up. 🤔

mzorz · 2025-08-05T15:12:27Z

Great testing there @ParaskP7 ! do you have a video for the screen scrolling behavior? I can't reproduce (testing both this version and the prod version)

ParaskP7 · 2025-08-05T15:15:35Z

Here's a recording for you @mzorz :

screen-20250805-181337.mp4

Does it help? 🙏

mzorz · 2025-08-05T15:28:19Z

Wow that recording helps. I can't reproduce it here though 🤔 - could you paste the markdown here?

…wn-library

…ethrough markdown

mzorz · 2025-08-05T16:51:59Z

@ParaskP7 good news, updated the code here 7e2623d and now it supports markdown strikethrough correctly alongside all the other good bits the GFMFlavourDescriptor comes with.

Turns out the GFMFlavourDescriptor converted strikethrough tokens to the following, for example in converting the string Not sure why we are ~~using~~ this:

Not sure why we are <span class="user-del">using</span> this

which then was not being parsed correctly by the Android WebView since it would need some css treatment. So I checked the original code which produced this code:

Not sure why we are <del>using</del> this

The deleted element is supported off the shelf since its basic html.

Had to do some digging into how the GFMFlavourDescriptor worked, and was able to override that mapping to produce <del> tags instead. It works now! see screenshot below:

mzorz · 2025-08-05T17:01:19Z

Here's a recording for you @mzorz :

I was able to reproduce by filling in the same contents locally 👍
I also see this is not happening in production.
I also see this is not happening on trunk, so likely related to the targetSdk 35 and edge-to-edge changes in Update part 2: updating for Android 15 (sdk 35) compatibility #1737

Will look into this 👍

mzorz · 2025-08-05T18:14:36Z

as I was testing this PR, I found another "bug" related to the screen scrolling behavior as well as the keyboard being on top of the content, without a means to move the content up, above the keyboard, see below:

I was able to reproduce by filling in the same contents locally 👍

I also see this is not happening in production.

I also see this is not happening on trunk, so likely related to the targetSdk 35 and edge-to-edge changes in Update part 2: updating for Android 15 (sdk 35) compatibility #1737

✅ this issue where content couldn't be scrolled and the virtual keyboard was hiding it was fixed in dd575ff in #1737

…wn-library

ParaskP7 · 2025-08-06T07:35:25Z

✅ this #1738 (comment) where content couldn't be scrolled and the virtual keyboard was hiding it was fixed in dd575ff in #1737

As per my other comment, nicely done @mzorz , I just tested there and it works as expected, thank YOU! 🙇 ❤️ 🚀

ParaskP7 · 2025-08-06T07:45:57Z

@ParaskP7 good news, updated the code here 7e2623d and now it supports markdown strikethrough correctly alongside all the other good bits the GFMFlavourDescriptor comes with.

Awesome, I am checking SimplenoteMarkdownFlavorDescriptor as we speak and testing it, everything works as expected, nicely done extending GFMFlavourDescriptor @mzorz ! 🥇

Turns out the GFMFlavourDescriptor converted strikethrough tokens to the following, for example in converting the string
Not sure why we are ~~using~~ this:

Not sure why we are <span class="user-del">using</span> this

which then was not being parsed correctly by the Android WebView since it would need some css treatment. So I checked the original code which produced this code:

Not sure why we are <del>using</del> this

The deleted element is supported off the shelf since its basic html.

Hmmm, thanks for the explanation on all that, not sure why too... 🤷

Had to do some digging into how the GFMFlavourDescriptor worked, and was able to override that mapping to produce ~~tags instead. It works now! see screenshot below:~~

Indeed it does, tested! 🎉

mzorz · 2025-08-06T10:37:29Z

Thanks a ton @ParaskP7 ! 🙌 I'll wait until the base PR is reviewed before merging, to help ease the review there 👍

- replaced markdown library com.commonsware.cwac:anddown which was no…

3a254f2

…t 16kb-page-size compatible, with org.jetbrains:markdown:0.7.3 to handle markdown to html conversions - converted NoteMarkdownFragment to Kotlin

mzorz added this to the Future milestone Aug 3, 2025

mzorz added the [Type] Debt Technical debt. label Aug 3, 2025

mzorz requested a review from ParaskP7 August 3, 2025 14:43

ParaskP7 requested a review from Copilot August 4, 2025 07:45

Copilot AI reviewed Aug 4, 2025

View reviewed changes

mzorz and others added 4 commits August 4, 2025 10:30

Merge branch 'mzorz/update-targetsdk-35' into mzorz/remove-cwac-anddo…

5bd9f9d

…wn-library

Update Simplenote/src/main/java/com/automattic/simplenote/NoteMarkdow…

77b7bb8

…nFragment.kt Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>

Update Simplenote/src/main/java/com/automattic/simplenote/NoteMarkdow…

e2acb50

…nFragment.kt Co-authored-by: Copilot <[email protected]>

adding missing import

e6b4124

ParaskP7 mentioned this pull request Aug 5, 2025

Update part 2: updating for Android 15 (sdk 35) compatibility #1737

Merged

12 tasks

ParaskP7 requested changes Aug 5, 2025

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mzorz added 2 commits August 5, 2025 17:30

Merge branch 'mzorz/update-targetsdk-35' into mzorz/remove-cwac-anddo…

4c07479

…wn-library

added a custom MarkdownFlavorDescriptor to override handling of strik…

7e2623d

…ethrough markdown

mzorz added the unit-tests-exemption label Aug 5, 2025

Merge branch 'mzorz/update-targetsdk-35' into mzorz/remove-cwac-anddo…

1f2f06f

…wn-library

ParaskP7 self-requested a review August 6, 2025 07:47

ParaskP7 approved these changes Aug 6, 2025

View reviewed changes

Base automatically changed from mzorz/update-targetsdk-35 to trunk August 7, 2025 17:01

mzorz merged commit 9e4c864 into trunk Aug 7, 2025
15 checks passed

mzorz deleted the mzorz/remove-cwac-anddown-library branch August 7, 2025 17:02

Feature	AndDown (Hoedown)	JetBrains Markdown (CommonMarkFlavourDescriptor)
Strikethrough	Yes (with HOEDOWN_EXT_STRIKETHROUGH)	No (CommonMark); Yes with GFMFlavourDescriptor
Fenced code blocks	Yes (with HOEDOWN_EXT_FENCED_CODE)	Yes (supported by default)
Block quotes	Yes (with HOEDOWN_EXT_QUOTE)	Yes (supported by default)
Tables	Yes (with HOEDOWN_EXT_TABLES)	No (CommonMark); Yes with GFMFlavourDescriptor
Task lists	No (unless using custom extensions)	No (CommonMark); Yes with GFMFlavourDescriptor

Replaced markdown library com.commonsware.cwac:anddown with jetbrains' markdown for html conversions #1738

Replaced markdown library com.commonsware.cwac:anddown with jetbrains' markdown for html conversions #1738

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Replaced markdown library `com.commonsware.cwac:anddown` with jetbrains' markdown for html conversions #1738

Replaced markdown library `com.commonsware.cwac:anddown` with jetbrains' markdown for html conversions #1738

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