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Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +00001*syntax.txt* For Vim version 7.0aa. Last change: 2004 Jul 06
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7Syntax highlighting *syntax* *syntax-highlighting* *coloring*
8
9Syntax highlighting enables Vim to show parts of the text in another font or
10color. Those parts can be specific keywords or text matching a pattern. Vim
11doesn't parse the whole file (to keep it fast), so the highlighting has its
12limitations. Lexical highlighting might be a better name, but since everybody
13calls it syntax highlighting we'll stick with that.
14
15Vim supports syntax highlighting on all terminals. But since most ordinary
16terminals have very limited highlighting possibilities, it works best in the
17GUI version, gvim.
18
19In the User Manual:
20|usr_06.txt| introduces syntax highlighting.
21|usr_44.txt| introduces writing a syntax file.
22
231. Quick start |:syn-qstart|
242. Syntax files |:syn-files|
253. Syntax loading procedure |syntax-loading|
264. Syntax file remarks |:syn-file-remarks|
275. Defining a syntax |:syn-define|
286. :syntax arguments |:syn-arguments|
297. Syntax patterns |:syn-pattern|
308. Syntax clusters |:syn-cluster|
319. Including syntax files |:syn-include|
3210. Synchronizing |:syn-sync|
3311. Listing syntax items |:syntax|
3412. Highlight command |:highlight|
3513. Linking groups |:highlight-link|
3614. Cleaning up |:syn-clear|
3715. Highlighting tags |tag-highlight|
3816. Color xterms |xterm-color|
39
40{Vi does not have any of these commands}
41
42Syntax highlighting is not available when the |+syntax| feature has been
43disabled at compile time.
44
45==============================================================================
461. Quick start *:syn-qstart*
47
48 *:syn-enable* *:syntax-enable*
49This command switches on syntax highlighting: >
50
51 :syntax enable
52
53What this command actually does is to execute the command >
54 :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
55
56If the VIM environment variable is not set, Vim will try to find
57the path in another way (see |$VIMRUNTIME|). Usually this works just
58fine. If it doesn't, try setting the VIM environment variable to the
59directory where the Vim stuff is located. For example, if your syntax files
60are in the "/usr/vim/vim50/syntax" directory, set $VIMRUNTIME to
61"/usr/vim/vim50". You must do this in the shell, before starting Vim.
62
63 *:syn-on* *:syntax-on*
64The ":syntax enable" command will keep your current color settings. This
65allows using ":highlight" commands to set your preferred colors before or
66after using this command. If you want Vim to overrule your settings with the
67defaults, use: >
68 :syntax on
69<
70 *:hi-normal* *:highlight-normal*
71If you are running in the GUI, you can get white text on a black background
72with: >
73 :highlight Normal guibg=Black guifg=White
74For a color terminal see |:hi-normal-cterm|.
75For setting up your own colors syntax highlighting see |syncolor|.
76
77NOTE: The syntax files on MS-DOS and Windows have lines that end in <CR><NL>.
78The files for Unix end in <NL>. This means you should use the right type of
79file for your system. Although on MS-DOS and Windows the right format is
80automatically selected if the 'fileformats' option is not empty.
81
82NOTE: When using reverse video ("gvim -fg white -bg black"), the default value
83of 'background' will not be set until the GUI window is opened, which is after
84reading the .gvimrc. This will cause the wrong default highlighting to be
85used. To set the default value of 'background' before switching on
86highlighting, include the ":gui" command in the .gvimrc: >
87
88 :gui " open window and set default for 'background'
89 :syntax on " start highlighting, use 'background' to set colors
90
91NOTE: Using ":gui" in the .gvimrc means that "gvim -f" won't start in the
92foreground! Use ":gui -f" then.
93
94
95You can toggle the syntax on/off with this command >
96 :if exists("syntax_on") | syntax off | else | syntax enable | endif
97
98To put this into a mapping, you can use: >
99 :map <F7> :if exists("syntax_on") <Bar>
100 \ syntax off <Bar>
101 \ else <Bar>
102 \ syntax enable <Bar>
103 \ endif <CR>
104[using the |<>| notation, type this literally]
105
106Details
107The ":syntax" commands are implemented by sourcing a file. To see exactly how
108this works, look in the file:
109 command file ~
110 :syntax enable $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
111 :syntax on $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
112 :syntax manual $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/manual.vim
113 :syntax off $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
114Also see |syntax-loading|.
115
116==============================================================================
1172. Syntax files *:syn-files*
118
119The syntax and highlighting commands for one language are normally stored in
120a syntax file. The name convention is: "{name}.vim". Where {name} is the
121name of the language, or an abbreviation (to fit the name in 8.3 characters,
122a requirement in case the file is used on a DOS filesystem).
123Examples:
124 c.vim perl.vim java.vim html.vim
125 cpp.vim sh.vim csh.vim
126
127The syntax file can contain any Ex commands, just like a vimrc file. But
128the idea is that only commands for a specific language are included. When a
129language is a superset of another language, it may include the other one,
130for example, the cpp.vim file could include the c.vim file: >
131 :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/c.vim
132
133The .vim files are normally loaded with an autocommand. For example: >
134 :au Syntax c runtime! syntax/c.vim
135 :au Syntax cpp runtime! syntax/cpp.vim
136These commands are normally in the file $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/synload.vim.
137
138
139MAKING YOUR OWN SYNTAX FILES *mysyntaxfile*
140
141When you create your own syntax files, and you want to have Vim use these
142automatically with ":syntax enable", do this:
143
1441. Create your user runtime directory. You would normally use the first item
145 of the 'runtimepath' option. Example for Unix: >
146 mkdir ~/.vim
147
1482. Create a directory in there called "syntax". For Unix: >
149 mkdir ~/.vim/syntax
150
1513. Write the Vim syntax file. Or download one from the internet. Then write
152 it in your syntax directory. For example, for the "mine" syntax: >
153 :w ~/.vim/syntax/mine.vim
154
155Now you can start using your syntax file manually: >
156 :set syntax=mine
157You don't have to exit Vim to use this.
158
159If you also want Vim to detect the type of file, see |new-filetype|.
160
161If you are setting up a system with many users and you don't want each user
162to add the same syntax file, you can use another directory from 'runtimepath'.
163
164
165ADDING TO AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE *mysyntaxfile-add*
166
167If you are mostly satisfied with an existing syntax file, but would like to
168add a few items or change the highlighting, follow these steps:
169
1701. Create your user directory from 'runtimepath', see above.
171
1722. Create a directory in there called "after/syntax". For Unix: >
173 mkdir ~/.vim/after
174 mkdir ~/.vim/after/syntax
175
1763. Write a Vim script that contains the commands you want to use. For
177 example, to change the colors for the C syntax: >
178 highlight cComment ctermfg=Green guifg=Green
179
1804. Write that file in the "after/syntax" directory. Use the name of the
181 syntax, with ".vim" added. For our C syntax: >
182 :w ~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim
183
184That's it. The next time you edit a C file the Comment color will be
185different. You don't even have to restart Vim.
186
187
188REPLACING AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE *mysyntaxfile-replace*
189
190If you don't like a distributed syntax file, or you have downloaded a new
191version, follow the same steps as for |mysyntaxfile| above. Just make sure
192that you write the syntax file in a directory that is early in 'runtimepath'.
193Vim will only load the first syntax file found.
194
195
196NAMING CONVENTIONS
197 *group-name* *{group-name}* *E669* *W18*
198The name for a highlight or syntax group must consist of ASCII letters, digits
199and the underscore. As a regexp: "[a-zA-Z0-9_]*"
200
201To be able to allow each user to pick his favorite set of colors, there must
202be preferred names for highlight groups that are common for many languages.
203These are the suggested group names (if syntax highlighting works properly
204you can see the actual color, except for "Ignore"):
205
206 *Comment any comment
207
208 *Constant any constant
209 String a string constant: "this is a string"
210 Character a character constant: 'c', '\n'
211 Number a number constant: 234, 0xff
212 Boolean a boolean constant: TRUE, false
213 Float a floating point constant: 2.3e10
214
215 *Identifier any variable name
216 Function function name (also: methods for classes)
217
218 *Statement any statement
219 Conditional if, then, else, endif, switch, etc.
220 Repeat for, do, while, etc.
221 Label case, default, etc.
222 Operator "sizeof", "+", "*", etc.
223 Keyword any other keyword
224 Exception try, catch, throw
225
226 *PreProc generic Preprocessor
227 Include preprocessor #include
228 Define preprocessor #define
229 Macro same as Define
230 PreCondit preprocessor #if, #else, #endif, etc.
231
232 *Type int, long, char, etc.
233 StorageClass static, register, volatile, etc.
234 Structure struct, union, enum, etc.
235 Typedef A typedef
236
237 *Special any special symbol
238 SpecialChar special character in a constant
239 Tag you can use CTRL-] on this
240 Delimiter character that needs attention
241 SpecialComment special things inside a comment
242 Debug debugging statements
243
244 *Underlined text that stands out, HTML links
245
246 *Ignore left blank, hidden
247
248 *Error any erroneous construct
249
250 *Todo anything that needs extra attention; mostly the
251 keywords TODO FIXME and XXX
252
253The names marked with * are the preferred groups; the others are minor groups.
254For the preferred groups, the "syntax.vim" file contains default highlighting.
255The minor groups are linked to the preferred groups, so they get the same
256highlighting. You can override these defaults by using ":highlight" commands
257after sourcing the "syntax.vim" file.
258
259Note that highlight group names are not case sensitive. "String" and "string"
260can be used for the same group.
261
262The following names are reserved and cannot be used as a group name:
263 NONE ALL ALLBUT contains contained
264
265==============================================================================
2663. Syntax loading procedure *syntax-loading*
267
268This explains the details that happen when the command ":syntax enable" is
269issued. When Vim initializes itself, it finds out where the runtime files are
270located. This is used here as the variable |$VIMRUNTIME|.
271
272":syntax enable" and ":syntax on" do the following:
273
274 Source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
275 |
276 +- Clear out any old syntax by sourcing $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
277 |
278 +- Source first syntax/synload.vim in 'runtimepath'
279 | |
280 | +- Setup the colors for syntax highlighting. If a color scheme is
281 | | defined it is loaded again with ":colors {name}". Otherwise
282 | | ":runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim" is used. ":syntax on" overrules
283 | | existing colors, ":syntax enable" only sets groups that weren't
284 | | set yet.
285 | |
286 | +- Set up syntax autocmds to load the appropriate syntax file when
287 | | the 'syntax' option is set. *synload-1*
288 | |
289 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the |mysyntaxfile| variable.
290 | This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only. *synload-2*
291 |
292 +- Do ":filetype on", which does ":runtime! filetype.vim". It loads any
293 | filetype.vim files found. It should always Source
294 | $VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim, which does the following.
295 | |
296 | +- Install autocmds based on suffix to set the 'filetype' option
297 | | This is where the connection between file name and file type is
298 | | made for known file types. *synload-3*
299 | |
300 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the *myfiletypefile*
301 | | variable. This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
302 | | *synload-4*
303 | |
304 | +- Install one autocommand which sources scripts.vim when no file
305 | | type was detected yet. *synload-5*
306 | |
307 | +- Source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim, to setup the Syntax menu. |menu.vim|
308 |
309 +- Install a FileType autocommand to set the 'syntax' option when a file
310 | type has been detected. *synload-6*
311 |
312 +- Execute syntax autocommands to start syntax highlighting for each
313 already loaded buffer.
314
315
316Upon loading a file, Vim finds the relevant syntax file as follows:
317
318 Loading the file triggers the BufReadPost autocommands.
319 |
320 +- If there is a match with one of the autocommands from |synload-3|
321 | (known file types) or |synload-4| (user's file types), the 'filetype'
322 | option is set to the file type.
323 |
324 +- The autocommand at |synload-5| is triggered. If the file type was not
325 | found yet, then scripts.vim is searched for in 'runtimepath'. This
326 | should always load $VIMRUNTIME/scripts.vim, which does the following.
327 | |
328 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the *myscriptsfile*
329 | | variable. This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
330 | |
331 | +- If the file type is still unknown, check the contents of the file,
332 | again with checks like "getline(1) =~ pattern" as to whether the
333 | file type can be recognized, and set 'filetype'.
334 |
335 +- When the file type was determined and 'filetype' was set, this
336 | triggers the FileType autocommand |synload-6| above. It sets
337 | 'syntax' to the determined file type.
338 |
339 +- When the 'syntax' option was set above, this triggers an autocommand
340 | from |synload-1| (and |synload-2|). This find the main syntax file in
341 | 'runtimepath', with this command:
342 | runtime! syntax/<name>.vim
343 |
344 +- Any other user installed FileType or Syntax autocommands are
345 triggered. This can be used to change the highlighting for a specific
346 syntax.
347
348==============================================================================
3494. Syntax file remarks *:syn-file-remarks*
350
351 *b:current_syntax-variable*
352Vim stores the name of the syntax that has been loaded in the
353"b:current_syntax" variable. You can use this if you want to load other
354settings, depending on which syntax is active. Example: >
355 :au BufReadPost * if b:current_syntax == "csh"
356 :au BufReadPost * do-some-things
357 :au BufReadPost * endif
358
359
3602HTML *2html.vim* *convert-to-HTML*
361
362This is not a syntax file itself, but a script that converts the current
363window into HTML. Vim opens a new window in which it builds the HTML file.
364
365You are not supposed to set the 'filetype' or 'syntax' option to "2html"!
366Source the script to convert the current file: >
367
368 :runtime! syntax/2html.vim
369<
370Warning: This is slow!
371 *:TOhtml*
372Or use the ":TOhtml" user command. It is defined in a standard plugin.
373":TOhtml" also works with a range and in a Visual area: >
374
375 :10,40TOhtml
376
377After you save the resulting file, you can view it with any HTML viewer, such
378as Netscape. The colors should be exactly the same as you see them in Vim.
379
380To restrict the conversion to a range of lines set "html_start_line" and
381"html_end_line" to the first and last line to be converted. Example, using
382the last set Visual area: >
383
384 :let html_start_line = line("'<")
385 :let html_end_line = line("'>")
386
387The lines are numbered according to 'number' option and the Number
388highlighting. You can force lines to be numbered in the HTML output by
389setting "html_number_lines" to non-zero value: >
390 :let html_number_lines = 1
391Force to omit the line numbers by using a zero value: >
392 :let html_number_lines = 0
393Go back to the default to use 'number' by deleting the variable: >
394 :unlet html_number_lines
395
396By default, HTML optimized for old browsers is generated. If you prefer using
397cascading style sheets (CSS1) for the attributes (resulting in considerably
398shorter and valid HTML 4 file), use: >
399 :let html_use_css = 1
400
401By default "<pre>" and "</pre>" is used around the text. This makes it show
402up as you see it in Vim, but without wrapping. If you prefer wrapping, at the
403risk of making some things look a bit different, use: >
404 :let html_no_pre = 1
405This will use <br> at the end of each line and use "&nbsp;" for repeated
406spaces.
407
408The current value of 'encoding' is used to specify the charset of the HTML
409file. This only works for those values of 'encoding' that have an equivalent
410HTML charset name. To overrule this set g:html_use_encoding to the name of
411the charset to be used: >
412 :let html_use_encoding = "foobar"
413To omit the line that specifies the charset, set g:html_use_encoding to an
414empty string: >
415 :let html_use_encoding = ""
416To go back to the automatic mechanism, delete the g:html_use_encoding
417variable: >
418 :unlet html_use_encoding
419<
420 *convert-to-XML* *convert-to-XHTML*
421An alternative is to have the script generate XHTML (XML compliant HTML). To
422do this set the "use_xhtml" variable: >
423 :let use_xhtml = 1
424To disable it again delete the variable: >
425 :unlet use_xhtml
426The generated XHTML file can be used in DocBook XML documents. See:
427 http://people.mech.kuleuven.ac.be/~pissaris/howto/src2db.html
428
429Remarks:
430- This only works in a version with GUI support. If the GUI is not actually
431 running (possible for X11) it still works, but not very well (the colors
432 may be wrong).
433- Older browsers will not show the background colors.
434- From most browsers you can also print the file (in color)!
435
436Here is an example how to run the script over all .c and .h files from a
437Unix shell: >
438 for f in *.[ch]; do gvim -f +"syn on" +"run! syntax/2html.vim" +"wq" +"q" $f; done
439<
440
441ABEL *abel.vim* *abel-syntax*
442
443ABEL highlighting provides some user-defined options. To enable them, assign
444any value to the respective variable. Example: >
445 :let abel_obsolete_ok=1
446To disable them use ":unlet". Example: >
447 :unlet abel_obsolete_ok
448
449Variable Highlight ~
450abel_obsolete_ok obsolete keywords are statements, not errors
451abel_cpp_comments_illegal do not interpret '//' as inline comment leader
452
453
454ADA *ada.vim* *ada-syntax*
455
456This mode is designed for the 1995 edition of Ada ("Ada95"), which
457includes support for objected-programming, protected types, and so on.
458It handles code written for the original Ada language
459("Ada83" or "Ada87") as well, though Ada83 code which uses Ada95-only
460keywords will be wrongly colored (such code should be fixed anyway).
461For more information about Ada, see http://www.adapower.com.
462
463The Ada mode handles a number of situations cleanly.
464For example, it knows that the "-" in "-5" is a number, but the same
465character in "A-5" is an operator. Normally, a "with" or "use" clause
466referencing another compilation unit is colored the same way as C's
467"#include" is colored. If you have "Conditional" or "Repeat"
468groups colored differently, then "end if" and "end loop" will be
469colored as part of those respective groups.
470You can set these to different colors using vim's "highlight" command
471(e.g., to change how loops are displayed, enter the command
472":hi Repeat" followed by the color specification; on simple terminals
473the color specification ctermfg=White often shows well).
474
475There are several options you can select in this Ada mode.
476To enable them, assign a value to the option. For example, to turn one on:
477 let ada_standard_types = 1
478To disable them use ":unlet". Example:
479 unlet ada_standard_types = 1
480You can just use ":" and type these into the command line to set these
481temporarily before loading an Ada file. You can make these option settings
482permanent by adding the "let" command(s), without a colon,
483to your "~/.vimrc" file.
484
485Here are the Ada mode options:
486
487Variable Action ~
488ada_standard_types Highlight types in package Standard (e.g., "Float")
489ada_space_errors Highlight extraneous errors in spaces...
490ada_no_trail_space_error but ignore trailing spaces at the end of a line
491ada_no_tab_space_error but ignore tabs after spaces
492ada_withuse_ordinary Show "with" and "use" as ordinary keywords
493 (when used to reference other compilation units
494 they're normally highlighted specially).
495ada_begin_preproc Show all begin-like keywords using the coloring
496 of C preprocessor commands.
497
498Even on a slow (90Mhz) PC this mode works quickly, but if you find
499the performance unacceptable, turn on ada_withuse_ordinary.
500
501
502ANT *ant.vim* *ant-syntax*
503
504The ant syntax file provides syntax highlighting for javascript and python
505by default. Syntax highlighting for other script languages can be installed
506by the function AntSyntaxScript(), which takes the tag name as first argument
507and the script syntax file name as second argument. Example: >
508
509 :call AntSyntaxScript('perl', 'perl.vim')
510
511will install syntax perl highlighting for the following ant code >
512
513 <script language = 'perl'><![CDATA[
514 # everything inside is highlighted as perl
515 ]]></script>
516
517See |mysyntaxfile-add| for installing script languages permanently.
518
519
520APACHE *apache.vim* *apache-syntax*
521
522The apache syntax file provides syntax highlighting depending on Apache HTTP
523server version, by default for 1.3.x. Set "apache_version" to Apache version
524(as a string) to get highlighting for another version. Example: >
525
526 :let apache_version = "2.0"
527<
528
529 *asm.vim* *asmh8300.vim* *nasm.vim* *masm.vim* *asm68k*
530ASSEMBLY *asm-syntax* *asmh8300-syntax* *nasm-syntax* *masm-syntax*
531 *asm68k-syntax* *fasm.vim*
532
533Files matching "*.i" could be Progress or Assembly. If the automatic detection
534doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
535startup vimrc: >
536 :let filetype_i = "asm"
537Replace "asm" with the type of assembly you use.
