How can I indent HTML with VBA? - html

Question

I am generating some HTML in VBA (MSACCESS), which works fine but it is a bit of a mess from an indentation point of view.
Is there an easy way to indent a stream of HTML text in VBA?
I use Visual Studio Code format functionality to have a prettier HTML, but I have to do this by hand and it is very tedious!
Example:
<div class="anythinggoes">
<ul><li>A</li>
<li>B</li><li>C</li>
</ul></div> <!-- anythinggoes -->
Should become something like:
<div class="anythinggoes">
<ul>
<li>A</li>
<li>B</li>
<li>C</li>
</ul>
</div> <!-- anythinggoes -->
Any help will be much appreciated!

Answer 1

CAUTION! Ugly code ahead!
Welcome on board, RichD. I think this code might help you:
First, define these variables in the Module scope:
Private InlineTags As Variant
Private InlineClosingTags As Variant
Private LineBreakTags As Variant
Then, we can use this function:
Function ReadableHTML(HTML As String) As String
Dim a$, i&, TabsNo&, tabs$, l&, tag$, MaxTabs&
'add here tags that you want to keep on the same line of their parent
InlineTags = Array("!--", "a", "i", "b", "sup", "sub", "strong") 'never followed by a line break
InlineClosingTags = Array("li", "h1", "h2", "h3", "h4") 'always followed by a line break
LineBreakTags = Array("br", "br/", "br /") 'always lead & followed by a line break
a = CleanOf(HTML)
TabsNo = -1
i = 1
l = Len(a)
Do While i < l
If Mid(a, i, 2) = "</" Then
tag = Mid(a, i + 2, InStr(i + 2, a, ">") - i - 2)
If Not IsInArray(tag, InlineClosingTags) Or Mid(a, i - 1, 1) = ">" Then
tabs = Chr(10) & Filler(TabsNo, Chr(9))
a = Left(a, i - 1) & tabs & Right(a, Len(a) - i + 1)
l = Len(a)
i = i + Len(tabs)
End If
TabsNo = TabsNo - 1
Else
Select Case Mid(a, i, 1)
Case "<"
tag = Mid(a, i + 1, InStr(i + 1, a, ">") - i - 1)
If Not IsInArray(tag, InlineTags) Then
TabsNo = TabsNo + 1
If TabsNo > MaxTabs Then MaxTabs = TabsNo
If i > 1 Then tabs = Chr(10) & Filler(TabsNo, Chr(9)) Else tabs = Filler(TabsNo, Chr(9))
' tabs = tabs & Filler(TabsNo, Chr(9))
a = Left(a, i - 1) & tabs & Right(a, Len(a) - i + 1)
l = Len(a)
i = i + Len(tabs)
If IsInArray(tag, LineBreakTags) Then TabsNo = TabsNo - 1
End If
Case ">"
tag = Mid(a, InStrRev(a, "<", i) + 1, i - InStrRev(a, "<", i) - 1)
If Not IsInArray(tag, InlineClosingTags) Then
tabs = Chr(10) & Filler(TabsNo + 1, Chr(9))
a = Left(a, i) & tabs & Right(a, Len(a) - i)
End If
Case Chr(10)
If Mid(a, i + 1, 1) <> Chr(9) And Mid(a, i + 1, 1) <> "<" Then
tabs = Chr(10) & Filler(TabsNo + 1, Chr(9))
a = Left(a, i) & tabs & Right(a, Len(a) - i)
l = Len(a)
i = i + Len(tabs)
End If
End Select
End If
i = i + 1
Loop
For TabsNo = MaxTabs To 0 Step -1
a = Replace(a, Chr(10) & Filler(TabsNo, Chr(9)) & Chr(10), Chr(10))
Next
ReadableHTML = treatInlineTags(a, False)
End Function
Which uses these helping functions:
Function treatInlineTags(a As String, HideFlag As Boolean)
'Hides/unhides inline tags from CleanOf
If HideFlag Then
For i = LBound(InlineTags) To UBound(InlineTags)
a = Replace(a, "<" & InlineTags(i) & " ", "|" & InlineTags(i) & "¦")
a = Replace(a, "<" & InlineTags(i) & ">", "|" & InlineTags(i) & "|")
a = Replace(a, "</" & InlineTags(i) & ">", "|/" & InlineTags(i) & "|")
Next i
Else
For i = LBound(InlineTags) To UBound(InlineTags)
a = Replace(a, "|" & InlineTags(i) & "¦", "<" & InlineTags(i) & " ")
a = Replace(a, "|" & InlineTags(i) & "|", "<" & InlineTags(i) & ">")
a = Replace(a, "|/" & InlineTags(i) & "|", "</" & InlineTags(i) & ">")
Next i
End If
treatInlineTags = a
End Function
Function IsInArray(a As String, Arr As Variant) As Boolean
Dim i As Long
For i = LBound(Arr) To UBound(Arr)
IsInArray = a = Arr(i)
If IsInArray Then Exit Function
Next i
End Function
Function CleanOf(a As String) As String
'Removes unwanted spaces between tags
Dim i As Long, b As Boolean, l As Long
a = Replace(a, Chr(13), "")
a = Replace(a, Chr(10), "")
a = treatInlineTags(a, True)
For i = 1 To Len(a)
Select Case Mid(a, i, 1)
Case ">", "<"
If i - l > 1 And l > 0 Then a = Left(a, l) & Right(a, Len(a) - i + 1)
If i > 1 Then l = i
If l > 0 Then b = True
Case Is <> " "
b = False
l = 0
End Select
Next i
CleanOf = a
End Function
Function Filler(n As Long, Optional Str As String = "0") As String
If n > 0 Then Filler = Replace(Space$(n), " ", Str)
End Function
To test it:
Sub test()
Dim a As String, b As String
a = "<div class=""myclass""> " & Chr(13) & _
"<ul><li>A</li> " & Chr(13) & _
"<li>B</li><li>C</li> " & _
"</ul></div> <!-- just a comment -->" & _
"<h2 class=""mytitle"">a title: inline and " & _
"followed by a line break</h2>" & _
"<div><ul><li><i class=""myitalic"">italic " & _
"content: inline and NOT followed by a line break</i>" & _
"</li></ul></div>"
b = "<li><i class=""mylist""></i>a list <ul>" & _
"<li>element 1</li><li>element 2</li><li>element 3</li></ul> " & _
"</li><li>This <b>is bold</b> in an element list " & _
"<a href=""#mydestination"">""with an href"" " & _
"</a></li>"
Debug.Print Chr(10) & "Test1 - input:" & Chr(10) & a
Debug.Print Chr(10) & "Test1 - output:" & Chr(10) & ReadableHTML(a)
Debug.Print Chr(10) & "Test2 - input:" & Chr(10) & b
Debug.Print Chr(10) & "Test2 - output:" & Chr(10) & ReadableHTML(b)
End Sub