by Jim Derry, https://www.balthisar.com Copyright © 2003-2019 by Jim Derry. All rights reserved. See “Legal Stuff” below for license details.
Sweep Away your Poor HTML Clutter.
Use Balthisar Tidy to make sure your HTML is clean, error free, and accessible. Now with the latest builds from HTACG, Balthisar Tidy surpasses macOS’ built-in, terminal version of this venerable tool.
- Supports every macOS file encoding.
- Advanced text editor features.
- See a live preview of the effects each Tidy option has on your code.
- Identify errors and be directed to their exact location in your source code in an instant.
- Correct errors in the source document immediately.
- Identifies and automatically corrects several potential errors.
- Automatically cleans up ugly code from HTML generator applications.
- Identifies opportunities to ensure accessibility compliance.
- Pretty-print formats your source code for maximum legibility.
- Further validate your code with the W3C Nu HTML Checker, either online, built-in, or using the server of your choice.
Balthisar Tidy has been released with support for macOS 10.10 and newer.
Please see the commit history.
In September 2018 I rebuilt the repository and git history from scratch in order to simplify the early commit history and cover up a lot of git sins, such as committing large binaries. You probably don't want to merge the repository into your own source if it originates before September 2018.
Because of this, there is now a separate tidy_assets
repository available,
which contains all of the sources for the images used in Balthisar Tidy.
This repository is not required in order to build Balthisar Tidy.
If you’re building from source, be aware that there are several build targets, which collectively make up a single application. Although there’s a single “Balthisar Tidy” build target, you can generate the different versions via the different configurations.
Refer to How To Build, below, for important information.
-
Balthisar Tidy (web) will build the version distributed on the www.balthisar.com website, and will include support for Sparkle for auto-updating.
-
Balthisar Tidy (app) will build the version distributed on Apple's App Store, and does not include anything remotely associated with Sparkle. It is otherwise identical with the
(web)
build. -
Balthisar Tidy (pro) will build the version distributed as “Balthisar Tidy for Work” on the App Store. Yes, this is the paid version that includes AppleScript support and the ability to export Tidy configuration files, as well as future, unspecified changes. If you want to build it yourself and avoid paying for it in the App Store, you can!
The build targets above have dependencies on additional build targets. Dependencies will be built automatically when needed, such as when selecting the application configuration to build.
-
Tidy Extension and TidyBody Extension will build the action extension that Balthisar Tidy makes available to apps that support extensions.
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Balthisar Tidy Service Helper will build the separate application that handles Tidy as a system service. This helper application within the main application bundle performs Tidying without the need for the main Balthisar Tidy application to open every time the service is invoked.
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JSDTidyFramework is used by most of the other targets, and is the interface to the LibTidy library.
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JSDNuVFramework is used to host the Java Runtime Environment and the Nu HTML Checker’s JAR, and provides checking services to Balthisar Tidy.
-
libtidy-balthisar.dylib will build a dynamic library that JSDTidyFramework will use. Although the implementation as a dylib helps reduce code redundancy within the bundle, the main reason for building as a dylib is to allow the dynamic linker to use updated versions in
/usr/local/lib
. This allows advanced users to upgrade Balthisar Tidy’s tidying engine in between Balthisar Tidy releases.
If you try to build any of the targets immediately upon opening the project the first time, the build will fail. All versions of Balthisar Tidy include System Services and Action Extensions, and this means that Apple requires a code signing identity and provisioning profile.
If you’re already an Apple Developer simply ensure that your developer Apple ID is added to Preferences > Accounts in Xcode. Then for each build target, in the General tab, Identity section, select your own team.
The first time you build Xcode will probably complain about provisioning profiles. Go ahead and use the Fix button to let Xcode make its changes.
At this point XCode will build any of the targets and you are all set.
If you’re not an Apple Developer then don’t worry. Starting with Xcode 7 Apple supports free provisioning profiles associated with your Apple ID. This means that you do have to use Xcode 7 or newer, and have an Apple ID though.
The first step is to add your Apple ID to Preferences > Accounts in Xcode, which should be straightforward enough. After completing this use the View Details… button on the same screen. This will cause a sheet to open. In the upper pane (“Signing Identities”) use the Create button for “Mac Development” and then use the Done button. You can close Preferences now.