538
539There are many types of assembly languages that all use the same file name
540extensions. Therefore you will have to select the type yourself, or add a
541line in the assembly file that Vim will recognize. Currently these syntax
542files are included:
543 asm GNU assembly (the default)
544 asm68k Motorola 680x0 assembly
545 asmh8300 Hitachi H-8300 version of GNU assembly
546 ia64 Intel Itanium 64
547 fasm Flat assembly (http://flatassembler.net)
548 masm Microsoft assembly (probably works for any 80x86)
549 nasm Netwide assembly
550 tasm Turbo Assembly (with opcodes 80x86 up to Pentium, and
551 MMX)
552 pic PIC assembly (currently for PIC16F84)
553
554The most flexible is to add a line in your assembly file containing: >
555 :asmsyntax=nasm
556Replace "nasm" with the name of the real assembly syntax. This line must be
557one of the first five lines in the file.
558
559The syntax type can always be overruled for a specific buffer by setting the
560b:asmsyntax variable: >
561 :let b:asmsyntax=nasm
562
563If b:asmsyntax is not set, either automatically or by hand, then the value of
564the global variable asmsyntax is used. This can be seen as a default assembly
565language: >
566 :let asmsyntax=nasm
567
568As a last resort, if nothing is defined, the "asm" syntax is used.
569
570
571Netwide assembler (nasm.vim) optional highlighting ~
572
573To enable a feature: >
574 :let {variable}=1|set syntax=nasm
575To disable a feature: >
576 :unlet {variable} |set syntax=nasm
577
578Variable Highlight ~
579nasm_loose_syntax unofficial parser allowed syntax not as Error
580 (parser dependent; not recommended)
581nasm_ctx_outside_macro contexts outside macro not as Error
582nasm_no_warn potentially risky syntax not as ToDo
583
584
585ASPPERL and ASPVBS *aspperl-syntax* *aspvbs-syntax*
586
587*.asp and *.asa files could be either Perl or Visual Basic script. Since it's
588hard to detect this you can set two global variables to tell Vim what you are
589using. For Perl script use: >
590 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspperl"
591 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspperl"
592For Visual Basic use: >
593 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspvbs"
594 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspvbs"
595
596
597BASIC *basic.vim* *vb.vim* *basic-syntax* *vb-syntax*
598
599Both Visual Basic and "normal" basic use the extension ".bas". To detect
600which one should be used, Vim checks for the string "VB_Name" in the first
601five lines of the file. If it is not found, filetype will be "basic",
602otherwise "vb". Files with the ".frm" extension will always be seen as Visual
603Basic.
604
605
606C *c.vim* *c-syntax*
607
608A few things in C highlighting are optional. To enable them assign any value
609to the respective variable. Example: >
610 :let c_comment_strings=1
611To disable them use ":unlet". Example: >
612 :unlet c_comment_strings
613
614Variable Highlight ~
615c_gnu GNU gcc specific items
616c_comment_strings strings and numbers inside a comment
617c_space_errors trailing white space and spaces before a <Tab>
618c_no_trail_space_error ... but no trailing spaces
619c_no_tab_space_error ... but no spaces before a <Tab>
620c_no_bracket_error don't highlight {}; inside [] as errors
621c_no_ansi don't do standard ANSI types and constants
622c_ansi_typedefs ... but do standard ANSI types
623c_ansi_constants ... but do standard ANSI constants
624c_no_utf don't highlight \u and \U in strings
625c_syntax_for_h use C syntax for *.h files, instead of C++
626c_no_if0 don't highlight "#if 0" blocks as comments
627c_no_cformat don't highlight %-formats in strings
628c_no_c99 don't highlight C99 standard items
629
630If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
631when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "c_minlines" internal variable
632to a larger number: >
633 :let c_minlines = 100
634This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
635displayed line. The default value is 50 (15 when c_no_if0 is set). The
636disadvantage of using a larger number is that redrawing can become slow.
637
638When using the "#if 0" / "#endif" comment highlighting, notice that this only
639works when the "#if 0" is within "c_minlines" from the top of the window. If
640you have a long "#if 0" construct it will not be highlighted correctly.
641
642To match extra items in comments, use the cCommentGroup cluster.
643Example: >
644 :au Syntax c call MyCadd()
645 :function MyCadd()
646 : syn keyword cMyItem contained Ni
647 : syn cluster cCommentGroup add=cMyItem
648 : hi link cMyItem Title
649 :endfun
650
651ANSI constants will be highlighted with the "cConstant" group. This includes
652"NULL", "SIG_IGN" and others. But not "TRUE", for example, because this is
653not in the ANSI standard. If you find this confusing, remove the cConstant
654highlighting: >
655 :hi link cConstant NONE
656
657If you see '{' and '}' highlighted as an error where they are OK, reset the
658highlighting for cErrInParen and cErrInBracket.
659
660If you want to use folding in your C files, you can add these lines in a file
661an the "after" directory in 'runtimepath'. For Unix this would be
662~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim. >
663 syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
664 syn sync fromstart
665 set foldmethod=syntax
666
667
668CHILL *chill.vim* *chill-syntax*
669
670Chill syntax highlighting is similar to C. See |c.vim| for all the settings
671that are available. Additionally there is:
672
673chill_syntax_for_h use Ch syntax for *.h files, instead of C or C++
674chill_space_errors like c_space_errors
675chill_comment_string like c_comment_strings
676chill_minlines like c_minlines
677
678
679CHANGELOG *changelog.vim* *changelog-syntax*
680
681ChangeLog supports highlighting spaces at the start of a line.
682If you do not like this, add following line to your .vimrc: >
683 let g:changelog_spacing_errors = 0
684This works the next time you edit a changelog file. You can also use
685"b:changelog_spacing_errors" to set this per buffer (before loading the syntax
686file).
687
688You can change the highlighting used, e.g., to flag the spaces as an error: >
689 :hi link ChangelogError Error
690Or to avoid the highlighting: >
691 :hi link ChangelogError NONE
692This works immediately.
693
694
695COBOL *cobol.vim* *cobol-syntax*
696
697COBOL highlighting has different needs for legacy code than it does for fresh
698development. This is due to differences in what is being done (maintenance
699versus development) and other factors. To enable legacy code highlighting,
700add this line to your .vimrc: >
701 :let cobol_legacy_code = 1
702To disable it again, use this: >
703 :unlet cobol_legacy_code
704
705
706COLD FUSION *coldfusion.vim* *coldfusion-syntax*
707
708The ColdFusion has its own version of HTML comments. To turn on ColdFusion
709comment highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
710
711 :let html_wrong_comments = 1
712
713The ColdFusion syntax file is based on the HTML syntax file.
714
715
716CSH *csh.vim* *csh-syntax*
717
718This covers the shell named "csh". Note that on some systems tcsh is actually
719used.
720
721Detecting whether a file is csh or tcsh is notoriously hard. Some systems
722symlink /bin/csh to /bin/tcsh, making it almost impossible to distinguish
723between csh and tcsh. In case VIM guesses wrong you can set the
724"filetype_csh" variable. For using csh: >
725
726 :let filetype_csh = "csh"
727
728For using tcsh: >
729
730 :let filetype_csh = "tcsh"
731
732Any script with a tcsh extension or a standard tcsh filename (.tcshrc,
733tcsh.tcshrc, tcsh.login) will have filetype tcsh. All other tcsh/csh scripts
734will be classified as tcsh, UNLESS the "filetype_csh" variable exists. If the
735"filetype_csh" variable exists, the filetype will be set to the value of the
736variable.
737
738
739CYNLIB *cynlib.vim* *cynlib-syntax*
740
741Cynlib files are C++ files that use the Cynlib class library to enable
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +0000742hardware modelling and simulation using C++. Typically Cynlib files have a .cc
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000743or a .cpp extension, which makes it very difficult to distinguish them from a
744normal C++ file. Thus, to enable Cynlib highlighting for .cc files, add this
745line to your .vimrc file: >
746
747 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cc=1
748
749Similarly for cpp files (this extension is only usually used in Windows) >
750
751 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp=1
752
753To disable these again, use this: >
754
755 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cc
756 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp
757<
758
759CWEB *cweb.vim* *cweb-syntax*
760
761Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection
762doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
763startup vimrc: >
764 :let filetype_w = "cweb"
765
766
767DESKTOP *desktop.vim* *desktop-syntax*
768
769Primary goal of this syntax file is to highlight .desktop and .directory files
770according to freedesktop.org standard: http://pdx.freedesktop.org/Standards/
771But actually almost none implements this standard fully. Thus it will
772highlight all Unix ini files. But you can force strict highlighting according
773to standard by placing this in your vimrc file: >
774 :let enforce_freedesktop_standard = 1
775
776
777DIRCOLORS *dircolors.vim* *dircolors-syntax*
778
779The dircolors utility highlighting definition has one option. It exists to
780provide compatibility with the Slackware GNU/Linux distributions version of
781the command. It adds a few keywords that are generally ignored by most
782versions. On Slackware systems, however, the utility accepts the keywords and
783uses them for processing. To enable the Slackware keywords add the following
784line to your startup file: >
785 let dircolors_is_slackware = 1
786
787
788DOCBOOK *docbk.vim* *docbk-syntax* *docbook*
789DOCBOOK XML *docbkxml.vim* *docbkxml-syntax*
790DOCBOOK SGML *docbksgml.vim* *docbksgml-syntax*
791
792There are two types of DocBook files: SGML and XML. To specify what type you
793are using the "b:docbk_type" variable should be set. Vim does this for you
794automatically if it can recognize the type. When Vim can't guess it the type
795defaults to XML.
796You can set the type manually: >
797 :let docbk_type = "sgml"
798or: >
799 :let docbk_type = "xml"
800You need to do this before loading the syntax file, which is complicated.
801Simpler is setting the filetype to "docbkxml" or "docbksgml": >
802 :set filetype=docbksgml
803or: >
804 :set filetype=docbkxml
805
806
807DOSBATCH *dosbatch.vim* *dosbatch-syntax*
808
809There is one option with highlighting DOS batch files. This covers new
810extensions to the Command Interpreter introduced with Windows 2000 and
811is controlled by the variable dosbatch_cmdextversion. For Windows NT
812this should have the value 1, and for Windows 2000 it should be 2.
813Select the version you want with the following line: >
814
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +0000815 :let dosbatch_cmdextversion = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000816
817If this variable is not defined it defaults to a value of 2 to support
818Windows 2000.
819
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +0000820A second option covers whether *.btm files should be detected as type
821"dosbatch" (MS-DOS batch files) or type "btm" (4DOS batch files). The latter
822is used by default. You may select the former with the following line: >
823
824 :let g:dosbatch_syntax_for_btm = 1
825
826If this variable is undefined or zero, btm syntax is selected.
827
828
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000829
830DTD *dtd.vim* *dtd-syntax*
831
832The DTD syntax highlighting is case sensitive by default. To disable
833case-sensitive highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
834
835 :let dtd_ignore_case=1
836
837The DTD syntax file will highlight unknown tags as errors. If
838this is annoying, it can be turned off by setting: >
839
840 :let dtd_no_tag_errors=1
841
842before sourcing the dtd.vim syntax file.
843Parameter entity names are highlighted in the definition using the
844'Type' highlighting group and 'Comment' for punctuation and '%'.
845Parameter entity instances are highlighted using the 'Constant'
846highlighting group and the 'Type' highlighting group for the
847delimiters % and ;. This can be turned off by setting: >
848
849 :let dtd_no_param_entities=1
850
851The DTD syntax file is also included by xml.vim to highlight included dtd's.
852
853
854EIFFEL *eiffel.vim* *eiffel-syntax*
855
856While Eiffel is not case-sensitive, its style guidelines are, and the
857syntax highlighting file encourages their use. This also allows to
858highlight class names differently. If you want to disable case-sensitive
859highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
860
861 :let eiffel_ignore_case=1
862
863Case still matters for class names and TODO marks in comments.
864
865Conversely, for even stricter checks, add one of the following lines: >
866
867 :let eiffel_strict=1
868 :let eiffel_pedantic=1
869
870Setting eiffel_strict will only catch improper capitalization for the
871five predefined words "Current", "Void", "Result", "Precursor", and
872"NONE", to warn against their accidental use as feature or class names.
873
874Setting eiffel_pedantic will enforce adherence to the Eiffel style
875guidelines fairly rigorously (like arbitrary mixes of upper- and
876lowercase letters as well as outdated ways to capitalize keywords).
877
878If you want to use the lower-case version of "Current", "Void",
879"Result", and "Precursor", you can use >
880
881 :let eiffel_lower_case_predef=1
882
883instead of completely turning case-sensitive highlighting off.
884
885Support for ISE's proposed new creation syntax that is already
886experimentally handled by some compilers can be enabled by: >
887
888 :let eiffel_ise=1
889
890Finally, some vendors support hexadecimal constants. To handle them, add >
891
892 :let eiffel_hex_constants=1
893
894to your startup file.
895
896
897ERLANG *erlang.vim* *erlang-syntax*
898
899The erlang highlighting supports Erlang (ERicsson LANGuage).
900Erlang is case sensitive and default extension is ".erl".
901
902If you want to disable keywords highlighting, put in your .vimrc: >
903 :let erlang_keywords = 1
904If you want to disable built-in-functions highlighting, put in your
905.vimrc file: >
906 :let erlang_functions = 1
907If you want to disable special characters highlighting, put in
908your .vimrc: >
909 :let erlang_characters = 1
910
911
912FORM *form.vim* *form-syntax*
913
914The coloring scheme for syntax elements in the FORM file uses the default
915modes Conditional, Number, Statement, Comment, PreProc, Type, and String,
916following the language specifications in 'Symbolic Manipulation with FORM'' by
917J.A.M. Vermaseren, CAN, Netherlands, 1991.
918
919If you want include your own changes to the default colors, you have to
920redefine the following syntax groups:
921
922 - formConditional
923 - formNumber
924 - formStatement
925 - formHeaderStatement
926 - formComment
927 - formPreProc
928 - formDirective
929 - formType
930 - formString
931
932Note that the form.vim syntax file implements FORM preprocessor commands and
933directives per default in the same syntax group.
934
935A predefined enhanced color mode for FORM is available to distinguish between
936header statements and statements in the body of a FORM program. To activate
937this mode define the following variable in your vimrc file >
938
939 :let form_enhanced_color=1
940
941The enhanced mode also takes advantage of additional color features for a dark
942gvim display. Here, statements are colored LightYellow instead of Yellow, and
943conditionals are LightBlue for better distinction.
944
945
946FORTRAN *fortran.vim* *fortran-syntax*
947
948Default highlighting and dialect ~
949Highlighting appropriate for f95 (Fortran 95) is used by default. This choice
950should be appropriate for most users most of the time because Fortran 95 is a
951superset of Fortran 90 and almost a superset of Fortran 77.
952
953Fortran source code form ~
954Fortran 9x code can be in either fixed or free source form. Note that the
955syntax highlighting will not be correct if the form is incorrectly set.
956
957When you create a new fortran file, the syntax script assumes fixed source
958form. If you always use free source form, then >
959 :let fortran_free_source=1
960in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command. If you always use fixed source
961form, then >
962 :let fortran_fixed_source=1
963in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command.
964
965If the form of the source code depends upon the file extension, then it is
966most convenient to set fortran_free_source in a ftplugin file. For more
967information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
968fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in free source form and the
969rest in fixed source form, add the following code to your ftplugin file >
970 let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
971 if s:extfname ==? "f90"
972 let fortran_free_source=1
973 unlet! fortran_fixed_source
974 else
975 let fortran_fixed_source=1
976 unlet! fortran_free_source
977 endif
978Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
979precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
980
981When you edit an existing fortran file, the syntax script will assume free
982source form if the fortran_free_source variable has been set, and assumes
983fixed source form if the fortran_fixed_source variable has been set. If
984neither of these variables have been set, the syntax script attempts to
985determine which source form has been used by examining the first five columns
986of the first 25 lines of your file. If no signs of free source form are
987detected, then the file is assumed to be in fixed source form. The algorithm
988should work in the vast majority of cases. In some cases, such as a file that
989begins with 25 or more full-line comments, the script may incorrectly decide
990that the fortran code is in fixed form. If that happens, just add a
991non-comment statement beginning anywhere in the first five columns of the
992first twenty five lines, save (:w) and then reload (:e!) the file.
993
994Tabs in fortran files ~
995Tabs are not recognized by the Fortran standards. Tabs are not a good idea in
996fixed format fortran source code which requires fixed column boundaries.
997Therefore, tabs are marked as errors. Nevertheless, some programmers like
998using tabs. If your fortran files contain tabs, then you should set the
999variable fortran_have_tabs in your .vimrc with a command such as >
1000 :let fortran_have_tabs=1
1001placed prior to the :syntax on command. Unfortunately, the use of tabs will
1002mean that the syntax file will not be able to detect incorrect margins.
1003
1004Syntax folding of fortran files ~
1005If you wish to use foldmethod=syntax, then you must first set the variable
1006fortran_fold with a command such as >
1007 :let fortran_fold=1
1008to instruct the syntax script to define fold regions for program units, that
1009is main programs starting with a program statement, subroutines, function
1010subprograms, block data subprograms, interface blocks, and modules. If you
1011also set the variable fortran_fold_conditionals with a command such as >
1012 :let fortran_fold_conditionals=1
1013then fold regions will also be defined for do loops, if blocks, and select
1014case constructs. If you also set the variable
1015fortran_fold_multilinecomments with a command such as >
1016 :let fortran_fold_multilinecomments=1
1017then fold regions will also be defined for three or more consecutive comment
1018lines. Note that defining fold regions can be slow for large files.
1019
1020If fortran_fold, and possibly fortran_fold_conditionals and/or
1021fortran_fold_multilinecomments, have been set, then vim will fold your file if
1022you set foldmethod=syntax. Comments or blank lines placed between two program
1023units are not folded because they are seen as not belonging to any program
1024unit.
1025
1026More precise fortran syntax ~
1027If you set the variable fortran_more_precise with a command such as >
1028 :let fortran_more_precise=1
1029then the syntax coloring will be more precise but slower. In particular,
1030statement labels used in do, goto and arithmetic if statements will be
1031recognized, as will construct names at the end of a do, if, select or forall
1032construct.
1033
1034Non-default fortran dialects ~
1035The syntax script supports five Fortran dialects: f95, f90, f77, the Lahey
1036subset elf90, and the Imagine1 subset F.
1037
1038If you use f77 with extensions, even common ones like do/enddo loops, do/while
1039loops and free source form that are supported by most f77 compilers including
1040g77 (GNU Fortran), then you will probably find the default highlighting
1041satisfactory. However, if you use strict f77 with no extensions, not even free
1042source form or the MIL STD 1753 extensions, then the advantages of setting the
1043dialect to f77 are that names such as SUM are recognized as user variable
1044names and not highlighted as f9x intrinsic functions, that obsolete constructs
1045such as ASSIGN statements are not highlighted as todo items, and that fixed
1046source form will be assumed.
1047
1048If you use elf90 or F, the advantage of setting the dialect appropriately is
1049that f90 features excluded from these dialects will be highlighted as todo
1050items and that free source form will be assumed as required for these
1051dialects.
1052
1053The dialect can be selected by setting the variable fortran_dialect. The
1054permissible values of fortran_dialect are case-sensitive and must be "f95",
1055"f90", "f77", "elf" or "F". Invalid values of fortran_dialect are ignored.
