Literal asterisk in the beginning of the line in asciidoc to html conversion

Question

AsciiDoc source like a * a is converted to HTML as normal text "a * a". If the asterisk is the first non-space character in the line, it starts a list (this is normal). However, I need to start a paragraph with literal asterisk. I tried the following to escape it:

• `*`
  • * (rendered inside <code>)
• \*
  • \* (rendered as normal text but with backslash present)
• +*+
  • * (rendered inside <code>)
• pass::[*]
  • error: block macro cannot occur here: pass::[*]
• '*'
  • * (rendered inside <em> — the closest to what I need so far)

How to specify an asterisk in the beginning of the line in AsciiDoc source so that it appears as normal text in the HTML output?

Answer 1

It turned out that for inline passthroughs a different form of pass is required. I also checked the solution suggested by @Mario Lopez. I summarize the options below:

• passthrough:
  • pass:[*]
  • +++*+++
  • $$*$$
• disturb list pattern
  • {empty}* ("official" solution from FAQ)
  • *text
  • *{sp}
• HTML escapes
  • *
  • *

Answer 2

You have two options that I know of. The pattern that converts it to a list is specifically an asterisk followed by a space.

* item

Which will get rendered like this:

• item

You could either omit the space or use the space attribute.

*item
*{sp}item

Which will get rendered like this (respectively):

*item
* item

More information about attributes and substitutions can be found here: http://asciidoctor.org/docs/asciidoc-syntax-quick-reference/#attributes-and-substitutions