Variables

You can declare variables as:

mkdocs {
    extras = [
            'version': "${-> project.version}",
            'something': 'something else'
    ]
}

Warning

You'll have to use lazy evaluation syntax for sensitive properties. In the example above actual version ("${-> project.version}") would be resolved only just before mkdocs task execution.

As an alternative, you can declare some properties just before task execution:

mkdocsBuild.doFirst {
    extras.prop = ... some value calculation
}

But this will apply property only for one task (e.g. mkdocsServe will not see this property)!

Variables applied with markdownextradata mkdocs plugin. The plugin is installed, but not activated by default. To use variables it must be enabled:

plugins:
  - search
  - markdownextradata

(search plugin is enabled by default when plugins section is not declared and so have to be manually specified)

Now you can use variables in markdown files:

{{ gradle.version }} and {{ gradle.something }}

Note

Variables will work for all mkdocs tasks (MkdocsTask), including mkdocsServe!

Tip

All generated variables are also printed in console (for reference).

Keys

Plugin will automatically replace ' ' and '-' in variable keys into '_'.

For example:

mkdocs {
    extras = [
            'something-else other': 'something else'
    ]
}

Will appear as gradle.something_else_other variable.

Automation example

Variables addition may be scripted. For example, mkdocs plugin's build use this to store used pip modules versions as vars:

afterEvaluate {
    // iterating over modules declared with python.pip
    python.modules.each {
        def mod = it.split(':')
        // storing module name as-is: plugin will auto correct '-' to '_'
        mkdocs.extras[mod[0]] = mod[1]
    }
}

And version reference in docs looks like:

* [mkdocs: {{ gradle.mkdocs }} ](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/mkdocs)
* [mkdocs-material: {{ gradle.mkdocs_material }} ](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/mkdocs-material)

afterEvaluate block is not required in this case, but it's usually safer to use it to avoid "configuration property not yet ready" errors.

Show template syntax in doc

If you want to prevent replacing variable, for example:

{{ not_var }}

Then simply apply text "as variable" :

{{ '{{ not_var }}' }}

or use jinja raw block syntax

{% raw %}
{{ not_var }}
{% endraw %}

How it works

When variables declared (mkdocs.extras), plugin will generate a special data file before mkdocs task execution:

[mkdocs.yml location]/docs/_data/gradle.yml

Markdownextradata plugin loads all yaml files in _data directory by default and so it would recognize and load gradle-declared properties automatically.

After task execution, file is removed (because it located inside sources).

You can declare additinoal (not gradle-related) variables directly in mkdocs.yml's extra section or using additinoal _data files: see plugin documentation.

Tip

To update plugin version (for example, in case of bugs):

python.pip 'mkdocs-markdownextradata-plugin:0.2.5'

Potential problem on linux

Markdownextradata plugin requires PyYaml 5.1 or above. If you use older version, you may face the following error:

 ...
    File "/home/travis/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/markdownextradata/plugin.py", line 90, in on_pre_build
     if filename.suffix in [".yml", ".yaml"]
 AttributeError: module 'yaml' has no attribute 'FullLoader'

To workaround it either upgrade global PyYaml:

pip3 install --ignore-installed pyyaml

(--ignore-installed required!)

Or specify exact pyyaml version for installation inside environment:

python.pip 'pyyaml:5.4.1'

Note

PyYaml module not declared by default because it's a system module, installed with python. It may require additional packages for installation (python3-dev) and so it could cause more problems if it would be updated by default. But, this problem affects only old python versions, and you may never face this.

Travis ci

Pyyaml problem might be faced on travis: even bionic shipped with python 3.6 brings old pyyaml version.

Workaround:

language: java
dist: bionic
addons:
  apt:
    packages:
      - "python3"
      - "python3-pip"
      - "python3-setuptools"

matrix:
  include:
    - jdk: openjdk8
    - jdk: openjdk11

before_install:
  - chmod +x gradlew
  - pip3 install --upgrade pip
  # markdownextradata plugin requires at least pyyaml 5.1
  - pip3 install --ignore-installed pyyaml