1056
1057If all your fortran files use the same dialect, set fortran_dialect in your
1058.vimrc prior to your syntax on statement. If the dialect depends upon the file
1059extension, then it is most convenient to set it in a ftplugin file. For more
1060information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
1061fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in the elf subset, your
1062ftplugin file should contain the code >
1063 let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
1064 if s:extfname ==? "f90"
1065 let fortran_dialect="elf"
1066 else
1067 unlet! fortran_dialect
1068 endif
1069Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
1070precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
1071
1072Finer control is necessary if the file extension does not uniquely identify
1073the dialect. You can override the default dialect, on a file-by-file basis, by
1074including a comment with the directive "fortran_dialect=xx" (where xx=f77 or
1075elf or F or f90 or f95) in one of the first three lines in your file. For
1076example, your older .f files may be written in extended f77 but your newer
1077ones may be F codes, and you would identify the latter by including in the
1078first three lines of those files a Fortran comment of the form >
1079 ! fortran_dialect=F
1080F overrides elf if both directives are present.
1081
1082Limitations ~
1083Parenthesis checking does not catch too few closing parentheses. Hollerith
1084strings are not recognized. Some keywords may be highlighted incorrectly
1085because Fortran90 has no reserved words.
1086
1087For further information related to fortran, see |fortran-indent| and
1088|fortran-plugin|.
1089
1090
1091FVWM CONFIGURATION FILES *fvwm.vim* *fvwm-syntax*
1092
1093In order for Vim to recognize Fvwm configuration files that do not match
1094the patterns *fvwmrc* or *fvwm2rc* , you must put additional patterns
1095appropriate to your system in your myfiletypes.vim file. For these
1096patterns, you must set the variable "b:fvwm_version" to the major version
1097number of Fvwm, and the 'filetype' option to fvwm.
1098
1099For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/X11/fvwm2/
1100as Fvwm2 configuration files, add the following: >
1101
1102 :au! BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/X11/fvwm2/* let b:fvwm_version = 2 |
1103 \ set filetype=fvwm
1104
1105If you'd like Vim to highlight all valid color names, tell it where to
1106find the color database (rgb.txt) on your system. Do this by setting
1107"rgb_file" to its location. Assuming your color database is located
1108in /usr/X11/lib/X11/, you should add the line >
1109
1110 :let rgb_file = "/usr/X11/lib/X11/rgb.txt"
1111
1112to your .vimrc file.
1113
1114
1115GSP *gsp.vim*
1116
1117The default coloring style for GSP pages is defined by |html.vim|, and
1118the coloring for java code (within java tags or inline between backticks)
1119is defined by |java.vim|. The following HTML groups defined in |html.vim|
1120are redefined to incorporate and highlight inline java code:
1121
1122 htmlString
1123 htmlValue
1124 htmlEndTag
1125 htmlTag
1126 htmlTagN
1127
1128Highlighting should look fine most of the places where you'd see inline
1129java code, but in some special cases it may not. To add another HTML
1130group where you will have inline java code where it does not highlight
1131correctly, just copy the line you want from |html.vim| and add gspJava
1132to the contains clause.
1133
1134The backticks for inline java are highlighted according to the htmlError
1135group to make them easier to see.
1136
1137
1138GROFF *groff.vim* *groff-syntax*
1139
1140The groff syntax file is a wrapper for |nroff.vim|, see the notes
1141under that heading for examples of use and configuration. The purpose
1142of this wrapper is to set up groff syntax extensions by setting the
1143filetype from a |modeline| or in a personal filetype definitions file
1144(see |filetype.txt|).
1145
1146
1147HASKELL *haskell.vim* *lhaskell.vim* *haskell-syntax*
1148
1149The Haskell syntax files support plain Haskell code as well as literate
1150Haskell code, the latter in both Bird style and TeX style. The Haskell
1151syntax highlighting will also highlight C preprocessor directives.
1152
1153If you want to highlight delimiter characters (useful if you have a
1154light-coloured background), add to your .vimrc: >
1155 :let hs_highlight_delimiters = 1
1156To treat True and False as keywords as opposed to ordinary identifiers,
1157add: >
1158 :let hs_highlight_boolean = 1
1159To also treat the names of primitive types as keywords: >
1160 :let hs_highlight_types = 1
1161And to treat the names of even more relatively common types as keywords: >
1162 :let hs_highlight_more_types = 1
1163If you want to highlight the names of debugging functions, put in
1164your .vimrc: >
1165 :let hs_highlight_debug = 1
1166
1167The Haskell syntax highlighting also highlights C preprocessor
1168directives, and flags lines that start with # but are not valid
1169directives as erroneous. This interferes with Haskell's syntax for
1170operators, as they may start with #. If you want to highlight those
1171as operators as opposed to errors, put in your .vimrc: >
1172 :let hs_allow_hash_operator = 1
1173
1174The syntax highlighting for literate Haskell code will try to
1175automatically guess whether your literate Haskell code contains
1176TeX markup or not, and correspondingly highlight TeX constructs
1177or nothing at all. You can override this globally by putting
1178in your .vimrc >
1179 :let lhs_markup = none
1180for no highlighting at all, or >
1181 :let lhs_markup = tex
1182to force the highlighting to always try to highlight TeX markup.
1183For more flexibility, you may also use buffer local versions of
1184this variable, so e.g. >
1185 :let b:lhs_markup = tex
1186will force TeX highlighting for a particular buffer. It has to be
1187set before turning syntax highlighting on for the buffer or
1188loading a file.
1189
1190
1191HTML *html.vim* *html-syntax*
1192
1193The coloring scheme for tags in the HTML file works as follows.
1194
1195The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
1196This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
1197closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
1198defined for you)
1199
1200Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag
1201names are colored with the same color as the <> or </> respectively which
1202makes it easy to spot errors
1203
1204Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
1205names are colored differently than unknown ones.
1206
1207Some HTML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
1208are recognized by the html.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
1209text is shown: <B> <I> <U> <EM> <STRONG> (<EM> is used as an alias for <I>,
1210while <STRONG> as an alias for <B>), <H1> - <H6>, <HEAD>, <TITLE> and <A>, but
1211only if used as a link that is, it must include a href as in
1212<A href="somfile.html">).
1213
1214If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
1215following syntax groups:
1216
1217 - htmlBold
1218 - htmlBoldUnderline
1219 - htmlBoldUnderlineItalic
1220 - htmlUnderline
1221 - htmlUnderlineItalic
1222 - htmlItalic
1223 - htmlTitle for titles
1224 - htmlH1 - htmlH6 for headings
1225
1226To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all with the exception
1227of the last two (htmlTitle and htmlH[1-6], which are optional) and define the
1228following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
1229are read during initialization) >
1230 :let html_my_rendering=1
1231
1232If you'd like to see an example download mysyntax.vim at
1233http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html
1234
1235You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
1236vimrc file: >
1237 :let html_no_rendering=1
1238
1239HTML comments are rather special (see an HTML reference document for the
1240details), and the syntax coloring scheme will highlight all errors.
1241However, if you prefer to use the wrong style (starts with <!-- and
1242ends with --!>) you can define >
1243 :let html_wrong_comments=1
1244
1245JavaScript and Visual Basic embedded inside HTML documents are highlighted as
1246'Special' with statements, comments, strings and so on colored as in standard
1247programming languages. Note that only JavaScript and Visual Basic are currently
1248supported, no other scripting language has been added yet.
1249
1250Embedded and inlined cascading style sheets (CSS) are highlighted too.
1251
1252There are several html preprocessor languages out there. html.vim has been
1253written such that it should be trivial to include it. To do so add the
1254following two lines to the syntax coloring file for that language
1255(the example comes from the asp.vim file):
1256
1257 runtime! syntax/html.vim
1258 syn cluster htmlPreproc add=asp
1259
1260Now you just need to make sure that you add all regions that contain
1261the preprocessor language to the cluster htmlPreproc.
1262
1263
1264HTML/OS (by Aestiva) *htmlos.vim* *htmlos-syntax*
1265
1266The coloring scheme for HTML/OS works as follows:
1267
1268Functions and variable names are the same color by default, because VIM
1269doesn't specify different colors for Functions and Identifiers. To change
1270this (which is recommended if you want function names to be recognizable in a
1271different color) you need to add the following line to either your ~/.vimrc: >
1272 :hi Function term=underline cterm=bold ctermfg=LightGray
1273
1274Of course, the ctermfg can be a different color if you choose.
1275
1276Another issues that HTML/OS runs into is that there is no special filetype to
1277signify that it is a file with HTML/OS coding. You can change this by opening
1278a file and turning on HTML/OS syntax by doing the following: >
1279 :set syntax=htmlos
1280
1281Lastly, it should be noted that the opening and closing characters to begin a
1282block of HTML/OS code can either be << or [[ and >> or ]], respectively.
1283
1284
1285IA64 *ia64.vim* *intel-itanium* *ia64-syntax*
1286
1287Highlighting for the Intel Itanium 64 assembly language. See |asm.vim| for
1288how to recognize this filetype.
1289
1290To have *.inc files be recognized as IA64, add this to your .vimrc file: >
1291 :let g:filetype_inc = "ia64"
1292
1293
1294INFORM *inform.vim* *inform-syntax*
1295
1296Inform highlighting includes symbols provided by the Inform Library, as
1297most programs make extensive use of it. If do not wish Library symbols
1298to be highlighted add this to your vim startup: >
1299 :let inform_highlight_simple=1
1300
1301By default it is assumed that Inform programs are Z-machine targeted,
1302and highlights Z-machine assembly language symbols appropriately. If
1303you intend your program to be targeted to a Glulx/Glk environment you
1304need to add this to your startup sequence: >
1305 :let inform_highlight_glulx=1
1306
1307This will highlight Glulx opcodes instead, and also adds glk() to the
1308set of highlighted system functions.
1309
1310The Inform compiler will flag certain obsolete keywords as errors when
1311it encounters them. These keywords are normally highlighted as errors
1312by Vim. To prevent such error highlighting, you must add this to your
1313startup sequence: >
1314 :let inform_suppress_obsolete=1
1315
1316By default, the language features highlighted conform to Compiler
1317version 6.30 and Library version 6.11. If you are using an older
1318Inform development environment, you may with to add this to your
1319startup sequence: >
1320 :let inform_highlight_old=1
1321
1322
1323JAVA *java.vim* *java-syntax*
1324
1325The java.vim syntax highlighting file offers several options:
1326
1327In Java 1.0.2 it was never possible to have braces inside parens, so this was
1328flagged as an error. Since Java 1.1 this is possible (with anonymous
1329classes), and therefore is no longer marked as an error. If you prefer the old
1330way, put the following line into your vim startup file: >
1331 :let java_mark_braces_in_parens_as_errors=1
1332
1333All identifiers in java.lang.* are always visible in all classes. To
1334highlight them use: >
1335 :let java_highlight_java_lang_ids=1
1336
1337You can also highlight identifiers of most standard java packages if you
1338download the javaid.vim script at http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html.
1339If you prefer to only highlight identifiers of a certain package, say java.io
1340use the following: >
1341 :let java_highlight_java_io=1
1342Check the javaid.vim file for a list of all the packages that are supported.
1343
1344Function names are not highlighted, as the way to find functions depends on
1345how you write java code. The syntax file knows two possible ways to highlight
1346functions:
1347
1348If you write function declarations that are always indented by either
1349a tab, 8 spaces or 2 spaces you may want to set >
1350 :let java_highlight_functions="indent"
1351However, if you follow the Java guidelines about how functions and classes are
1352supposed to be named (with respect to upper and lowercase), use >
1353 :let java_highlight_functions="style"
1354If both options do not work for you, but you would still want function
1355declarations to be highlighted create your own definitions by changing the
1356definitions in java.vim or by creating your own java.vim which includes the
1357original one and then adds the code to highlight functions.
1358
1359In java 1.1 the functions System.out.println() and System.err.println() should
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001360only be used for debugging. Therefore it is possible to highlight debugging
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001361statements differently. To do this you must add the following definition in
1362your startup file: >
1363 :let java_highlight_debug=1
1364The result will be that those statements are highlighted as 'Special'
1365characters. If you prefer to have them highlighted differently you must define
1366new highlightings for the following groups.:
1367 Debug, DebugSpecial, DebugString, DebugBoolean, DebugType
1368which are used for the statement itself, special characters used in debug
1369strings, strings, boolean constants and types (this, super) respectively. I
1370have opted to chose another background for those statements.
1371
1372In order to help you to write code that can be easily ported between
1373java and C++, all C++ keywords are marked as error in a java program.
1374However, if you use them regularly, you may want to define the following
1375variable in your .vimrc file: >
1376 :let java_allow_cpp_keywords=1
1377
1378Javadoc is a program that takes special comments out of java program files and
1379creates HTML pages. The standard configuration will highlight this HTML code
1380similarly to HTML files (see |html.vim|). You can even add javascript
1381and CSS inside this code (see below). There are four differences however:
1382 1. The title (all characters up to the first '.' which is followed by
1383 some white space or up to the first '@') is colored differently (to change
1384 the color change the group CommentTitle).
1385 2. The text is colored as 'Comment'.
1386 3. HTML comments are colored as 'Special'
1387 4. The special javadoc tags (@see, @param, ...) are highlighted as specials
1388 and the argument (for @see, @param, @exception) as Function.
1389To turn this feature off add the following line to your startup file: >
1390 :let java_ignore_javadoc=1
1391
1392If you use the special javadoc comment highlighting described above you
1393can also turn on special highlighting for javascript, visual basic
1394scripts and embedded CSS (stylesheets). This makes only sense if you
1395actually have javadoc comments that include either javascript or embedded
1396CSS. The options to use are >
1397 :let java_javascript=1
1398 :let java_css=1
1399 :let java_vb=1
1400
1401In order to highlight nested parens with different colors define colors
1402for javaParen, javaParen1 and javaParen2, for example with >
1403 :hi link javaParen Comment
1404or >
1405 :hi javaParen ctermfg=blue guifg=#0000ff
1406
1407If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
1408when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "java_minlines" internal variable
1409to a larger number: >
1410 :let java_minlines = 50
1411This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
1412displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger
1413number is that redrawing can become slow.
1414
1415
1416LACE *lace.vim* *lace-syntax*
1417
1418Lace (Language for Assembly of Classes in Eiffel) is case insensitive, but the
1419style guide lines are not. If you prefer case insensitive highlighting, just
1420define the vim variable 'lace_case_insensitive' in your startup file: >
1421 :let lace_case_insensitive=1
1422
1423
1424LEX *lex.vim* *lex-syntax*
1425
1426Lex uses brute-force synchronizing as the "^%%$" section delimiter
1427gives no clue as to what section follows. Consequently, the value for >
1428 :syn sync minlines=300
1429may be changed by the user if s/he is experiencing synchronization
1430difficulties (such as may happen with large lex files).
1431
1432
1433LITE *lite.vim* *lite-syntax*
1434
1435There are two options for the lite syntax highlighting.
1436
1437If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1438
1439 :let lite_sql_query = 1
1440
1441For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1442set "lite_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1443
1444 :let lite_minlines = 200
1445
1446
1447LPC *lpc.vim* *lpc-syntax*
1448
1449LPC stands for a simple, memory-efficient language: Lars Pensj| C. The
1450file name of LPC is usually *.c. Recognizing these files as LPC would bother
1451users writing only C programs. If you want to use LPC syntax in Vim, you
1452should set a variable in your .vimrc file: >
1453
1454 :let lpc_syntax_for_c = 1
1455
1456If it doesn't work properly for some particular C or LPC files, use a
1457modeline. For a LPC file:
1458
1459 // vim:set ft=lpc:
1460
1461For a C file that is recognized as LPC:
1462
1463 // vim:set ft=c:
1464
1465If you don't want to set the variable, use the modeline in EVERY LPC file.
1466
1467There are several implementations for LPC, we intend to support most widely
1468used ones. Here the default LPC syntax is for MudOS series, for MudOS v22
1469and before, you should turn off the sensible modifiers, and this will also
1470asserts the new efuns after v22 to be invalid, don't set this variable when
1471you are using the latest version of MudOS: >
1472
1473 :let lpc_pre_v22 = 1
1474
1475For LpMud 3.2 series of LPC: >
1476
1477 :let lpc_compat_32 = 1
1478
1479For LPC4 series of LPC: >
1480
1481 :let lpc_use_lpc4_syntax = 1
1482
1483For uLPC series of LPC:
1484uLPC has been developed to Pike, so you should use Pike syntax
1485instead, and the name of your source file should be *.pike
1486
1487
1488LUA *lua.vim* *lua-syntax*
1489
1490This syntax file may be used for Lua 4.0 and Lua 5.0 (default). If you are
1491programming in Lua 4.0, use this: >
1492
1493 :let lua_version = 4
1494
1495If lua_version variable doesn't exist, it is set to 5.
1496
1497
1498MAIL *mail.vim*
1499
1500Vim highlights all the standard elements of an email (headers, signatures,
1501quoted text and URLs / email addresses). In keeping with standard conventions,
1502signatures begin in a line containing only "--" followed optionally by
1503whitespaces and end with a newline.
1504
1505Vim treats lines beginning with ']', '}', '|', '>' or a word followed by '>'
1506as quoted text. However Vim highlights headers and signatures in quoted text
1507only if the text is quoted with '>' (optionally followed by one space).
1508
1509By default mail.vim synchronises syntax to 100 lines before the first
1510displayed line. If you have a slow machine, and generally deal with emails
1511with short headers, you can change this to a smaller value: >
1512
1513 :let mail_minlines = 30
1514
1515
1516MAKE *make.vim* *make-syntax*
1517
1518In makefiles, commands are usually highlighted to make it easy for you to spot
1519errors. However, this may be too much coloring for you. You can turn this
1520feature off by using: >
1521
1522 :let make_no_commands = 1
1523
1524
1525MAPLE *maple.vim* *maple-syntax*
1526
1527Maple V, by Waterloo Maple Inc, supports symbolic algebra. The language
1528supports many packages of functions which are selectively loaded by the user.
1529The standard set of packages' functions as supplied in Maple V release 4 may be
1530highlighted at the user's discretion. Users may place in their .vimrc file: >
1531
1532 :let mvpkg_all= 1
1533
1534to get all package functions highlighted, or users may select any subset by
1535choosing a variable/package from the table below and setting that variable to
15361, also in their .vimrc file (prior to sourcing
1537$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim).
1538
1539 Table of Maple V Package Function Selectors >
1540 mv_DEtools mv_genfunc mv_networks mv_process
1541 mv_Galois mv_geometry mv_numapprox mv_simplex
1542 mv_GaussInt mv_grobner mv_numtheory mv_stats
1543 mv_LREtools mv_group mv_orthopoly mv_student
1544 mv_combinat mv_inttrans mv_padic mv_sumtools
1545 mv_combstruct mv_liesymm mv_plots mv_tensor
1546 mv_difforms mv_linalg mv_plottools mv_totorder
1547 mv_finance mv_logic mv_powseries
1548
1549
1550MOO *moo.vim* *moo-syntax*
1551
1552If you use C-style comments inside expressions and find it mangles your
1553highlighting, you may want to use extended (slow!) matches for C-style
1554comments: >
1555
1556 :let moo_extended_cstyle_comments = 1
1557
1558To disable highlighting of pronoun substitution patterns inside strings: >
1559
1560 :let moo_no_pronoun_sub = 1
1561
1562To disable highlighting of the regular expression operator '%|', and matching
1563'%(' and '%)' inside strings: >
1564
1565 :let moo_no_regexp = 1
1566
1567Unmatched double quotes can be recognized and highlighted as errors: >
1568
1569 :let moo_unmatched_quotes = 1
1570
1571To highlight builtin properties (.name, .location, .programmer etc.): >
1572
1573 :let moo_builtin_properties = 1
1574
1575Unknown builtin functions can be recognized and highlighted as errors. If you
1576use this option, add your own extensions to the mooKnownBuiltinFunction group.
1577To enable this option: >
1578
1579 :let moo_unknown_builtin_functions = 1
1580
1581An example of adding sprintf() to the list of known builtin functions: >
1582
1583 :syn keyword mooKnownBuiltinFunction sprintf contained
1584
1585
1586MSQL *msql.vim* *msql-syntax*
1587
1588There are two options for the msql syntax highlighting.
