def markup(str, remove_para=false)
      return '' unless str
      unless defined? @markup
        @markup = SM::SimpleMarkup.new

        # class names, variable names, or instance variables
        @markup.add_special(/(
                               \w+(::\w+)*[.\#]\w+(\([\.\w+\*\/\+\-\=\<\>]+\))?  # A::B.meth(**) (for operator in Fortran95)
                             | \#\w+(\([.\w\*\/\+\-\=\<\>]+\))?  #  meth(**) (for operator in Fortran95)
                             | \b([A-Z]\w*(::\w+)*[.\#]\w+)  #    A::B.meth
                             | \b([A-Z]\w+(::\w+)*)       #    A::B..
                             | \#\w+[!?=]?                #    #meth_name 
                             | \b\w+([_\/\.]+\w+)*[!?=]?  #    meth_name
                             )/x, 
                            :CROSSREF)

        # external hyperlinks
        @markup.add_special(/((link:|https?:|mailto:|ftp:|www\.)\S+\w)/, :HYPERLINK)

        # and links of the form  <text>[<url>]
        @markup.add_special(/(((\{.*?\})|\b\S+?)\[\S+?\.\S+?\])/, :TIDYLINK)
#        @markup.add_special(/\b(\S+?\[\S+?\.\S+?\])/, :TIDYLINK)

      end
      unless defined? @html_formatter
        @html_formatter = HyperlinkHtml.new(self.path, self)
      end

      # Convert leading comment markers to spaces, but only
      # if all non-blank lines have them

      if str =~ /^(?>\s*)[^\#]/
        content = str
      else
        content = str.gsub(/^\s*(#+)/)  { $1.tr('#',' ') }
      end

      res = @markup.convert(content, @html_formatter)
      if remove_para
        res.sub!(/^<p>/, '')
        res.sub!(/<\/p>$/, '')
      end
      res
    end
def markup(str, remove_para=false)
      return '' unless str
      unless defined? @markup
        @markup = SM::SimpleMarkup.new

        # class names, variable names, or instance variables
        @markup.add_special(/(
                               \w+(::\w+)*[.\#]\w+(\([\.\w+\*\/\+\-\=\<\>]+\))?  # A::B.meth(**) (for operator in Fortran95)
                             | \#\w+(\([.\w\*\/\+\-\=\<\>]+\))?  #  meth(**) (for operator in Fortran95)
                             | \b([A-Z]\w*(::\w+)*[.\#]\w+)  #    A::B.meth
                             | \b([A-Z]\w+(::\w+)*)       #    A::B..
                             | \#\w+[!?=]?                #    #meth_name 
                             | \b\w+([_\/\.]+\w+)*[!?=]?  #    meth_name
                             )/x, 
                            :CROSSREF)

        # external hyperlinks
        @markup.add_special(/((link:|https?:|mailto:|ftp:|www\.)\S+\w)/, :HYPERLINK)

        # and links of the form  <text>[<url>]
        @markup.add_special(/(((\{.*?\})|\b\S+?)\[\S+?\.\S+?\])/, :TIDYLINK)
#        @markup.add_special(/\b(\S+?\[\S+?\.\S+?\])/, :TIDYLINK)

      end
      unless defined? @html_formatter
        @html_formatter = HyperlinkHtml.new(self.path, self)
      end

      # Convert leading comment markers to spaces, but only
      # if all non-blank lines have them

      if str =~ /^(?>\s*)[^\#]/
        content = str
      else
        content = str.gsub(/^\s*(#+)/)  { $1.tr('#',' ') }
      end

      res = @markup.convert(content, @html_formatter)
      if remove_para
        res.sub!(/^<p>/, '')
        res.sub!(/<\/p>$/, '')
      end
      res
    end
Convert a string in markup format into HTML. We keep a cached
 SimpleMarkup object lying around after the first time we're
 called per object.