Haddock to DocBook Converter
FileFlip converts Haddock to DocBook entirely inside your browser, using Pandoc compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert a Haddock file to DocBook?#
- Drop your Haddock file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to DocBook and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 65.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs Pandoc on your own machine.
- Save the DocBook file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting Haddock to DocBook lose quality?#
Not in the sense of pixels or samples. Converting Haddock to DocBook rebuilds the file in DocBook's own model rather than re-encoding it, so everything DocBook can represent comes through exactly and anything it cannot has to be dropped. Expect the words to come through exactly and the page breaks to move.
Is it safe to convert Haddock files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts Haddock files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What Haddock to DocBook actually does to the file#
Converting Haddock to DocBook runs on Pandoc, downloads 65.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, rebuilds the file in the target's own model, keeps selectable text and page layout.
| Engine | Pandoc |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: Haddock → DocBook |
| Downloaded to your browser | 65.8 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Rebuilt in the target's model |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
What survives the conversion
| What is in the file | This conversion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Selectable text | Kept | Carried through into the converted file. |
| Page layout | Kept | Carried through into the converted file. |
What is a Haddock file?#
A Haddock file holds documentation written in Haddock markup, the comment syntax Haskell's own documentation generator reads out of source files to build a module's API reference.
Write Haddock markup directly in Haskell source comments so `cabal haddock` can generate the package's API documentation.
Convert Haddock markup to Markdown when the same text needs to appear in a README or a project website outside the generated API docs.
What is a DocBook file?#
A DBK file is a DocBook document, XML markup that describes a technical document's structure and meaning, such as chapters, sections, and code listings, rather than its visual layout, so one source can be styled into a printed book or a web page.
Write in DocBook when producing technical documentation that has to publish to multiple outputs, such as print, web, and help, from one validated source.
Convert DocBook to another format when the reader only needs the finished document and doesn't need to maintain the structured XML source.
Haddock to DocBook questions people ask#
What is a .haddock file?
A .haddock file holds text written in Haddock markup, the comment syntax Haskell's documentation generator reads. In practice this markup normally lives inside `-- |` and `-- ^` comments in a .hs source file rather than a standalone file, so a .haddock file usually appears when that text has been extracted or converted on its own.
How do I generate documentation from Haddock comments?
Running `cabal haddock` or `stack haddock` in a Haskell project reads the Haddock comments in its source files and builds an HTML API reference, the same kind of page Hackage hosts for every published package.
What's the difference between -- | and -- ^ in Haddock?
-- | attaches a Haddock doc comment to the declaration that follows it, while -- ^ attaches one to the declaration or argument just before it. The choice is about position: -- | documents forward, -- ^ documents backward.
What opens a .dbk file?
A .dbk file is DocBook XML, which is plain text, so any text or XML editor opens it, though tools like Oxygen XML Editor or Visual Studio Code with an XML extension add validation and structure awareness. Converting it to HTML or PDF is the usual way to read it as a finished document.