1589
1590If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1591
1592 :let msql_sql_query = 1
1593
1594For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1595set "msql_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1596
1597 :let msql_minlines = 200
1598
1599
1600NCF *ncf.vim* *ncf-syntax*
1601
1602There is one option for NCF syntax highlighting.
1603
1604If you want to have unrecognized (by ncf.vim) statements highlighted as
1605errors, use this: >
1606
1607 :let ncf_highlight_unknowns = 1
1608
1609If you don't want to highlight these errors, leave it unset.
1610
1611
1612NROFF *nroff.vim* *nroff-syntax*
1613
1614The nroff syntax file works with AT&T n/troff out of the box. You need to
1615activate the GNU groff extra features included in the syntax file before you
1616can use them.
1617
1618For example, Linux and BSD distributions use groff as their default text
1619processing package. In order to activate the extra syntax highlighting
1620features for groff, add the following option to your start-up files: >
1621
1622 :let b:nroff_is_groff = 1
1623
1624Groff is different from the old AT&T n/troff that you may still find in
1625Solaris. Groff macro and request names can be longer than 2 characters and
1626there are extensions to the language primitives. For example, in AT&T troff
1627you access the year as a 2-digit number with the request \(yr. In groff you
1628can use the same request, recognized for compatibility, or you can use groff's
1629native syntax, \[yr]. Furthermore, you can use a 4-digit year directly:
1630\[year]. Macro requests can be longer than 2 characters, for example, GNU mm
1631accepts the requests ".VERBON" and ".VERBOFF" for creating verbatim
1632environments.
1633
1634In order to obtain the best formatted output g/troff can give you, you should
1635follow a few simple rules about spacing and punctuation.
1636
16371. Do not leave empty spaces at the end of lines.
1638
16392. Leave one space and one space only after an end-of-sentence period,
1640 exclamation mark, etc.
1641
16423. For reasons stated below, it is best to follow all period marks with a
1643 carriage return.
1644
1645The reason behind these unusual tips is that g/n/troff have a line breaking
1646algorithm that can be easily upset if you don't follow the rules given above.
1647
1648Unlike TeX, troff fills text line-by-line, not paragraph-by-paragraph and,
1649furthermore, it does not have a concept of glue or stretch, all horizontal and
1650vertical space input will be output as is.
1651
1652Therefore, you should be careful about not using more space between sentences
1653than you intend to have in your final document. For this reason, the common
1654practice is to insert a carriage return immediately after all punctuation
1655marks. If you want to have "even" text in your final processed output, you
1656need to maintaining regular spacing in the input text. To mark both trailing
1657spaces and two or more spaces after a punctuation as an error, use: >
1658
1659 :let nroff_space_errors = 1
1660
1661Another technique to detect extra spacing and other errors that will interfere
1662with the correct typesetting of your file, is to define an eye-catching
1663highlighting definition for the syntax groups "nroffDefinition" and
1664"nroffDefSpecial" in your configuration files. For example: >
1665
1666 hi def nroffDefinition term=italic cterm=italic gui=reverse
1667 hi def nroffDefSpecial term=italic,bold cterm=italic,bold
1668 \ gui=reverse,bold
1669
1670If you want to navigate preprocessor entries in your source file as easily as
1671with section markers, you can activate the following option in your .vimrc
1672file: >
1673
1674 let b:preprocs_as_sections = 1
1675
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001676As well, the syntax file adds an extra paragraph marker for the extended
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001677paragraph macro (.XP) in the ms package.
1678
1679Finally, there is a |groff.vim| syntax file that can be used for enabling
1680groff syntax highlighting either on a file basis or globally by default.
1681
1682
1683OCAML *ocaml.vim* *ocaml-syntax*
1684
1685The OCaml syntax file handles files having the following prefixes: .ml,
1686.mli, .mll and .mly. By setting the following variable >
1687
1688 :let ocaml_revised = 1
1689
1690you can switch from standard OCaml-syntax to revised syntax as supported
1691by the camlp4 preprocessor. Setting the variable >
1692
1693 :let ocaml_noend_error = 1
1694
1695prevents highlighting of "end" as error, which is useful when sources
1696contain very long structures that Vim does not synchronize anymore.
1697
1698
1699PAPP *papp.vim* *papp-syntax*
1700
1701The PApp syntax file handles .papp files and, to a lesser extend, .pxml
1702and .pxsl files which are all a mixture of perl/xml/html/other using xml
1703as the top-level file format. By default everything inside phtml or pxml
1704sections is treated as a string with embedded preprocessor commands. If
1705you set the variable: >
1706
1707 :let papp_include_html=1
1708
1709in your startup file it will try to syntax-hilight html code inside phtml
1710sections, but this is relatively slow and much too colourful to be able to
1711edit sensibly ;)
1712
1713The newest version of the papp.vim syntax file can usually be found at
1714http://papp.plan9.de.
1715
1716
1717PASCAL *pascal.vim* *pascal-syntax*
1718
1719Files matching "*.p" could be Progress or Pascal. If the automatic detection
1720doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
1721startup vimrc: >
1722
1723 :let filetype_p = "pascal"
1724
1725The Pascal syntax file has been extended to take into account some extensions
1726provided by Turbo Pascal, Free Pascal Compiler and GNU Pascal Compiler.
1727Delphi keywords are also supported. By default, Turbo Pascal 7.0 features are
1728enabled. If you prefer to stick with the standard Pascal keywords, add the
1729following line to your startup file: >
1730
1731 :let pascal_traditional=1
1732
1733To switch on Delphi specific constructions (such as one-line comments,
1734keywords, etc): >
1735
1736 :let pascal_delphi=1
1737
1738
1739The option pascal_symbol_operator controls whether symbol operators such as +,
1740*, .., etc. are displayed using the Operator color or not. To colorize symbol
1741operators, add the following line to your startup file: >
1742
1743 :let pascal_symbol_operator=1
1744
1745Some functions are highlighted by default. To switch it off: >
1746
1747 :let pascal_no_functions=1
1748
1749Furthermore, there are specific variable for some compiler. Besides
1750pascal_delphi, there are pascal_gpc and pascal_fpc. Default extensions try to
1751match Turbo Pascal. >
1752
1753 :let pascal_gpc=1
1754
1755or >
1756
1757 :let pascal_fpc=1
1758
1759To ensure that strings are defined on a single line, you can define the
1760pascal_one_line_string variable. >
1761
1762 :let pascal_one_line_string=1
1763
1764If you dislike <Tab> chars, you can set the pascal_no_tabs variable. Tabs
1765will be highlighted as Error. >
1766
1767 :let pascal_no_tabs=1
1768
1769
1770
1771PERL *perl.vim* *perl-syntax*
1772
1773There are a number of possible options to the perl syntax highlighting.
1774
1775If you use POD files or POD segments, you might: >
1776
1777 :let perl_include_pod = 1
1778
1779To handle package references in variable and function names differently from
1780the rest of the name (like 'PkgName::' in '$PkgName::VarName'): >
1781
1782 :let perl_want_scope_in_variables = 1
1783
1784If you want complex things like '@{${"foo"}}' to be parsed: >
1785
1786 :let perl_extended_vars = 1
1787
1788The coloring strings can be changed. By default strings and qq friends will be
1789highlighted like the first line. If you set the variable
1790perl_string_as_statement, it will be highlighted as in the second line.
1791
1792 "hello world!"; qq|hello world|;
1793 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^NN^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^N (unlet perl_string_as_statement)
1794 S^^^^^^^^^^^^SNNSSS^^^^^^^^^^^SN (let perl_string_as_statement)
1795
1796(^ = perlString, S = perlStatement, N = None at all)
1797
1798The syncing has 3 options. The first two switch off some triggering of
1799synchronization and should only be needed in case it fails to work properly.
1800If while scrolling all of a sudden the whole screen changes color completely
1801then you should try and switch off one of those. Let me know if you can figure
1802out the line that causes the mistake.
1803
1804One triggers on "^\s*sub\s*" and the other on "^[$@%]" more or less. >
1805
1806 :let perl_no_sync_on_sub
1807 :let perl_no_sync_on_global_var
1808
1809Below you can set the maximum distance VIM should look for starting points for
1810its attempts in syntax highlighting. >
1811
1812 :let perl_sync_dist = 100
1813
1814If you want to use folding with perl, set perl_fold: >
1815
1816 :let perl_fold = 1
1817
1818
1819PHP3 and PHP4 *php.vim* *php3.vim* *php-syntax* *php3-syntax*
1820
1821[note: previously this was called "php3", but since it now also supports php4
1822it has been renamed to "php"]
1823
1824There are the following options for the php syntax highlighting.
1825
1826If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings: >
1827
1828 let php_sql_query = 1
1829
1830For highlighting the Baselib methods: >
1831
1832 let php_baselib = 1
1833
1834Enable HTML syntax highlighting inside strings: >
1835
1836 let php_htmlInStrings = 1
1837
1838Using the old colorstyle: >
1839
1840 let php_oldStyle = 1
1841
1842Enable highlighting ASP-style short tags: >
1843
1844 let php_asp_tags = 1
1845
1846Disable short tags: >
1847
1848 let php_noShortTags = 1
1849
1850For highlighting parent error ] or ): >
1851
1852 let php_parent_error_close = 1
1853
1854For skipping an php end tag, if there exists an open ( or [ without a closing
1855one: >
1856
1857 let php_parent_error_open = 1
1858
1859Enable folding for classes and functions: >
1860
1861 let php_folding = 1
1862
1863Selecting syncing method: >
1864
1865 let php_sync_method = x
1866
1867x = -1 to sync by search (default),
1868x > 0 to sync at least x lines backwards,
1869x = 0 to sync from start.
1870
1871
1872PPWIZARD *ppwiz.vim* *ppwiz-syntax*
1873
1874PPWizard is a preprocessor for HTML and OS/2 INF files
1875
1876This syntax file has the options:
1877
1878- ppwiz_highlight_defs : determines highlighting mode for PPWizard's
1879 definitions. Possible values are
1880
1881 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 1 : PPWizard #define statements retain the
1882 colors of their contents (e. g. PPWizard macros and variables)
1883
1884 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 2 : preprocessor #define and #evaluate
1885 statements are shown in a single color with the exception of line
1886 continuation symbols
1887
1888 The default setting for ppwiz_highlight_defs is 1.
1889
1890- ppwiz_with_html : If the value is 1 (the default), highlight literal
1891 HTML code; if 0, treat HTML code like ordinary text.
1892
1893
1894PHTML *phtml.vim* *phtml-syntax*
1895
1896There are two options for the phtml syntax highlighting.
1897
1898If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1899
1900 :let phtml_sql_query = 1
1901
1902For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1903set "phtml_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1904
1905 :let phtml_minlines = 200
1906
1907
1908POSTSCRIPT *postscr.vim* *postscr-syntax*
1909
1910There are several options when it comes to highlighting PostScript.
1911
1912First which version of the PostScript language to highlight. There are
1913currently three defined language versions, or levels. Level 1 is the original
1914and base version, and includes all extensions prior to the release of level 2.
1915Level 2 is the most common version around, and includes its own set of
1916extensions prior to the release of level 3. Level 3 is currently the highest
1917level supported. You select which level of the PostScript language you want
1918highlighted by defining the postscr_level variable as follows: >
1919
1920 :let postscr_level=2
1921
1922If this variable is not defined it defaults to 2 (level 2) since this is
1923the most prevalent version currently.
1924
1925Note, not all PS interpreters will support all language features for a
1926particular language level. In particular the %!PS-Adobe-3.0 at the start of
1927PS files does NOT mean the PostScript present is level 3 PostScript!
1928
1929If you are working with Display PostScript, you can include highlighting of
1930Display PS language features by defining the postscr_display variable as
1931follows: >
1932
1933 :let postscr_display=1
1934
1935If you are working with Ghostscript, you can include highlighting of
1936Ghostscript specific language features by defining the variable
1937postscr_ghostscript as follows: >
1938
1939 :let postscr_ghostscript=1
1940
1941PostScript is a large language, with many predefined elements. While it
1942useful to have all these elements highlighted, on slower machines this can
1943cause Vim to slow down. In an attempt to be machine friendly font names and
1944character encodings are not highlighted by default. Unless you are working
1945explicitly with either of these this should be ok. If you want them to be
1946highlighted you should set one or both of the following variables: >
1947
1948 :let postscr_fonts=1
1949 :let postscr_encodings=1
1950
1951There is a stylistic option to the highlighting of and, or, and not. In
1952PostScript the function of these operators depends on the types of their
1953operands - if the operands are booleans then they are the logical operators,
1954if they are integers then they are binary operators. As binary and logical
1955operators can be highlighted differently they have to be highlighted one way
1956or the other. By default they are treated as logical operators. They can be
1957highlighted as binary operators by defining the variable
1958postscr_andornot_binary as follows: >
1959
1960 :let postscr_andornot_binary=1
1961<
1962
1963 *ptcap.vim*
1964PRINTCAP + TERMCAP *ptcap-syntax* *termcap-syntax* *printcap-syntax*
1965
1966This syntax file applies to the printcap and termcap databases.
1967
1968In order for Vim to recognize printcap/termcap files that do not match
1969the patterns *printcap*, or *termcap*, you must put additional patterns
1970appropriate to your system in your |myfiletypefile| file. For these
1971patterns, you must set the variable "b:ptcap_type" to either "print" or
1972"term", and then the 'filetype' option to ptcap.
1973
1974For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/termcaps/ as termcap
1975files, add the following: >
1976
1977 :au BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/termcaps/* let b:ptcap_type = "term" |
1978 \ set filetype=ptcap
1979
1980If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which
1981are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "ptcap_minlines"
1982internal variable to a larger number: >
1983
1984 :let ptcap_minlines = 50
1985
1986(The default is 20 lines.)
1987
1988
1989PROGRESS *progress.vim* *progress-syntax*
1990
1991Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection
1992doesn't work for you, or you don't edit cweb at all, use this in your
1993startup vimrc: >
1994 :let filetype_w = "progress"
1995The same happens for "*.i", which could be assembly, and "*.p", which could be
1996Pascal. Use this if you don't use assembly and Pascal: >
1997 :let filetype_i = "progress"
1998 :let filetype_p = "progress"
1999
2000
2001PYTHON *python.vim* *python-syntax*
2002
2003There are four options to control Python syntax highlighting.
2004
2005For highlighted numbers: >
2006 :let python_highlight_numbers = 1
2007
2008For highlighted builtin functions: >
2009 :let python_highlight_builtins = 1
2010
2011For highlighted standard exceptions: >
2012 :let python_highlight_exceptions = 1
2013
2014For highlighted trailing whitespace and mix of spaces and tabs:
2015 :let python_highlight_space_errors = 1
2016
2017If you want all possible Python highlighting (the same as setting the
2018preceding three options): >
2019 :let python_highlight_all = 1
2020
2021
2022QUAKE *quake.vim* *quake-syntax*
2023
2024The Quake syntax definition should work for most any FPS (First Person
2025Shooter) based on one of the Quake engines. However, the command names vary
2026a bit between the three games (Quake, Quake 2, and Quake 3 Arena) so the
2027syntax definition checks for the existence of three global variables to allow
2028users to specify what commands are legal in their files. The three variables
2029can be set for the following effects:
2030
2031set to highlight commands only available in Quake: >
2032 :let quake_is_quake1 = 1
2033
2034set to highlight commands only available in Quake 2: >
2035 :let quake_is_quake2 = 1
2036
2037set to highlight commands only available in Quake 3 Arena: >
2038 :let quake_is_quake3 = 1
2039
2040Any combination of these three variables is legal, but might highlight more
2041commands than are actually available to you by the game.
2042
2043
2044READLINE *readline.vim* *readline-syntax*
2045
2046The readline library is primarily used by the BASH shell, which adds quite a
2047few commands and options to the ones already available. To highlight these
2048items as well you can add the following to your |vimrc| or just type it in the
2049command line before loading a file with the readline syntax: >
2050 let readline_has_bash = 1
2051
2052This will add highlighting for the commands that BASH (version 2.05a and
2053later, and part earlier) adds.
2054
2055
2056REXX *rexx.vim* *rexx-syntax*
2057
2058If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2059when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "rexx_minlines" internal variable
2060to a larger number: >
2061 :let rexx_minlines = 50
2062This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
2063displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger
2064number is that redrawing can become slow.
2065
2066
2067RUBY *ruby.vim* *ruby-syntax*
2068
2069There are a few options to the Ruby syntax highlighting.
2070
2071By default, the "end" keyword is colorized according to the opening statement
2072of the block it closes. While useful, this feature can be expensive: if you
2073experience slow redrawing (or you are on a terminal with poor color support)
2074you may want to turn it off by defining the "ruby_no_expensive" variable: >
2075 :let ruby_no_expensive = 1
2076In this case the same color will be used for all control keywords.
2077
2078If you do want this feature enabled, but notice highlighting errors while
2079scrolling backwards, which are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting
2080the "ruby_minlines" variable to a value larger than 50: >
2081 :let ruby_minlines = 100
2082Ideally, this value should be a number of lines large enough to embrace your
2083largest class or module.
2084
2085Finally, if you do not like to see too many color items around, you can define
2086"ruby_no_identifiers": >
2087 :let ruby_no_identifiers = 1
2088This will prevent highlighting of special identifiers like "ConstantName",
2089"$global_var", "@instance_var", "| iterator |", and ":symbol".
2090
2091
2092SDL *sdl.vim* *sdl-syntax*
2093
2094The SDL highlighting probably misses a few keywords, but SDL has so many
2095of them it's almost impossibly to cope.
2096
2097The new standard, SDL-2000, specifies that all identifiers are
2098case-sensitive (which was not so before), and that all keywords can be
2099used either completely lowercase or completely uppercase. To have the
2100highlighting reflect this, you can set the following variable: >
2101 :let sdl_2000=1
2102
2103This also sets many new keywords. If you want to disable the old
2104keywords, which is probably a good idea, use: >
2105 :let SDL_no_96=1
2106
2107
2108The indentation is probably also incomplete, but right now I am very
2109satisfied with it for my own projects.
2110
2111
2112SED *sed.vim* *sed-syntax*
2113
2114To make tabs stand out from regular blanks (accomplished by using Todo
2115highlighting on the tabs), define "highlight_sedtabs" by putting >
2116
2117 :let highlight_sedtabs = 1
2118
2119in the vimrc file. (This special highlighting only applies for tabs
2120inside search patterns, replacement texts, addresses or text included
2121by an Append/Change/Insert command.) If you enable this option, it is
2122also a good idea to set the tab width to one character; by doing that,
2123you can easily count the number of tabs in a string.
2124
2125Bugs:
2126
2127 The transform command (y) is treated exactly like the substitute
2128 command. This means that, as far as this syntax file is concerned,
2129 transform accepts the same flags as substitute, which is wrong.
2130 (Transform accepts no flags.) I tolerate this bug because the
2131 involved commands need very complex treatment (95 patterns, one for
2132 each plausible pattern delimiter).
2133
2134
2135SGML *sgml.vim* *sgml-syntax*
2136
2137The coloring scheme for tags in the SGML file works as follows.
2138
2139The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
2140This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
2141closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
2142defined for you)
2143
2144Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag
2145names are not colored which makes it easy to spot errors.
2146
2147Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
2148names are colored differently than unknown ones.
2149
2150Some SGML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
2151are recognized by the sgml.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
2152text is shown: <varname> <emphasis> <command> <function> <literal>
2153<replaceable> <ulink> and <link>.
2154
2155If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
2156following syntax groups:
2157
2158 - sgmlBold
2159 - sgmlBoldItalic
2160 - sgmlUnderline
2161 - sgmlItalic
2162 - sgmlLink for links
2163
2164To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all and define the
2165following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
2166are read during initialization) >
2167 let sgml_my_rendering=1
2168
2169You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
2170vimrc file: >
2171 let sgml_no_rendering=1
2172
2173(Adapted from the html.vim help text by Claudio Fleiner <claudio@fleiner.com>)
2174
2175
2176SH *sh.vim* *sh-syntax*
2177
2178This covers the "normal" Unix (Bourne) sh, bash and the Korn shell.