Next, for each build target, go to the Build Settings panel and look for the Code Signing section. Change the Code Signing Identity to “Mac Developer” for each target. Then for each target, verify that in the General tab, Identity section, your own team is selected.
The first time you build Xcode will probably complain about provisioning profiles. Go ahead and use the Fix button to let Xcode make its changes.
At this point XCode will build any of the targets and you are all set.
Apple currently allows sandboxed apps to reference libraries (even unsigned) in
certain protected OS directories, including within /usr/local/lib/
, which is
the traditional install location for Unix libraries.
Balthisar Tidy is now built to to use a libtidy-balthisar.dylib
instead of
the built-in library if one is found in /usr/local/lib
. This means that if you
install the console version of HTML Tidy with a different libtidy.dylib
, then
Balthisar Tidy can use it. This can be useful in cases where HTML Tidy is
released at a faster pace than Balthisar Tidy, for example. Mac using HTML
Tidy developers can also quickly switch between HTML Tidy versions without
having to build Balthisar Tidy.
I suggest creating a symlink within /usr/local/lib/
to the specific version of
tidylib that you want Balthisar Tidy to use. For example:
ln -sf /usr/local/lib/libtidy.5.1.9.dylib /usr/local/lib/libtidy-balthisar.dylib
Because HTML Tidy installation scripts automatically create their own symlinks to the most recently installed libtidy, you could also link to this generic link, ensuring that Balthisar Tidy will always use the most recently installed library:
ln -sf /usr/local/lib/libtidy.dylib /usr/local/lib/libtidy-balthisar.dylib
Balthisar Tidy will not support simply using the already-present
libtidy.dylib
. Apple's dynamic loader does not allow the application to choose
a specific version or installed location of a dynamic library, and so
namespacing in this way ensures that Balthisar Tidy can always operate without
regard to the version of HTML Tidy that is installed.
Balthisar Tidy and all of its source code (including third party source code) have been released under free and open source licenses.
Refer to licenses in third party source code for rights and responsibilities related to that source code.
All source code in this project copyrighted by Jim Derry is available to you under license via the standard MIT License, reproduced below. Items that are not source code, such as artwork and the name "Balthisar" and "Balthisar Tidy" are not licensed for your private or public use and remain the property of Jim Derry. See the Trademark and Artwork Policy, below.
Copyright (c) 2003 to 2018 Jim Derry https://www.balthisar.com
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
This text does not constitute a license; it is meant to clarify a general policy regarding certain intellectual property, copyrights, and trademarks that belong to Balthisar and/or Jim Derry.
"Balthisar Tidy™" is currently in commerce use to describe a software product for personal computers that performs operations on files. This trademark is used stylistically as "Balthisar Tidy."
"Balthisar™" is currently in commerce use to distinguish products, services, and written content via electronic and other media. This trademark is used stylistically as "balthisar," "balthisar.com," and "www.balthisar.com."
The entirety of Balthisar Tidy is Copyright ©2003-2015 by Jim Derry. The source code (including HTML files that constitute the Apple Help system) has been released under the MIT License. Although you may use the source code for any purpose allowed by the license, you may not use Jim Derry's artwork or trademarks for any commercial purpose without explicit, personal permission. You may not represent forks or other distributions (including binary distributions) as having originated directly from balthisar.com or Jim Derry.
You may choose to maintain the Balthisar artwork only if you maintain the Balthisar branding.
You may choose to maintain the Balthisar branding. Forks that maintain Balthisar branding must clearly indicate that they are forks in any public repository and any publicly available binary. Github, for example, clearly indicates this status on your behalf. You should modify the copyright information in the header files to indicate additional copyright information for the changes you introduce.
Binary distributions may use Balthisar branding and artwork, but it must be obvious to the user that the application is a non-original version. For example, "Bob's Improved Balthisar Tidy," or "YA Balthisar Tidy" make it clear that the product origin is not balthisar.com or Jim Derry.
Binary distributions that completely remove all Balthisar branding and artwork are perfectly acceptable, even if for sale. This is your right under the MIT License. The MIT license does not extend to the Balthisar brands and artwork, however.