A code formatter but not in that way!

This software exists to make the California Civil Code easier to read. It works in most cases. However, the indentation it provides is not and cannot be 100% accurate. Always manually verify the structure of the relevant paragraphs/clauses/subclauses/etc.

Open the extension by clicking on the puzzle piece icon in Chrome, then click on the CalCodeFormatter icon. This will open the extension controls. Clicking the on/off button will enable/disable the formatter.

Navigate to your favorite California law, for example The Housing Elements. If the formatter is on, you should see the new formatting applied. If you wish to turn it off, simply turn off formatting in the controls and refresh the page.

As it exists, the California Civil Code is difficult to read because of its extensive use of structured headings and disdain for indentation.

The codes follow a heading structure of, from top-level to bottom-level: (a) (1) (A) (roman i)(roman I) (ia)

It's possible there are lower level headings, but I have no encountered them and there seems to be no reference manual.

For humans and computers alike, this ordering system fails to provide sufficient information to identify the correct heading level in all cases. There's no typographic distinction between the lower case i in the top-level heading and the roman numeral i.

Consider the case

(h) (1) (A) This heading starts as a top-level but then descends two
levels of heading.
(i) This heading is indeterminate. It could be the next top-level heading, or it
could be a descendant of (h) (1) (A).

Additional information could be provided by the next heading, be it (ii) or (j), but there's not always an additional heading.

This extension follows reasonable heuristics to attain nearly correct indentation. Any headings below (I) will be left at the same indentation level, since they are rather rare and would complicate the code quite a bit.

1. If the prior level of heading was (i) or lower (I or ia), treat (i) as a roman numeral. If the prior level of heading was (A), only treat (i) as a roman numeral, but not subsequent other numerals (ex: ii or iv) since dropping down a heading level must start with the first symbol of the new level, whereas going up a heading level can resume an arbitrarily long sequence of headings.

2. Same as 1. but shifted for heading level (I): Treat as a roman numeral if the prior level of heading was (I) or lower. Only treat as a roman numeral if the prior level of heading was (i) and the new symbol is literally (I), the first of the new level.

Quite often we'll have something like:

(b) Well, Seymour, I made it... Despite your directions.
(1) (A) (i) Ahhh, Superintendent Chalmers! Welcome! I hope you're prepared for an unforgettable luncheon.
(c) c is a valid roman numeral, so we must validate that ordinality is preserved
(e.g. 100 does not come after 1, so this must not be a roman numeral).

Meaning we need

3. If we encounter a roman numeral at a heading level where we'd plausibly find a roman numeral, only treat it as a roman numeral if its integer representation is 1 more than the prior roman numeral's integer reprsentation.

This will work correctly in many cases, but will not resolve indeterminate cases.

In order to support Chrome (which uses manifest V3) and Firefox (which uses manifest V2), we utilize make to generate complete extension directories from the typescript source and distinct manifests.

make chrome will produce the chrome/ directory and zip file. make firefox will do the same for firefox. make build will compile the typescript code. make all builds both firefox and chrome. make clean to get rid of any generated code.

This all works on macOS Big Sur, but hasn't been tested on anything else.

If, in your perusal of the letter of the law, you notice a case of incorrect indentation that is not already mentioned above, please either file an issue on this repo (if you're comfortable with that) or write the author at [email protected], ideally with a reference to the legal section that is broken, the current behavior, and the desired behavior.