2179
2180Vim attempts to determine which shell type is in use by specifying that
2181various filenames are of specific types: >
2182
2183 ksh : .kshrc* *.ksh
2184 bash: .bashrc* bashrc bash.bashrc .bash_profile* *.bash
2185<
2186If none of these cases pertain, then the first line of the file is examined
2187(ex. /bin/sh /bin/ksh /bin/bash). If the first line specifies a shelltype,
2188then that shelltype is used. However some files (ex. .profile) are known to
2189be shell files but the type is not apparent. Furthermore, on many systems
2190sh is symbolically linked to "bash" (linux) or "ksh" (posix).
2191
2192One may specify a global default by instantiating one of the following three
2193variables in your <.vimrc>:
2194
2195 ksh: >
2196 let is_kornshell = 1
2197< bash: >
2198 let is_bash = 1
2199< sh: >
2200 let is_sh = 1
2201
2202If, in your <.vimrc>, you set >
2203 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 1
2204>
2205then various syntax items (HereDocuments and function bodies) become
2206syntax-foldable (see |:syn-fold|).
2207
2208If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2209when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "sh_minlines" internal variable
2210to a larger number. Example: >
2211
2212 let sh_minlines = 500
2213
2214This will make syntax synchronization start 500 lines before the first
2215displayed line. The default value is 200. The disadvantage of using a larger
2216number is that redrawing can become slow.
2217
2218If you don't have much to synchronize on, displaying can be very slow. To
2219reduce this, the "sh_maxlines" internal variable can be set. Example: >
2220
2221 let sh_maxlines = 100
2222<
2223The default is to use the twice sh_minlines. Set it to a smaller number to
2224speed up displaying. The disadvantage is that highlight errors may appear.
2225
2226
2227SPEEDUP (AspenTech plant simulator) *spup.vim* *spup-syntax*
2228
2229The Speedup syntax file has some options:
2230
2231- strict_subsections : If this variable is defined, only keywords for
2232 sections and subsections will be highlighted as statements but not
2233 other keywords (like WITHIN in the OPERATION section).
2234
2235- highlight_types : Definition of this variable causes stream types
2236 like temperature or pressure to be highlighted as Type, not as a
2237 plain Identifier. Included are the types that are usually found in
2238 the DECLARE section; if you defined own types, you have to include
2239 them in the syntax file.
2240
2241- oneline_comments : this value ranges from 1 to 3 and determines the
2242 highlighting of # style comments.
2243
2244 oneline_comments = 1 : allow normal Speedup code after an even
2245 number of #s.
2246
2247 oneline_comments = 2 : show code starting with the second # as
2248 error. This is the default setting.
2249
2250 oneline_comments = 3 : show the whole line as error if it contains
2251 more than one #.
2252
2253Since especially OPERATION sections tend to become very large due to
2254PRESETting variables, syncing may be critical. If your computer is
2255fast enough, you can increase minlines and/or maxlines near the end of
2256the syntax file.
2257
2258
2259TCSH *tcsh.vim* *tcsh-syntax*
2260
2261This covers the shell named "tcsh". It is a superset of csh. See |csh.vim|
2262for how the filetype is detected.
2263
2264Tcsh does not allow \" in strings unless the "backslash_quote" shell variable
2265is set. If you want VIM to assume that no backslash quote constructs exist add
2266this line to your .vimrc: >
2267
2268 :let tcsh_backslash_quote = 0
2269
2270If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2271when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "tcsh_minlines" internal variable
2272to a larger number: >
2273
2274 :let tcsh_minlines = 100
2275
2276This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
2277displayed line. The default value is 15. The disadvantage of using a larger
2278number is that redrawing can become slow.
2279
2280
2281TEX *tex.vim* *tex-syntax*
2282
2283Run-on Comments/Math? ~
2284
2285The tex highlighting supports TeX, LaTeX, and some AmsTeX. The
2286highlighting supports three primary zones: normal, texZone, and texMathZone.
2287Although a considerable effort has been made to have these zones terminate
2288properly, zones delineated by $..$ and $$..$$ cannot be synchronized as
2289there's no difference between start and end patterns. Consequently, a
2290special "TeX comment" has been provided >
2291 %stopzone
2292which will forcibly terminate the highlighting of either a texZone or a
2293texMathZone.
2294
2295Slow Syntax Highlighting? ~
2296
2297If you have a slow computer, you may wish to reduce the values for >
2298 :syn sync maxlines=200
2299 :syn sync minlines=50
2300(especially the latter). If your computer is fast, you may wish to
2301increase them. This primarily affects synchronizing (ie. just what group,
2302if any, is the text at the top of the screen supposed to be in?).
2303
2304Excessive Error Highlighting? ~
2305
2306The <tex.vim> supports lexical error checking of various sorts. Thus,
2307although the error checking is ofttimes very useful, it can indicate
2308errors where none actually are. If this proves to be a problem for you,
2309you may put in your <.vimrc> the following statement: >
2310 let tex_no_error=1
2311and all error checking by <tex.vim> will be suppressed.
2312
2313Need a new Math Group? ~
2314
2315If you want to include a new math group in your LaTeX, the following
2316code shows you an example as to how you might do so: >
2317
2318 syn cluster texMathZones add=texMathZoneLOCAL
2319 syn region texMathZoneLOCAL start="\\begin\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\s*}"
2320 \ end="\\end\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\s*}" keepend
2321 \ contains=@texMathZoneGroup
2322 if !exists("tex_no_math")
2323 syn sync match texSyncMathZoneLOCAL grouphere texMathZoneLOCAL
2324 \ "\\begin\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\*\s*}"
2325 syn sync match texSyncMathZoneLOCAL groupthere NONE
2326 \ "\\end\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\*\s*}"
2327 endif
2328 hi link texMathZoneLOCAL texMath
2329<
2330You'll need to change LOCALMATH to the name of your new math group,
2331and then to put it into .vim/after/syntax/tex.vim.
2332
2333Starting a New Style? ~
2334
2335One may use "\makeatletter" in *.tex files, thereby making the use of "@" in
2336commands available. However, since the *.tex file doesn't have one of the
2337following suffices: sty cls clo dtx ltx, the syntax highlighting will flag
2338such use of @ as an error. To solve this: >
2339
2340 :let b:tex_stylish = 1
2341 :set ft=tex
2342
2343Putting "let g:tex_stylish=1" into your <.vimrc> will make <syntax/tex.vim>
2344always accept such use of @.
2345
2346
2347TF *tf.vim* *tf-syntax*
2348
2349There is one option for the tf syntax highlighting.
2350
2351For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
2352set "tf_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
2353
2354 :let tf_minlines = your choice
2355
2356
2357VIM *vim.vim* *vim-syntax*
2358
2359There is a tradeoff between more accurate syntax highlighting versus
2360screen updating speed. To improve accuracy, you may wish to increase
2361the g:vim_minlines variable. The g:vim_maxlines variable may be used
2362to improve screen updating rates (see |:syn-sync| for more on this).
2363
2364 g:vim_minlines : used to set synchronization minlines
2365 g:vim_maxlines : used to set synchronization maxlines
2366
2367The g:vimembedscript option allows for somewhat faster loading of syntax
2368highlighting for vim scripts at the expense of supporting syntax highlighting
2369for external scripting languages (currently perl, python, ruby, and tcl).
2370
2371 g:vimembedscript == 1 (default) <vim.vim> will allow highlighting
2372 g:vimembedscript doesn't exist of supported embedded scripting
2373 languages: perl, python, ruby and
2374 tcl.
2375
2376 g:vimembedscript == 0 Syntax highlighting for embedded
2377 scripting languages will not be
2378 loaded.
2379
2380
2381XF86CONFIG *xf86conf.vim* *xf86conf-syntax*
2382
2383The syntax of XF86Config file differs in XFree86 v3.x and v4.x. Both
2384variants are supported. Automatic detection is used, but is far from perfect.
2385You may need to specify the version manually. Set the variable
2386xf86conf_xfree86_version to 3 or 4 according to your XFree86 version in
2387your .vimrc. Example: >
2388 :let xf86conf_xfree86_version=3
2389When using a mix of versions, set the b:xf86conf_xfree86_version variable.
2390
2391Note that spaces and underscores in option names are not supported. Use
2392"SyncOnGreen" instead of "__s yn con gr_e_e_n" if you want the option name
2393highlighted.
2394
2395
2396XML *xml.vim* *xml-syntax*
2397
2398Xml namespaces are highlighted by default. This can be inhibited by
2399setting a global variable: >
2400
2401 :let g:xml_namespace_transparent=1
2402<
2403 *xml-folding*
2404The xml syntax file provides syntax |folding| (see |:syn-fold|) between
2405start and end tags. This can be turned on by >
2406
2407 :let g:xml_syntax_folding = 1
2408 :set foldmethod=syntax
2409
2410Note: syntax folding might slow down syntax highlighting significantly,
2411especially for large files.
2412
2413
2414X Pixmaps (XPM) *xpm.vim* *xpm-syntax*
2415
2416xpm.vim creates its syntax items dynamically based upon the contents of the
2417XPM file. Thus if you make changes e.g. in the color specification strings,
2418you have to source it again e.g. with ":set syn=xpm".
2419
2420To copy a pixel with one of the colors, yank a "pixel" with "yl" and insert it
2421somewhere else with "P".
2422
2423Do you want to draw with the mouse? Try the following: >
2424 :function! GetPixel()
2425 : let c = getline(line("."))[col(".") - 1]
2426 : echo c
2427 : exe "noremap <LeftMouse> <LeftMouse>r".c
2428 : exe "noremap <LeftDrag> <LeftMouse>r".c
2429 :endfunction
2430 :noremap <RightMouse> <LeftMouse>:call GetPixel()<CR>
2431 :set guicursor=n:hor20 " to see the color beneath the cursor
2432This turns the right button into a pipette and the left button into a pen.
2433It will work with XPM files that have one character per pixel only and you
2434must not click outside of the pixel strings, but feel free to improve it.
2435
2436It will look much better with a font in a quadratic cell size, e.g. for X: >
2437 :set guifont=-*-clean-medium-r-*-*-8-*-*-*-*-80-*
2438
2439==============================================================================
24405. Defining a syntax *:syn-define* *E410*
2441
2442Vim understands three types of syntax items:
2443
24441. Keyword.
2445 It can only contain keyword characters, according to the 'iskeyword'
2446 option. It cannot contain other syntax items. It will only match with a
2447 complete word (there are no keyword characters before or after the match).
2448 The keyword "if" would match in "if(a=b)", but not in "ifdef x", because
2449 "(" is not a keyword character and "d" is.
2450
24512. Match.
2452 This is a match with a single regexp pattern.
2453
24543. Region.
2455 This starts at a match of the "start" regexp pattern and ends with a match
2456 with the "end" regexp pattern. Any other text can appear in between. A
2457 "skip" regexp pattern can be used to avoid matching the "end" pattern.
2458
2459Several syntax ITEMs can be put into one syntax GROUP. For a syntax group
2460you can give highlighting attributes. For example, you could have an item
2461to define a "/* .. */" comment and another one that defines a "// .." comment,
2462and put them both in the "Comment" group. You can then specify that a
2463"Comment" will be in bold font and have a blue color. You are free to make
2464one highlight group for one syntax item, or put all items into one group.
2465This depends on how you want to specify your highlighting attributes. Putting
2466each item in its own group results in having to specify the highlighting
2467for a lot of groups.
2468
2469Note that a syntax group and a highlight group are similar. For a highlight
2470group you will have given highlight attributes. These attributes will be used
2471for the syntax group with the same name.
2472
2473In case more than one item matches at the same position, the one that was
2474defined LAST wins. Thus you can override previously defined syntax items by
2475using an item that matches the same text. But a keyword always goes before a
2476match or region. And a keyword with matching case always goes before a
2477keyword with ignoring case.
2478
2479
2480PRIORITY *:syn-priority*
2481
2482When several syntax items may match, these rules are used:
2483
24841. When multiple Match or Region items start in the same position, the item
2485 defined last has priority.
24862. A Keyword has priority over Match and Region items.
24873. An item that starts in an earlier position has priority over items that
2488 start in later positions.
2489
2490
2491DEFINING CASE *:syn-case* *E390*
2492
2493:sy[ntax] case [match|ignore]
2494 This defines if the following ":syntax" commands will work with
2495 matching case, when using "match", or with ignoring case, when using
2496 "ignore". Note that any items before this are not affected, and all
2497 items until the next ":syntax case" command are affected.
2498
2499
2500DEFINING KEYWORDS *:syn-keyword*
2501
2502:sy[ntax] keyword {group-name} [{options}] {keyword} .. [{options}]
2503
2504 This defines a number of keywords.
2505
2506 {group-name} Is a syntax group name such as "Comment".
2507 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2508 {keyword} .. Is a list of keywords which are part of this group.
2509
2510 Example: >
2511 :syntax keyword Type int long char
2512<
2513 The {options} can be given anywhere in the line. They will apply to
2514 all keywords given, also for options that come after a keyword.
2515 These examples do exactly the same: >
2516 :syntax keyword Type contained int long char
2517 :syntax keyword Type int long contained char
2518 :syntax keyword Type int long char contained
2519<
2520 When you have a keyword with an optional tail, like Ex commands in
2521 Vim, you can put the optional characters inside [], to define all the
2522 variations at once: >
2523 :syntax keyword vimCommand ab[breviate] n[ext]
2524<
2525 Don't forget that a keyword can only be recognized if all the
2526 characters are included in the 'iskeyword' option. If one character
2527 isn't, the keyword will never be recognized.
2528 Multi-byte characters can also be used. These do not have to be in
2529 'iskeyword'.
2530
2531 A keyword always has higher priority than a match or region, the
2532 keyword is used if more than one item matches. Keywords do not nest
2533 and a keyword can't contain anything else.
2534
2535 Note that when you have a keyword that is the same as an option (even
2536 one that isn't allowed here), you can not use it. Use a match
2537 instead.
2538
2539 The maximum length of a keyword is 80 characters.
2540
2541 The same keyword can be defined multiple times, when its containment
2542 differs. For example, you can define the keyword once not contained
2543 and use one highlight group, and once contained, and use a different
2544 highlight group. Example: >
2545 :syn keyword vimCommand tag
2546 :syn keyword vimSetting contained tag
2547< When finding "tag" outside of any syntax item, the "vimCommand"
2548 highlight group is used. When finding "tag" in a syntax item that
2549 contains "vimSetting", the "vimSetting" group is used.
2550
2551
2552DEFINING MATCHES *:syn-match*
2553
2554:sy[ntax] match {group-name} [{options}] [excludenl] {pattern} [{options}]
2555
2556 This defines one match.
2557
2558 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment".
2559 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2560 [excludenl] Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
2561 extend a containing match or region. Must be
2562 given before the pattern. |:syn-excludenl|
2563 {pattern} The search pattern that defines the match.
2564 See |:syn-pattern| below.
2565 Note that the pattern may match more than one
2566 line, which makes the match depend on where
2567 Vim starts searching for the pattern. You
2568 need to make sure syncing takes care of this.
2569
2570 Example (match a character constant): >
2571 :syntax match Character /'.'/hs=s+1,he=e-1
2572<
2573
2574DEFINING REGIONS *:syn-region* *:syn-start* *:syn-skip* *:syn-end*
2575 *E398* *E399*
2576:sy[ntax] region {group-name} [{options}]
2577 [matchgroup={group-name}]
2578 [keepend]
2579 [extend]
2580 [excludenl]
2581 start={start_pattern} ..
2582 [skip={skip_pattern}]
2583 end={end_pattern} ..
2584 [{options}]
2585
2586 This defines one region. It may span several lines.
2587
2588 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment".
2589 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2590 [matchgroup={group-name}] The syntax group to use for the following
2591 start or end pattern matches only. Not used
2592 for the text in between the matched start and
2593 end patterns. Use NONE to reset to not using
2594 a different group for the start or end match.
2595 See |:syn-matchgroup|.
2596 keepend Don't allow contained matches to go past a
2597 match with the end pattern. See
2598 |:syn-keepend|.
2599 extend Override a "keepend" for an item this region
2600 is contained in. See |:syn-extend|.
2601 excludenl Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
2602 extend a containing match or item. Only
2603 useful for end patterns. Must be given before
2604 the patterns it applies to. |:syn-excludenl|
2605 start={start_pattern} The search pattern that defines the start of
2606 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2607 skip={skip_pattern} The search pattern that defines text inside
2608 the region where not to look for the end
2609 pattern. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2610 end={end_pattern} The search pattern that defines the end of
2611 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2612
2613 Example: >
2614 :syntax region String start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+
2615<
2616 The start/skip/end patterns and the options can be given in any order.
2617 There can be zero or one skip pattern. There must be one or more
2618 start and end patterns. This means that you can omit the skip
2619 pattern, but you must give at least one start and one end pattern. It
2620 is allowed to have white space before and after the equal sign
2621 (although it mostly looks better without white space).
2622
2623 When more than one start pattern is given, a match with one of these
2624 is sufficient. This means there is an OR relation between the start
2625 patterns. The last one that matches is used. The same is true for
2626 the end patterns.
2627
2628 The search for the end pattern starts right after the start pattern.
2629 Offsets are not used for this. This implies that the match for the
2630 end pattern will never overlap with the start pattern.
2631
2632 The skip and end pattern can match across line breaks, but since the
2633 search for the pattern can start in any line it often does not do what
2634 you want. The skip pattern doesn't avoid a match of an end pattern in
2635 the next line. Use single-line patterns to avoid trouble.
2636
2637 Note: The decision to start a region is only based on a matching start
2638 pattern. There is no check for a matching end pattern. This does NOT
2639 work: >
2640 :syn region First start="(" end=":"
2641 :syn region Second start="(" end=";"
2642< The Second always matches before the First (last defined pattern has
2643 higher priority). The Second region then continues until the next
2644 ';', no matter if there is a ':' before it. Using a match does work: >
2645 :syn match First "(\_.\{-}:"
2646 :syn match Second "(\_.\{-};"
2647< This pattern matches any character or line break with "\_." and
2648 repeats that with "\{-}" (repeat as few as possible).
2649
2650 *:syn-keepend*
2651 By default, a contained match can obscure a match for the end pattern.
2652 This is useful for nesting. For example, a region that starts with
2653 "{" and ends with "}", can contain another region. An encountered "}"
2654 will then end the contained region, but not the outer region:
2655 { starts outer "{}" region
2656 { starts contained "{}" region
2657 } ends contained "{}" region
2658 } ends outer "{} region
2659 If you don't want this, the "keepend" argument will make the matching
2660 of an end pattern of the outer region also end any contained item.
2661 This makes it impossible to nest the same region, but allows for
2662 contained items to highlight parts of the end pattern, without causing
2663 that to skip the match with the end pattern. Example: >
2664 :syn match vimComment +"[^"]\+$+
2665 :syn region vimCommand start="set" end="$" contains=vimComment keepend
2666< The "keepend" makes the vimCommand always end at the end of the line,
2667 even though the contained vimComment includes a match with the <EOL>.
2668
2669 When "keepend" is not used, a match with an end pattern is retried
2670 after each contained match. When "keepend" is included, the first
2671 encountered match with an end pattern is used, truncating any
2672 contained matches.
2673 *:syn-extend*
2674 The "keepend" behavior can be changed by using the "extend" argument.
2675 When an item with "extend" is contained in an item that uses
2676 "keepend", the "keepend" is ignored and the containing region will be
2677 extended.
2678 This can be used to have some contained items extend a region while
2679 others don't. Example: >
2680
2681 :syn region htmlRef start=+<a>+ end=+</a>+ keepend contains=htmlItem,htmlScript
2682 :syn match htmlItem +<[^>]*>+ contained
2683 :syn region htmlScript start=+<script+ end=+</script[^>]*>+ contained extend
2684
2685< Here the htmlItem item does not make the htmlRef item continue
2686 further, it is only used to highlight the <> items. The htmlScript
2687 item does extend the htmlRef item.
2688
2689 Another example: >
2690 :syn region xmlFold start="<a>" end="</a>" fold transparent keepend extend
2691< This defines a region with "keepend", so that its end cannot be
2692 changed by contained items, like when the "</a>" is matched to
2693 highlight it differently. But when the xmlFold region is nested (it
2694 includes itself), the "extend" applies, so that the "</a>" of a nested
2695 region only ends that region, and not the one it is contained in.
2696
2697 *:syn-excludenl*
2698 When a pattern for a match or end pattern of a region includes a '$'
2699 to match the end-of-line, it will make a region item that it is
2700 contained in continue on the next line. For example, a match with
2701 "\\$" (backslash at the end of the line) can make a region continue
2702 that would normally stop at the end of the line. This is the default
2703 behavior. If this is not wanted, there are two ways to avoid it:
2704 1. Use "keepend" for the containing item. This will keep all
2705 contained matches from extending the match or region. It can be
2706 used when all contained items must not extend the containing item.
2707 2. Use "excludenl" in the contained item. This will keep that match
2708 from extending the containing match or region. It can be used if
2709 only some contained items must not extend the containing item.
2710 "excludenl" must be given before the pattern it applies to.
2711
2712 *:syn-matchgroup*
2713 "matchgroup" can be used to highlight the start and/or end pattern
2714 differently than the body of the region. Example: >
2715 :syntax region String matchgroup=Quote start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+
2716< This will highlight the quotes with the "Quote" group, and the text in
2717 between with the "String" group.
2718 The "matchgroup" is used for all start and end patterns that follow,
2719 until the next "matchgroup". Use "matchgroup=NONE" to go back to not
2720 using a matchgroup.
2721
2722 In a start or end pattern that is highlighted with "matchgroup" the
2723 contained items of the region are not used. This can be used to avoid
2724 that a contained item matches in the start or end pattern match. When
2725 using "transparent", this does not apply to a start or end pattern
2726 match that is highlighted with "matchgroup".
2727
2728 Here is an example, which highlights three levels of parentheses in
2729 different colors: >
2730 :sy region par1 matchgroup=par1 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par2
2731 :sy region par2 matchgroup=par2 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par3 contained
2732 :sy region par3 matchgroup=par3 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par1 contained
2733 :hi par1 ctermfg=red guifg=red
2734 :hi par2 ctermfg=blue guifg=blue
2735 :hi par3 ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
2736
2737==============================================================================
27386. :syntax arguments *:syn-arguments*
2739
2740The :syntax commands that define syntax items take a number of arguments.
2741The common ones are explained here. The arguments may be given in any order
2742and may be mixed with patterns.
2743
2744Not all commands accept all arguments. This table shows which arguments
2745can not be used for all commands:
2746 *E395* *E396*
2747 contains oneline fold display extend ~
2748:syntax keyword - - - - -
2749:syntax match yes - yes yes yes
2750:syntax region yes yes yes yes yes
2751
2752These arguments can be used for all three commands:
2753 contained
2754 containedin
2755 nextgroup
2756 transparent
2757 skipwhite
2758 skipnl
2759 skipempty
2760
2761
2762contained *:syn-contained*
2763
2764When the "contained" argument is given, this item will not be recognized at
2765the top level, but only when it is mentioned in the "contains" field of
2766another match. Example: >
2767 :syntax keyword Todo TODO contained
2768 :syntax match Comment "//.*" contains=Todo
2769
2770
2771display *:syn-display*
2772
2773If the "display" argument is given, this item will be skipped when the
2774detected highlighting will not be displayed. This will speed up highlighting,
2775by skipping this item when only finding the syntax state for the text that is
2776to be displayed.
2777
2778Generally, you can use "display" for match and region items that meet these
2779conditions:
2780- The item does not continue past the end of a line. Example for C: A region
2781 for a "/*" comment can't contain "display", because it continues on the next
2782 line.
2783- The item does not contain items that continue past the end of the line or
2784 make it continue on the next line.
2785- The item does not change the size of any item it is contained in. Example
2786 for C: A match with "\\$" in a preprocessor match can't have "display",
2787 because it may make that preprocessor match shorter.
2788- The item does not allow other items to match that didn't match otherwise,
2789 and that item may extend the match too far. Example for C: A match for a
2790 "//" comment can't use "display", because a "/*" inside that comment would
2791 match then and start a comment which extends past the end of the line.
2792
2793Examples, for the C language, where "display" can be used:
2794- match with a number
2795- match with a label
2796
2797
2798transparent *:syn-transparent*
2799
2800If the "transparent" argument is given, this item will not be highlighted
2801itself, but will take the highlighting of the item it is contained in. This
2802is useful for syntax items that don't need any highlighting but are used
2803only to skip over a part of the text.
2804
2805The "contains=" argument is also inherited from the item it is contained in,
2806unless a "contains" argument is given for the transparent item itself. To
2807avoid that unwanted items are contained, use "contains=NONE". Example, which
2808highlights words in strings, but makes an exception for "vim": >
2809 :syn match myString /'[^']*'/ contains=myWord,myVim
2810 :syn match myWord /\<[a-z]*\>/ contained
2811 :syn match myVim /\<vim\>/ transparent contained contains=NONE
2812 :hi link myString String
2813 :hi link myWord Comment
2814Since the "myVim" match comes after "myWord" it is the preferred match (last
2815match in the same position overrules an earlier one). The "transparent"
2816argument makes the "myVim" match use the same highlighting as "myString". But
2817it does not contain anything. If the "contains=NONE" argument would be left
2818out, then "myVim" would use the contains argument from myString and allow
2819"myWord" to be contained, which will be highlighted as a Constant. This
2820happens because a contained match doesn't match inside itself in the same
2821position, thus the "myVim" match doesn't overrule the "myWord" match here.
2822
2823When you look at the colored text, it is like looking at layers of contained
2824items. The contained item is on top of the item it is contained in, thus you
2825see the contained item. When a contained item is transparent, you can look
2826through, thus you see the item it is contained in. In a picture:
2827
2828 look from here
2829
2830 | | | | | |
2831 V V V V V V
2832
2833 xxxx yyy more contained items
2834 .................... contained item (transparent)
2835 ============================= first item
2836
2837The 'x', 'y' and '=' represent a highlighted syntax item. The '.' represent a
2838transparent group.
2839
2840What you see is:
2841
2842 =======xxxx=======yyy========
2843
2844Thus you look through the transparent "....".
2845
2846
2847oneline *:syn-oneline*
2848
2849The "oneline" argument indicates that the region does not cross a line
2850boundary. It must match completely in the current line. However, when the
2851region has a contained item that does cross a line boundary, it continues on
2852the next line anyway. A contained item can be used to recognize a line
2853continuation pattern. But the "end" pattern must still match in the first
2854line, otherwise the region doesn't even start.
2855
2856When the start pattern includes a "\n" to match an end-of-line, the end
2857pattern must be found in the same line as where the start pattern ends. The
2858end pattern may also include an end-of-line. Thus the "oneline" argument
2859means that the end of the start pattern and the start of the end pattern must
2860be within one line. This can't be changed by a skip pattern that matches a
2861line break.
2862
2863
2864fold *:syn-fold*
2865
2866The "fold" argument makes the fold level increased by one for this item.
2867Example: >
2868 :syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
2869 :syn sync fromstart
2870 :set foldmethod=syntax
2871This will make each {} block form one fold.
2872
2873The fold will start on the line where the item starts, and end where the item
2874ends. If the start and end are within the same line, there is no fold.
2875The 'foldnestmax' option limits the nesting of syntax folds.
2876{not available when Vim was compiled without |+folding| feature}
2877
2878
2879 *:syn-contains* *E405* *E406* *E407* *E408* *E409*
2880contains={groupname},..
2881
2882The "contains" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. These
2883groups will be allowed to begin inside the item (they may extend past the
2884containing group's end). This allows for recursive nesting of matches and
2885regions. If there is no "contains" argument, no groups will be contained in
2886this item. The group names do not need to be defined before they can be used
2887here.
2888
2889contains=ALL
2890 If the only item in the contains list is "ALL", then all
2891 groups will be accepted inside the item.
2892
2893contains=ALLBUT,{group-name},..
2894 If the first item in the contains list is "ALLBUT", then all
2895 groups will be accepted inside the item, except the ones that
2896 are listed. Example: >
2897 :syntax region Block start="{" end="}" ... contains=ALLBUT,Function
2898
2899contains=TOP
2900 If the first item in the contains list is "TOP", then all
2901 groups will be accepted that don't have the "contained"
2902 argument.
2903contains=TOP,{group-name},..
2904 Like "TOP", but excluding the groups that are listed.
2905
2906contains=CONTAINED
2907 If the first item in the contains list is "CONTAINED", then
2908 all groups will be accepted that have the "contained"
2909 argument.
2910contains=CONTAINED,{group-name},..
2911 Like "CONTAINED", but excluding the groups that are
2912 listed.
2913
2914
2915The {group-name} in the "contains" list can be a pattern. All group names
2916that match the pattern will be included (or excluded, if "ALLBUT" is used).
2917The pattern cannot contain white space or a ','. Example: >
2918 ... contains=Comment.*,Keyw[0-3]
2919The matching will be done at moment the syntax command is executed. Groups
2920that are defined later will not be matched. Also, if the current syntax
2921command defines a new group, it is not matched. Be careful: When putting
2922syntax commands in a file you can't rely on groups NOT being defined, because
2923the file may have been sourced before, and ":syn clear" doesn't remove the
2924group names.
2925
2926The contained groups will also match in the start and end patterns of a
2927region. If this is not wanted, the "matchgroup" argument can be used
2928|:syn-matchgroup|. The "ms=" and "me=" offsets can be used to change the
2929region where contained items do match. Note that this may also limit the
2930area that is highlighted
2931
2932
2933containedin={groupname}... *:syn-containedin*
2934
2935The "containedin" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. The
2936item will be allowed to begin inside these groups. This works as if the
2937containing item has a "contains=" argument that includes this item.
2938
2939The {groupname}... can be used just like for "contains", as explained above.
2940
2941This is useful when adding a syntax item afterwards. An item can be told to
2942be included inside an already existing item, without changing the definition
2943of that item. For example, to highlight a word in a C comment after loading
2944the C syntax: >
2945 :syn keyword myword HELP containedin=cComment contained
2946Note that "contained" is also used, to avoid that the item matches at the top
2947level.
2948
2949Matches for "containedin" are added to the other places where the item can
2950appear. A "contains" argument may also be added as usual. Don't forget that
2951keywords never contain another item, thus adding them to "containedin" won't
2952work.
2953
2954
2955nextgroup={groupname},.. *:syn-nextgroup*
2956
2957The "nextgroup" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names,
2958separated by commas (just like with "contains", so you can also use patterns).
2959
2960If the "nextgroup" argument is given, the mentioned syntax groups will be
2961tried for a match, after the match or region ends. If none of the groups have
2962a match, highlighting continues normally. If there is a match, this group
2963will be used, even when it is not mentioned in the "contains" field of the
2964current group. This is like giving the mentioned group priority over all
2965other groups. Example: >
2966 :syntax match ccFoobar "Foo.\{-}Bar" contains=ccFoo
2967 :syntax match ccFoo "Foo" contained nextgroup=ccFiller
2968 :syntax region ccFiller start="." matchgroup=ccBar end="Bar" contained
2969
2970This will highlight "Foo" and "Bar" differently, and only when there is a
2971"Bar" after "Foo". In the text line below, "f" shows where ccFoo is used for
2972highlighting, and "bbb" where ccBar is used. >
2973
2974 Foo asdfasd Bar asdf Foo asdf Bar asdf
2975 fff bbb fff bbb
2976
2977Note the use of ".\{-}" to skip as little as possible until the next Bar.
2978when ".*" would be used, the "asdf" in between "Bar" and "Foo" would be
2979highlighted according to the "ccFoobar" group, because the ccFooBar match
2980would include the first "Foo" and the last "Bar" in the line (see |pattern|).
2981
2982
2983skipwhite *:syn-skipwhite*
2984skipnl *:syn-skipnl*
2985skipempty *:syn-skipempty*
2986
2987These arguments are only used in combination with "nextgroup". They can be
2988used to allow the next group to match after skipping some text:
2989 skipwhite skip over space and Tab characters
2990 skipnl skip over the end of a line
2991 skipempty skip over empty lines (implies a "skipnl")
2992
2993When "skipwhite" is present, the white space is only skipped if there is no
2994next group that matches the white space.
2995
2996When "skipnl" is present, the match with nextgroup may be found in the next
2997line. This only happens when the current item ends at the end of the current
2998line! When "skipnl" is not present, the nextgroup will only be found after
2999the current item in the same line.
3000
3001When skipping text while looking for a next group, the matches for other
3002groups are ignored. Only when no next group matches, other items are tried
3003for a match again. This means that matching a next group and skipping white
3004space and <EOL>s has a higher priority than other items.
3005
3006Example: >
3007 :syn match ifstart "\<if.*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty
3008 :syn match ifline "[^ \t].*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty contained
3009 :syn match ifline "endif" contained
3010Note that the "[^ \t].*" match matches all non-white text. Thus it would also
3011match "endif". Therefore the "endif" match is put last, so that it takes
3012precedence.
3013Note that this example doesn't work for nested "if"s. You need to add
3014"contains" arguments to make that work (omitted for simplicity of the
3015example).
3016
3017==============================================================================
30187. Syntax patterns *:syn-pattern* *E401* *E402*
3019
3020In the syntax commands, a pattern must be surrounded by two identical
3021characters. This is like it works for the ":s" command. The most common to
3022use is the double quote. But if the pattern contains a double quote, you can
3023use another character that is not used in the pattern. Examples: >
3024 :syntax region Comment start="/\*" end="\*/"
3025 :syntax region String start=+"+ end=+"+ skip=+\\"+
3026
3027See |pattern| for the explanation of what a pattern is. Syntax patterns are
3028always interpreted like the 'magic' options is set, no matter what the actual
3029value of 'magic' is. And the patterns are interpreted like the 'l' flag is
3030not included in 'cpoptions'. This was done to make syntax files portable and
3031independent of 'compatible' and 'magic' settings.
3032
3033Try to avoid patterns that can match an empty string, such as "[a-z]*".
3034This slows down the highlighting a lot, because it matches everywhere.
3035
3036 *:syn-pattern-offset*
3037The pattern can be followed by a character offset. This can be used to
3038change the highlighted part, and to change the text area included in the
3039match or region (which only matters when trying to match other items). Both
3040are relative to the matched pattern. The character offset for a skip
3041pattern can be used to tell where to continue looking for an end pattern.
3042
3043The offset takes the form of "{what}={offset}"
3044The {what} can be one of seven strings:
3045
3046ms Match Start offset for the start of the matched text
3047me Match End offset for the end of the matched text
3048hs Highlight Start offset for where the highlighting starts
3049he Highlight End offset for where the highlighting ends
3050rs Region Start offset for where the body of a region starts
3051re Region End offset for where the body of a region ends
3052lc Leading Context offset past "leading context" of pattern
3053
3054The {offset} can be:
3055
3056s start of the matched pattern
3057s+{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3058s-{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3059e end of the matched pattern
3060e+{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3061e-{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3062{nr} (for "lc" only): start matching {nr} chars to the left
3063
3064Examples: "ms=s+1", "hs=e-2", "lc=3".
3065
3066Although all offsets are accepted after any pattern, they are not always
3067meaningful. This table shows which offsets are actually used:
3068
3069 ms me hs he rs re lc ~
3070match item yes yes yes yes - - yes
3071region item start yes - yes - yes - yes
3072region item skip - yes - - - - yes
3073region item end - yes - yes - yes yes
3074
3075Offsets can be concatenated, with a ',' in between. Example: >
3076 :syn match String /"[^"]*"/hs=s+1,he=e-1
3077<
3078 some "string" text
3079 ^^^^^^ highlighted
3080
3081Notes:
3082- There must be no white space between the pattern and the character
3083 offset(s).
3084- The highlighted area will never be outside of the matched text.
3085- A negative offset for an end pattern may not always work, because the end
3086 pattern may be detected when the highlighting should already have stopped.
3087- The start of a match cannot be in a line other than where the pattern
3088 matched. This doesn't work: "a\nb"ms=e. You can make the highlighting
3089 start in another line, this does work: "a\nb"hs=e.
3090
3091Example (match a comment but don't highlight the /* and */): >
3092 :syntax region Comment start="/\*"hs=e+1 end="\*/"he=s-1
3093<
3094 /* this is a comment */
3095 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ highlighted
3096
3097A more complicated Example: >
3098 :syn region Exa matchgroup=Foo start="foo"hs=s+2,rs=e+2 matchgroup=Bar end="bar"me=e-1,he=e-1,re=s-1
3099<
3100 abcfoostringbarabc
3101 mmmmmmmmmmm match
3102 ssrrrreee highlight start/region/end ("Foo", "Exa" and "Bar")
3103
3104Leading context *:syn-lc* *:syn-leading* *:syn-context*
3105
3106Note: This is an obsolete feature, only included for backwards compatibility
3107with previous Vim versions. It's now recommended to use the |/\@<=| construct
3108in the pattern.
3109
3110The "lc" offset specifies leading context -- a part of the pattern that must
3111be present, but is not considered part of the match. An offset of "lc=n" will
3112cause Vim to step back n columns before attempting the pattern match, allowing
3113characters which have already been matched in previous patterns to also be
3114used as leading context for this match. This can be used, for instance, to
3115specify that an "escaping" character must not precede the match: >
3116
3117 :syn match ZNoBackslash "[^\\]z"ms=s+1
3118 :syn match WNoBackslash "[^\\]w"lc=1
3119 :syn match Underline "_\+"
3120<
3121 ___zzzz ___wwww
3122 ^^^ ^^^ matches Underline
3123 ^ ^ matches ZNoBackslash
3124 ^^^^ matches WNoBackslash
3125
3126The "ms" offset is automatically set to the same value as the "lc" offset,
3127unless you set "ms" explicitly.
3128
3129
3130Multi-line patterns *:syn-multi-line*
3131
3132The patterns can include "\n" to match an end-of-line. Mostly this works as
3133expected, but there are a few exceptions.
3134
3135When using a start pattern with an offset, the start of the match is not
3136allowed to start in a following line. The highlighting can start in a
3137following line though.
3138
3139The skip pattern can include the "\n", but the search for an end pattern will
3140continue in the first character of the next line, also when that character is
3141matched by the skip pattern. This is because redrawing may start in any line
3142halfway a region and there is no check if the skip pattern started in a
3143previous line. For example, if the skip pattern is "a\nb" and an end pattern
3144is "b", the end pattern does match in the second line of this: >
3145 x x a
3146 b x x
3147Generally this means that the skip pattern should not match any characters
3148after the "\n".
3149
3150
3151External matches *:syn-ext-match*
3152
3153These extra regular expression items are available in region patterns:
3154
3155 */\z(* */\z(\)* *E50* *E52*
3156 \z(\) Marks the sub-expression as "external", meaning that it is can
3157 be accessed from another pattern match. Currently only usable
3158 in defining a syntax region start pattern.
3159
3160 */\z1* */\z2* */\z3* */\z4* */\z5*
3161 \z1 ... \z9 */\z6* */\z7* */\z8* */\z9* *E66* *E67*
3162 Matches the same string that was matched by the corresponding
3163 sub-expression in a previous start pattern match.
3164
3165Sometimes the start and end patterns of a region need to share a common
3166sub-expression. A common example is the "here" document in Perl and many Unix
3167shells. This effect can be achieved with the "\z" special regular expression
3168items, which marks a sub-expression as "external", in the sense that it can be
3169referenced from outside the pattern in which it is defined. The here-document
3170example, for instance, can be done like this: >
3171 :syn region hereDoc start="<<\z(\I\i*\)" end="^\z1$"
3172
3173As can be seen here, the \z actually does double duty. In the start pattern,
3174it marks the "\(\I\i*\)" sub-expression as external; in the end pattern, it
3175changes the \1 back-reference into an external reference referring to the
3176first external sub-expression in the start pattern. External references can
3177also be used in skip patterns: >
3178 :syn region foo start="start \(\I\i*\)" skip="not end \z1" end="end \z1"
3179
3180Note that normal and external sub-expressions are completely orthogonal and
3181indexed separately; for instance, if the pattern "\z(..\)\(..\)" is applied
3182to the string "aabb", then \1 will refer to "bb" and \z1 will refer to "aa".
3183Note also that external sub-expressions cannot be accessed as back-references
3184within the same pattern like normal sub-expressions. If you want to use one
3185sub-expression as both a normal and an external sub-expression, you can nest
3186the two, as in "\(\z(...\)\)".
3187
3188Note that only matches within a single line can be used. Multi-line matches
3189cannot be referred to.
3190
3191==============================================================================
31928. Syntax clusters *:syn-cluster* *E400*
3193
3194:sy[ntax] cluster {cluster-name} [contains={group-name}..]
3195 [add={group-name}..]
3196 [remove={group-name}..]
3197
3198This command allows you to cluster a list of syntax groups together under a
3199single name.
3200
3201 contains={group-name}..
3202 The cluster is set to the specified list of groups.
3203 add={group-name}..
3204 The specified groups are added to the cluster.
3205 remove={group-name}..
3206 The specified groups are removed from the cluster.
3207
3208A cluster so defined may be referred to in a contains=.., nextgroup=.., add=..
3209or remove=.. list with a "@" prefix. You can also use this notation to
3210implicitly declare a cluster before specifying its contents.
3211
3212Example: >
3213 :syntax match Thing "# [^#]\+ #" contains=@ThingMembers
3214 :syntax cluster ThingMembers contains=ThingMember1,ThingMember2
3215
3216As the previous example suggests, modifications to a cluster are effectively
3217retroactive; the membership of the cluster is checked at the last minute, so
3218to speak: >
3219 :syntax keyword A aaa
3220 :syntax keyword B bbb
3221 :syntax cluster AandB contains=A
3222 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@AandB
3223 :syntax cluster AandB add=B " now both keywords are matched in Stuff
3224
3225This also has implications for nested clusters: >
3226 :syntax keyword A aaa
3227 :syntax keyword B bbb
3228 :syntax cluster SmallGroup contains=B
3229 :syntax cluster BigGroup contains=A,@SmallGroup
3230 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@BigGroup
3231 :syntax cluster BigGroup remove=B " no effect, since B isn't in BigGroup
3232 :syntax cluster SmallGroup remove=B " now bbb isn't matched within Stuff
3233
3234==============================================================================
32359. Including syntax files *:syn-include* *E397*
3236
3237It is often useful for one language's syntax file to include a syntax file for
3238a related language. Depending on the exact relationship, this can be done in
3239two different ways:
3240
3241 - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3242 allowed at the top level in the including syntax, you can simply use
3243 the |:runtime| command: >
3244
3245 " In cpp.vim:
3246 :runtime! syntax/c.vim
3247 :unlet b:current_syntax
3248
3249< - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3250 contained within a region in the including syntax, you can use the
3251 ":syntax include" command:
3252
3253:sy[ntax] include [@{grouplist-name}] {file-name}
3254
3255 All syntax items declared in the included file will have the
3256 "contained" flag added. In addition, if a group list is specified,
3257 all top-level syntax items in the included file will be added to
3258 that list. >
3259
3260 " In perl.vim:
3261 :syntax include @Pod <sfile>:p:h/pod.vim
3262 :syntax region perlPOD start="^=head" end="^=cut" contains=@Pod
3263<
3264 When {file-name} is an absolute path (starts with "/", "c:", "$VAR"
3265 or "<sfile>") that file is sourced. When it is a relative path
3266 (e.g., "syntax/pod.vim") the file is searched for in 'runtimepath'.
3267 All matching files are loaded. Using a relative path is
3268 recommended, because it allows a user to replace the included file
3269 with his own version, without replacing the file that does the ":syn
3270 include".
3271
3272==============================================================================
327310. Synchronizing *:syn-sync* *E403* *E404*
3274
3275Vim wants to be able to start redrawing in any position in the document. To
3276make this possible it needs to know the syntax state at the position where
3277redrawing starts.
3278
3279:sy[ntax] sync [ccomment [group-name] | minlines={N} | ...]
3280
3281There are four ways to synchronize:
32821. Always parse from the start of the file.
3283 |:syn-sync-first|
32842. Based on C-style comments. Vim understands how C-comments work and can
3285 figure out if the current line starts inside or outside a comment.
3286 |:syn-sync-second|
32873. Jumping back a certain number of lines and start parsing there.
3288 |:syn-sync-third|
32894. Searching backwards in the text for a pattern to sync on.
3290 |:syn-sync-fourth|
3291
3292 *:syn-sync-maxlines* *:syn-sync-minlines*
3293For the last three methods, the line range where the parsing can start is
3294limited by "minlines" and "maxlines".
3295
3296If the "minlines={N}" argument is given, the parsing always starts at least
3297that many lines backwards. This can be used if the parsing may take a few
3298lines before it's correct, or when it's not possible to use syncing.
3299
3300If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given, the number of lines that are searched
3301for a comment or syncing pattern is restricted to N lines backwards (after
3302adding "minlines"). This is useful if you have few things to sync on and a
3303slow machine. Example: >
3304 :syntax sync ccomment maxlines=500
3305<
3306 *:syn-sync-linebreaks*
3307When using a pattern that matches multiple lines, a change in one line may
3308cause a pattern to no longer match in a previous line. This means has to
3309start above where the change was made. How many lines can be specified with
3310the "linebreaks" argument. For example, when a pattern may include one line
3311break use this: >
3312 :syntax sync linebreaks=1
3313The result is that redrawing always starts at least one line before where a
3314change was made. The default value for "linebreaks" is zero. Usually the
3315value for "minlines" is bigger than "linebreaks".
3316
3317
3318First syncing method: *:syn-sync-first*
3319>
3320 :syntax sync fromstart
3321
3322The file will be parsed from the start. This makes syntax highlighting
3323accurate, but can be slow for long files. Vim caches previously parsed text,
3324so that it's only slow when parsing the text for the first time. However,
3325when making changes some part of the next needs to be parsed again (worst
3326case: to the end of the file).
3327
3328Using "fromstart" is equivalent to using "minlines" with a very large number.
3329
3330
3331Second syncing method: *:syn-sync-second* *:syn-sync-ccomment*
3332
3333For the second method, only the "ccomment" argument needs to be given.
3334Example: >
3335 :syntax sync ccomment
3336
3337When Vim finds that the line where displaying starts is inside a C-style
3338comment, the last region syntax item with the group-name "Comment" will be
3339used. This requires that there is a region with the group-name "Comment"!
3340An alternate group name can be specified, for example: >
3341 :syntax sync ccomment javaComment
3342This means that the last item specified with "syn region javaComment" will be
3343used for the detected C comment region. This only works properly if that
3344region does have a start pattern "\/*" and an end pattern "*\/".
3345
3346The "maxlines" argument can be used to restrict the search to a number of
3347lines. The "minlines" argument can be used to at least start a number of
3348lines back (e.g., for when there is some construct that only takes a few
3349lines, but it hard to sync on).
3350
3351Note: Syncing on a C comment doesn't work properly when strings are used
3352that cross a line and contain a "*/". Since letting strings cross a line
3353is a bad programming habit (many compilers give a warning message), and the
3354chance of a "*/" appearing inside a comment is very small, this restriction
3355is hardly ever noticed.
3356
3357
3358Third syncing method: *:syn-sync-third*
3359
3360For the third method, only the "minlines={N}" argument needs to be given.
3361Vim will subtract {N} from the line number and start parsing there. This
3362means {N} extra lines need to be parsed, which makes this method a bit slower.
3363Example: >
3364 :syntax sync minlines=50
3365
3366"lines" is equivalent to "minlines" (used by older versions).
3367
3368
3369Fourth syncing method: *:syn-sync-fourth*
3370
3371The idea is to synchronize on the end of a few specific regions, called a
3372sync pattern. Only regions can cross lines, so when we find the end of some
3373region, we might be able to know in which syntax item we are. The search
3374starts in the line just above the one where redrawing starts. From there
3375the search continues backwards in the file.
3376
3377This works just like the non-syncing syntax items. You can use contained
3378matches, nextgroup, etc. But there are a few differences:
3379- Keywords cannot be used.
3380- The syntax items with the "sync" keyword form a completely separated group
3381 of syntax items. You can't mix syncing groups and non-syncing groups.
3382- The matching works backwards in the buffer (line by line), instead of
3383 forwards.
3384- A line continuation pattern can be given. It is used to decide which group
3385 of lines need to be searched like they were one line. This means that the
3386 search for a match with the specified items starts in the first of the
3387 consecutive that contain the continuation pattern.
3388- When using "nextgroup" or "contains", this only works within one line (or
3389 group of continued lines).
3390- When using a region, it must start and end in the same line (or group of
3391 continued lines). Otherwise the end is assumed to be at the end of the
3392 line (or group of continued lines).
3393- When a match with a sync pattern is found, the rest of the line (or group of
3394 continued lines) is searched for another match. The last match is used.
3395 This is used when a line can contain both the start end the end of a region
3396 (e.g., in a C-comment like /* this */, the last "*/" is used).
3397
3398There are two ways how a match with a sync pattern can be used:
33991. Parsing for highlighting starts where redrawing starts (and where the
3400 search for the sync pattern started). The syntax group that is expected
3401 to be valid there must be specified. This works well when the regions
3402 that cross lines cannot contain other regions.
34032. Parsing for highlighting continues just after the match. The syntax group
3404 that is expected to be present just after the match must be specified.
3405 This can be used when the previous method doesn't work well. It's much
3406 slower, because more text needs to be parsed.
3407Both types of sync patterns can be used at the same time.
3408
3409Besides the sync patterns, other matches and regions can be specified, to
3410avoid finding unwanted matches.
3411
3412[The reason that the sync patterns are given separately, is that mostly the
3413search for the sync point can be much simpler than figuring out the
3414highlighting. The reduced number of patterns means it will go (much)
3415faster.]
3416
3417 *syn-sync-grouphere* *E393* *E394*
3418 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} grouphere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3419
3420 Define a match that is used for syncing. {group-name} is the
3421 name of a syntax group that follows just after the match. Parsing
3422 of the text for highlighting starts just after the match. A region
3423 must exist for this {group-name}. The first one defined will be used.
3424 "NONE" can be used for when there is no syntax group after the match.
3425
3426 *syn-sync-groupthere*
3427 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} groupthere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3428
3429 Like "grouphere", but {group-name} is the name of a syntax group that
3430 is to be used at the start of the line where searching for the sync
3431 point started. The text between the match and the start of the sync
3432 pattern searching is assumed not to change the syntax highlighting.
3433 For example, in C you could search backwards for "/*" and "*/". If
3434 "/*" is found first, you know that you are inside a comment, so the
3435 "groupthere" is "cComment". If "*/" is found first, you know that you
3436 are not in a comment, so the "groupthere" is "NONE". (in practice
3437 it's a bit more complicated, because the "/*" and "*/" could appear
3438 inside a string. That's left as an exercise to the reader...).
3439
3440 :syntax sync match ..
3441 :syntax sync region ..
3442
3443 Without a "groupthere" argument. Define a region or match that is
3444 skipped while searching for a sync point.
3445
3446 :syntax sync linecont {pattern}
3447
3448 When {pattern} matches in a line, it is considered to continue in
3449 the next line. This means that the search for a sync point will
3450 consider the lines to be concatenated.
3451
3452If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given too, the number of lines that are
3453searched for a match is restricted to N. This is useful if you have very
3454few things to sync on and a slow machine. Example: >
3455 :syntax sync maxlines=100
3456
3457You can clear all sync settings with: >
3458 :syntax sync clear
3459
3460You can clear specific sync patterns with: >
3461 :syntax sync clear {sync-group-name} ..
3462
3463==============================================================================
346411. Listing syntax items *:syntax* *:sy* *:syn* *:syn-list*
3465
3466This commands lists all the syntax items: >
3467
3468 :sy[ntax] [list]
3469
3470To show the syntax items for one syntax group: >
3471
3472 :sy[ntax] list {group-name}
3473
3474To list the syntax groups in one cluster: *E392* >
3475
3476 :sy[ntax] list @{cluster-name}
3477
3478See above for other arguments for the ":syntax" command.
3479
3480Note that the ":syntax" command can be abbreviated to ":sy", although ":syn"
3481is mostly used, because it looks better.
3482
3483==============================================================================
348412. Highlight command *:highlight* *:hi* *E28* *E411* *E415*
3485
3486There are three types of highlight groups:
3487- The ones used for specific languages. For these the name starts with the
3488 name of the language. Many of these don't have any attributes, but are
3489 linked to a group of the second type.
3490- The ones used for all syntax languages.
3491- The ones used for the 'highlight' option.
3492 *hitest.vim*
3493You can see all the groups currently active with this command: >
3494 :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/hitest.vim
3495This will open a new window containing all highlight group names, displayed
3496in their own color.
3497
3498 *:colo* *:colorscheme* *E185*
3499:colo[rscheme] {name} Load color scheme {name}. This searches 'runtimepath'
3500 for the file "colors/{name}.vim. The first one that
3501 is found is loaded.
3502 To see the name of the currently active color scheme
3503 (if there is one): >
3504 :echo g:colors_name
3505< Doesn't work recursively, thus you can't use
3506 ":colorscheme" in a color scheme script.
Bram Moolenaarcfbc5ee2004-07-02 15:38:35 +00003507 After the color scheme has been loaded the
3508 |ColorScheme| autocommand event is triggered.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003509
3510:hi[ghlight] List all the current highlight groups that have
3511 attributes set.
3512
3513:hi[ghlight] {group-name}
3514 List one highlight group.
3515
3516:hi[ghlight] clear Reset all highlighting to the defaults. Removes all
3517 highlighting for groups added by the user!
3518 Uses the current value of 'background' to decide which
3519 default colors to use.
3520
3521:hi[ghlight] clear {group-name}
3522:hi[ghlight] {group-name} NONE
3523 Disable the highlighting for one highlight group. It
3524 is _not_ set back to the default colors.
3525
3526:hi[ghlight] [default] {group-name} {key}={arg} ..
3527 Add a highlight group, or change the highlighting for
3528 an existing group.
3529 See |highlight-args| for the {key}={arg} arguments.
3530 See |:highlight-default| for the optional [default]
3531 argument.
3532
3533Normally a highlight group is added once when starting up. This sets the
3534default values for the highlighting. After that, you can use additional
3535highlight commands to change the arguments that you want to set to non-default
3536values. The value "NONE" can be used to switch the value off or go back to
3537the default value.
3538
3539A simple way to change colors is with the |:colorscheme| command. This loads
3540a file with ":highlight" commands such as this: >
3541
3542 :hi Comment gui=bold
3543
3544Note that all settings that are not included remain the same, only the
3545specified field is used, and settings are merged with previous ones. So, the
3546result is like this single command has been used: >
3547 :hi Comment term=bold ctermfg=Cyan guifg=#80a0ff gui=bold
3548<
3549 *highlight-args* *E416* *E417* *E423*
3550There are three types of terminals for highlighting:
3551term a normal terminal (vt100, xterm)
3552cterm a color terminal (MS-DOS console, color-xterm, these have the "Co"
3553 termcap entry)
3554gui the GUI
3555
3556For each type the highlighting can be given. This makes it possible to use
3557the same syntax file on all terminals, and use the optimal highlighting.
3558
35591. highlight arguments for normal terminals
3560
3561term={attr-list} *attr-list* *highlight-term* *E418*
3562 attr-list is a comma separated list (without spaces) of the
3563 following items (in any order):
3564 bold
3565 underline
3566 reverse
3567 inverse same as reverse
3568 italic
3569 standout
3570 NONE no attributes used (used to reset it)
3571
3572 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They
3573 have the same effect.
3574
3575start={term-list} *highlight-start* *E422*
3576stop={term-list} *term-list* *highlight-stop*
3577 These lists of terminal codes can be used to get
3578 non-standard attributes on a terminal.
3579
3580 The escape sequence specified with the "start" argument
3581 is written before the characters in the highlighted
3582 area. It can be anything that you want to send to the
3583 terminal to highlight this area. The escape sequence
3584 specified with the "stop" argument is written after the
3585 highlighted area. This should undo the "start" argument.
3586 Otherwise the screen will look messed up.
3587
3588 The {term-list} can have two forms:
3589
3590 1. A string with escape sequences.
3591 This is any string of characters, except that it can't start with
3592 "t_" and blanks are not allowed. The <> notation is recognized
3593 here, so you can use things like "<Esc>" and "<Space>". Example:
3594 start=<Esc>[27h;<Esc>[<Space>r;
3595
3596 2. A list of terminal codes.
3597 Each terminal code has the form "t_xx", where "xx" is the name of
3598 the termcap entry. The codes have to be separated with commas.
3599 White space is not allowed. Example:
3600 start=t_C1,t_BL
3601 The terminal codes must exist for this to work.
3602
3603
36042. highlight arguments for color terminals
3605
3606cterm={attr-list} *highlight-cterm*
3607 See above for the description of {attr-list} |attr-list|.
3608 The "cterm" argument is likely to be different from "term", when
3609 colors are used. For example, in a normal terminal comments could
3610 be underlined, in a color terminal they can be made Blue.
3611 Note: Many terminals (e.g., DOS console) can't mix these attributes
3612 with coloring. Use only one of "cterm=" OR "ctermfg=" OR "ctermbg=".
3613
3614ctermfg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermfg* *E421*
3615ctermbg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermbg*
3616 The {color-nr} argument is a color number. Its range is zero to
3617 (not including) the number given by the termcap entry "Co".
3618 The actual color with this number depends on the type of terminal
3619 and its settings. Sometimes the color also depends on the settings of
3620 "cterm". For example, on some systems "cterm=bold ctermfg=3" gives
3621 another color, on others you just get color 3.
3622
3623 For an xterm this depends on your resources, and is a bit
3624 unpredictable. See your xterm documentation for the defaults. The
3625 colors for a color-xterm can be changed from the .Xdefaults file.
3626 Unfortunately this means that it's not possible to get the same colors
3627 for each user. See |xterm-color| for info about color xterms.
3628
3629 The MSDOS standard colors are fixed (in a console window), so these
3630 have been used for the names. But the meaning of color names in X11
3631 are fixed, so these color settings have been used, to make the
3632 highlighting settings portable (complicated, isn't it?). The
3633 following names are recognized, with the color number used:
3634
3635 *cterm-colors*
3636 NR-16 NR-8 COLOR NAME ~
3637 0 0 Black
3638 1 4 DarkBlue
3639 2 2 DarkGreen
3640 3 6 DarkCyan
3641 4 1 DarkRed
3642 5 5 DarkMagenta
3643 6 3 Brown, DarkYellow
3644 7 7 LightGray, LightGrey, Gray, Grey
3645 8 0* DarkGray, DarkGrey
3646 9 4* Blue, LightBlue
3647 10 2* Green, LightGreen
3648 11 6* Cyan, LightCyan
3649 12 1* Red, LightRed
3650 13 5* Magenta, LightMagenta
3651 14 3* Yellow, LightYellow
3652 15 7* White
3653
3654 The number under "NR-16" is used for 16-color terminals ('t_Co'
3655 greater than or equal to 16). The number under "NR-8" is used for
3656 8-color terminals ('t_Co' less than 16). The '*' indicates that the
3657 bold attribute is set for ctermfg. In many 8-color terminals (e.g.,
3658 "linux"), this causes the bright colors to appear. This doesn't work
3659 for background colors! Without the '*' the bold attribute is removed.
3660 If you want to set the bold attribute in a different way, put a
3661 "cterm=" argument AFTER the "ctermfg=" or "ctermbg=" argument. Or use
3662 a number instead of a color name.
3663
3664 The case of the color names is ignored.
3665 Note that for 16 color ansi style terminals (including xterms), the
3666 numbers in the NR-8 column is used. Here '*' means 'add 8' so that Blue
3667 is 12, DarkGray is 8 etc.
3668
3669 Note that for some color terminals these names may result in the wrong
3670 colors!
3671
3672 *:hi-normal-cterm*
3673 When setting the "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" colors for the Normal group,
3674 these will become the colors used for the non-highlighted text.
3675 Example: >
3676 :highlight Normal ctermfg=grey ctermbg=darkblue
3677< When setting the "ctermbg" color for the Normal group, the
3678 'background' option will be adjusted automatically. This causes the
3679 highlight groups that depend on 'background' to change! This means
3680 you should set the colors for Normal first, before setting other
3681 colors.
3682 When a colorscheme is being used, changing 'background' causes it to
3683 be reloaded, which may reset all colors (including Normal). First
3684 delete the "colors_name" variable when you don't want this.
3685
3686 When you have set "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" for the Normal group, Vim
3687 needs to reset the color when exiting. This is done with the "op"
3688 termcap entry |t_op|. If this doesn't work correctly, try setting the
3689 't_op' option in your .vimrc.
3690 *E419* *E420*
3691 When Vim knows the normal foreground and background colors, "fg" and
3692 "bg" can be used as color names. This only works after setting the
3693 colors for the Normal group and for the MS-DOS console. Example, for
3694 reverse video: >
3695 :highlight Visual ctermfg=bg ctermbg=fg
3696< Note that the colors are used that are valid at the moment this
3697 command are given. If the Normal group colors are changed later, the
3698 "fg" and "bg" colors will not be adjusted.
3699
3700
37013. highlight arguments for the GUI
3702
3703gui={attr-list} *highlight-gui*
3704 These give the attributes to use in the GUI mode.
3705 See |attr-list| for a description.
3706 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They
3707 have the same effect.
3708 Note that the attributes are ignored for the "Normal" group.
3709
3710font={font-name} *highlight-font*
3711 font-name is the name of a font, as it is used on the system Vim
3712 runs on. For X11 this is a complicated name, for example: >
3713 font=-misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-1
3714<
3715 The font-name "NONE" can be used to revert to the default font.
3716 When setting the font for the "Normal" group, this becomes the default
3717 font (until the 'guifont' option is changed; the last one set is
3718 used).
3719 The following only works with Motif and Athena, not with other GUIs:
3720 When setting the font for the "Menu" group, the menus will be changed.
3721 When setting the font for the "Tooltip" group, the tooltips will be
3722 changed.
3723 All fonts used, except for Menu and Tooltip, should be of the same
3724 character size as the default font! Otherwise redrawing problems will
3725 occur.
3726
3727guifg={color-name} *highlight-guifg*
3728guibg={color-name} *highlight-guibg*
3729 These give the foreground (guifg) and background (guibg) color to
3730 use in the GUI. There are a few special names:
3731 NONE no color (transparent)
3732 bg use normal background color
3733 background use normal background color
3734 fg use normal foreground color
3735 foreground use normal foreground color
3736 To use a color name with an embedded space or other special character,
3737 put it in single quotes. The single quote cannot be used then.
3738 Example: >
3739 :hi comment guifg='salmon pink'
3740<
3741 *gui-colors*
3742 Suggested color names (these are available on most systems):
3743 Red LightRed DarkRed
3744 Green LightGreen DarkGreen SeaGreen
3745 Blue LightBlue DarkBlue SlateBlue
3746 Cyan LightCyan DarkCyan
3747 Magenta LightMagenta DarkMagenta
3748 Yellow LightYellow Brown DarkYellow
3749 Gray LightGray DarkGray
3750 Black White
3751 Orange Purple Violet
3752
3753 In the Win32 GUI version, additional system colors are available. See
3754 |win32-colors|.
3755
3756 You can also specify a color by its Red, Green and Blue values.
3757 The format is "#rrggbb", where
3758 "rr" is the Red value
3759 "bb" is the Blue value
3760 "gg" is the Green value
3761 All values are hexadecimal, range from "00" to "ff". Examples: >
3762 :highlight Comment guifg=#11f0c3 guibg=#ff00ff
3763<
3764 *highlight-groups* *highlight-default*
3765These are the default highlighting groups. These groups are used by the
3766'highlight' option default. Note that the highlighting depends on the value
3767of 'background'. You can see the current settings with the ":highlight"
3768command.
3769 *hl-Cursor*
3770Cursor the character under the cursor
3771 *hl-CursorIM*
3772CursorIM like Cursor, but used when in IME mode |CursorIM|
3773 *hl-Directory*
3774Directory directory names (and other special names in listings)
3775 *hl-DiffAdd*
3776DiffAdd diff mode: Added line |diff.txt|
3777 *hl-DiffChange*
3778DiffChange diff mode: Changed line |diff.txt|
3779 *hl-DiffDelete*
3780DiffDelete diff mode: Deleted line |diff.txt|
3781 *hl-DiffText*
3782DiffText diff mode: Changed text within a changed line |diff.txt|
3783 *hl-ErrorMsg*
3784ErrorMsg error messages on the command line
3785 *hl-VertSplit*
3786VertSplit the column separating vertically split windows
3787 *hl-Folded*
3788Folded line used for closed folds
3789 *hl-FoldColumn*
3790FoldColumn 'foldcolumn'
3791 *hl-SignColumn*
3792SignColumn column where |signs| are displayed
3793 *hl-IncSearch*
3794IncSearch 'incsearch' highlighting; also used for the text replaced with
3795 ":s///c"
3796 *hl-LineNr*
3797LineNr line number for ":number" and ":#" commands, and when 'number'
3798 option is set.
3799 *hl-ModeMsg*
3800ModeMsg 'showmode' message (e.g., "-- INSERT --")
3801 *hl-MoreMsg*
3802MoreMsg |more-prompt|
3803 *hl-NonText*
3804NonText '~' and '@' at the end of the window, characters from
3805 'showbreak' and other characters that do not really exist in
3806 the text (e.g., ">" displayed when a double-wide character
3807 doesn't fit at the end of the line).
3808 *hl-Normal*
3809Normal normal text
3810 *hl-Question*
3811Question |hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions
3812 *hl-Search*
3813Search Last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch').
3814 Also used for highlighting the current line in the quickfix
3815 window and similar items that need to stand out.
3816 *hl-SpecialKey*
3817SpecialKey Meta and special keys listed with ":map", also for text used
3818 to show unprintable characters in the text, 'listchars'.
3819 Generally: text that is displayed differently from what it
3820 really is.
3821 *hl-StatusLine*
3822StatusLine status line of current window
3823 *hl-StatusLineNC*
3824StatusLineNC status lines of not-current windows
3825 Note: if this is equal to "StatusLine" Vim will use "^^^" in
3826 the status line of the current window.
3827 *hl-Title*
3828Title titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc.
3829 *hl-Visual*
3830Visual Visual mode selection
3831 *hl-VisualNOS*
3832VisualNOS Visual mode selection when vim is "Not Owning the Selection".
3833 Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and |xterm-clipboard| supports this.
3834 *hl-WarningMsg*
3835WarningMsg warning messages
3836 *hl-WildMenu*
3837WildMenu current match in 'wildmenu' completion
3838
3839 *hl-User1* *hl-User1..9*
3840The 'statusline' syntax allows the use of 9 different highlights in the
3841statusline and ruler (via 'rulerformat'). The names are User1 to User9.
3842
3843For the GUI you can use these groups to set the colors for the menu,
3844scrollbars and tooltips. They don't have defaults. This doesn't work for the
3845Win32 GUI. Only three highlight arguments have any effect here: font, guibg,
3846and guifg.
3847
3848 *hl-Menu*
3849Menu Current font, background and foreground colors of the menus.
3850 Also used for the toolbar.
3851 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
3852
3853 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
3854 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
3855 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
3856 set.
3857
3858 *hl-Scrollbar*
3859Scrollbar Current background and foreground of the main window's
3860 scrollbars.
3861 Applicable highlight arguments: guibg, guifg.
3862
3863 *hl-Tooltip*
3864Tooltip Current font, background and foreground of the tooltips.
3865 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
3866
3867 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
3868 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
3869 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
3870 set.
3871
3872==============================================================================
387313. Linking groups *:hi-link* *:highlight-link* *E412* *E413*
3874
3875When you want to use the same highlighting for several syntax groups, you
3876can do this more easily by linking the groups into one common highlight
3877group, and give the color attributes only for that group.
3878
3879To set a link:
3880
3881 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} {to-group}
3882
3883To remove a link:
3884
3885 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} NONE
3886
3887Notes: *E414*
3888- If the {from-group} and/or {to-group} doesn't exist, it is created. You
3889 don't get an error message for a non-existing group.
3890- As soon as you use a ":highlight" command for a linked group, the link is
3891 removed.
3892- If there are already highlight settings for the {from-group}, the link is
3893 not made, unless the '!' is given. For a ":highlight link" command in a
3894 sourced file, you don't get an error message. This can be used to skip
3895 links for groups that already have settings.
3896
3897 *:hi-default* *:highlight-default*
3898The [default] argument is used for setting the default highlighting for a
3899group. If highlighting has already been specified for the group the command
3900will be ignored. Also when there is an existing link.
3901
3902Using [default] is especially useful to overrule the highlighting of a
3903specific syntax file. For example, the C syntax file contains: >
3904 :highlight default link cComment Comment
3905If you like Question highlighting for C comments, put this in your vimrc file: >
3906 :highlight link cComment Question
3907Without the "default" in the C syntax file, the highlighting would be
3908overruled when the syntax file is loaded.
3909
3910==============================================================================
391114. Cleaning up *:syn-clear* *E391*
3912
3913If you want to clear the syntax stuff for the current buffer, you can use this
3914command: >
3915 :syntax clear
3916
3917This command should be used when you want to switch off syntax highlighting,
3918or when you want to switch to using another syntax. It's normally not needed
3919in a syntax file itself, because syntax is cleared by the autocommands that
3920load the syntax file.
3921The command also deletes the "b:current_syntax" variable, since no syntax is
3922loaded after this command.
3923
3924If you want to disable syntax highlighting for all buffers, you need to remove
3925the autocommands that load the syntax files: >
3926 :syntax off
3927
3928What this command actually does, is executing the command >
3929 :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
3930See the "nosyntax.vim" file for details. Note that for this to work
3931$VIMRUNTIME must be valid. See |$VIMRUNTIME|.
3932
3933To clean up specific syntax groups for the current buffer: >
3934 :syntax clear {group-name} ..
3935This removes all patterns and keywords for {group-name}.
3936
3937To clean up specific syntax group lists for the current buffer: >
3938 :syntax clear @{grouplist-name} ..
3939This sets {grouplist-name}'s contents to an empty list.
3940
3941 *:syntax-reset* *:syn-reset*
3942If you have changed the colors and messed them up, use this command to get the
3943defaults back: >
3944
3945 :syntax reset
3946
3947This doesn't change the colors for the 'highlight' option.
3948
3949Note that the syntax colors that you set in your vimrc file will also be reset
3950back to their Vim default.
3951Note that if you are using a color scheme, the colors defined by the color
3952scheme for syntax highlighting will be lost.
3953
3954What this actually does is: >
3955
3956 let g:syntax_cmd = "reset"
3957 runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim
3958
3959Note that this uses the 'runtimepath' option.
3960
3961 *syncolor*
3962If you want to use different colors for syntax highlighting, you can add a Vim
3963script file to set these colors. Put this file in a directory in
3964'runtimepath' which comes after $VIMRUNTIME, so that your settings overrule
3965the default colors. This way these colors will be used after the ":syntax
3966reset" command.
3967
3968For Unix you can use the file ~/.vim/after/syntax/syncolor.vim. Example: >
3969
3970 if &background == "light"
3971 highlight comment ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
3972 else
3973 highlight comment ctermfg=green guifg=green
3974 endif
3975
3976Note that when a color scheme is used, there might be some confusion whether
3977your defined colors are to be used or the colors from the scheme. This
3978depends on the color scheme file. See |:colorscheme|.
3979
3980 *syntax_cmd*
3981The "syntax_cmd" variable is set to one of these values when the
3982syntax/syncolor.vim files are loaded:
3983 "on" ":syntax on" command. Highlight colors are overruled but
3984 links are kept
3985 "enable" ":syntax enable" command. Only define colors for groups that
3986 don't have highlighting yet. Use ":syntax default".
3987 "reset" ":syntax reset" command or loading a color scheme. Define all
3988 the colors.
3989 "skip" Don't define colors. Used to skip the default settings when a
3990 syncolor.vim file earlier in 'runtimepath' has already set
3991 them.
3992
3993==============================================================================
399415. Highlighting tags *tag-highlight*
3995
3996If you want to highlight all the tags in your file, you can use the following
3997mappings.
3998
3999 <F11> -- Generate tags.vim file, and highlight tags.
4000 <F12> -- Just highlight tags based on existing tags.vim file.
4001>
4002 :map <F11> :sp tags<CR>:%s/^\([^ :]*:\)\=\([^ ]*\).*/syntax keyword Tag \2/<CR>:wq! tags.vim<CR>/^<CR><F12>
4003 :map <F12> :so tags.vim<CR>
4004
4005WARNING: The longer the tags file, the slower this will be, and the more
4006memory Vim will consume.
4007
4008Only highlighting typedefs, unions and structs can be done too. For this you
4009must use Exuberant ctags (found at http://ctags.sf.net).
4010
4011Put these lines in your Makefile:
4012
4013# Make a highlight file for types. Requires Exuberant ctags and awk
4014types: types.vim
4015types.vim: *.[ch]
4016 ctags -i=gstuS -o- *.[ch] |\
4017 awk 'BEGIN{printf("syntax keyword Type\t")}\
4018 {printf("%s ", $$1)}END{print ""}' > $@
4019
4020And put these lines in your .vimrc: >
4021
4022 " load the types.vim highlighting file, if it exists
4023 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] let fname = expand('<afile>:p:h') . '/types.vim'
4024 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] if filereadable(fname)
4025 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] exe 'so ' . fname
4026 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] endif
4027
4028==============================================================================
402916. Color xterms *xterm-color* *color-xterm*
4030
4031Most color xterms have only eight colors. If you don't get colors with the
4032default setup, it should work with these lines in your .vimrc: >
4033 :if &term =~ "xterm"
4034 : if has("terminfo")
4035 : set t_Co=8
4036 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%p1%dm
4037 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%p1%dm
4038 : else
4039 : set t_Co=8
4040 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4041 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4042 : endif
4043 :endif
4044< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4045
4046You might want to change the first "if" to match the name of your terminal,
4047e.g. "dtterm" instead of "xterm".
4048
4049Note: Do these settings BEFORE doing ":syntax on". Otherwise the colors may
4050be wrong.
4051 *xiterm* *rxvt*
4052The above settings have been mentioned to work for xiterm and rxvt too.
4053But for using 16 colors in an rxvt these should work with terminfo: >
4054 :set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t25;%p1%{40}%+%e5;%p1%{32}%+%;%dm
4055 :set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t22;%p1%{30}%+%e1;%p1%{22}%+%;%dm
4056<
4057 *colortest.vim*
4058To test your color setup, a file has been included in the Vim distribution.
4059To use it, execute these commands: >
4060 :e $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/colortest.vim
4061 :so %
4062
4063Some versions of xterm (and other terminals, like the linux console) can
4064output lighter foreground colors, even though the number of colors is defined
4065at 8. Therefore Vim sets the "cterm=bold" attribute for light foreground
4066colors, when 't_Co' is 8.
4067
4068 *xfree-xterm*
4069To get 16 colors or more, get the newest xterm version (which should be
4070included with Xfree86 3.3 and later). You can also find the latest version
4071at: >
4072 http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html
4073Here is a good way to configure it. This uses 88 colors and enables the
4074termcap-query feature, which allows Vim to ask the xterm how many colors it
4075supports. >
4076 ./configure --disable-bold-color --enable-88-color --enable-tcap-query
4077If you only get 8 colors, check the xterm compilation settings.
4078(Also see |UTF8-xterm| for using this xterm with UTF-8 character encoding).
4079
4080This xterm should work with these lines in your .vimrc (for 16 colors): >
4081 :if has("terminfo")
4082 : set t_Co=16
4083 : set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{92}%+%;%dm
4084 : set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{82}%+%;%dm
4085 :else
4086 : set t_Co=16
4087 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4088 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4089 :endif
4090< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4091
4092Without |+terminfo|, Vim will recognize these settings, and automatically
4093translate cterm colors of 8 and above to "<Esc>[9%dm" and "<Esc>[10%dm".
4094Colors above 16 are also translated automatically.
4095
4096For 256 colors this has been reported to work: >
4097
4098 :set t_AB=<Esc>[48;5;%dm
4099 :set t_AF=<Esc>[38;5;%dm
4100
4101Or just set the TERM environment variable to "xterm-color" or "xterm-16color"
4102and try if that works.
4103
4104You probably want to use these X resources (in your ~/.Xdefaults file):
4105 XTerm*color0: #000000
4106 XTerm*color1: #c00000
4107 XTerm*color2: #008000
4108 XTerm*color3: #808000
4109 XTerm*color4: #0000c0
4110 XTerm*color5: #c000c0
4111 XTerm*color6: #008080
4112 XTerm*color7: #c0c0c0
4113 XTerm*color8: #808080
4114 XTerm*color9: #ff6060
4115 XTerm*color10: #00ff00
4116 XTerm*color11: #ffff00
4117 XTerm*color12: #8080ff
4118 XTerm*color13: #ff40ff
4119 XTerm*color14: #00ffff
4120 XTerm*color15: #ffffff
4121 Xterm*cursorColor: Black
4122
4123[Note: The cursorColor is required to work around a bug, which changes the
4124cursor color to the color of the last drawn text. This has been fixed by a
4125newer version of xterm, but not everybody is it using yet.]
4126
4127To get these right away, reload the .Xdefaults file to the X Option database
4128Manager (you only need to do this when you just changed the .Xdefaults file): >
4129 xrdb -merge ~/.Xdefaults
4130<
4131 *xterm-blink* *xterm-blinking-cursor*
4132To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see tools/blink.c. Or use Thomas
4133Dickey's xterm above patchlevel 107 (see above for where to get it), with
4134these resources:
4135 XTerm*cursorBlink: on
4136 XTerm*cursorOnTime: 400
4137 XTerm*cursorOffTime: 250
4138 XTerm*cursorColor: White
4139
4140 *hpterm-color*
4141These settings work (more or less) for a hpterm, which only supports 8
4142foreground colors: >
4143 :if has("terminfo")
4144 : set t_Co=8
4145 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%p1%dS
4146 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4147 :else
4148 : set t_Co=8
4149 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%dS
4150 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4151 :endif
4152< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4153
4154 *Eterm* *enlightened-terminal*
4155These settings have been reported to work for the Enlightened terminal
4156emulator, or Eterm. They might work for all xterm-like terminals that use the
4157bold attribute to get bright colors. Add an ":if" like above when needed. >
4158 :set t_Co=16
4159 :set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t3%p1%d%e%p1%{22}%+%d;1%;m
4160 :set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t4%p1%d%e%p1%{32}%+%d;1%;m
4161<
4162 *TTpro-telnet*
4163These settings should work for TTpro telnet. Tera Term Pro is a freeware /
4164open-source program for MS-Windows. >
4165 set t_Co=16
4166 set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{32}%+5;%;%dm
4167 set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{22}%+1;%;%dm
4168Also make sure TTpro's Setup / Window / Full Color is enabled, and make sure
4169that Setup / Font / Enable Bold is NOT enabled.
4170(info provided by John Love-Jensen <eljay@Adobe.COM>)
4171
4172 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl: