blob: 0e147b57abe3fddb2906736d6825fb0195966e5f [file] [log] [blame]
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00001*syntax.txt* For Vim version 7.0aa. Last change: 2004 Oct 12
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
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +0000396Closed folds are put in the HTML as they are displayed. If you don't want
397this, use the "zR" command before invoking 2html.
398
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000399By default, HTML optimized for old browsers is generated. If you prefer using
400cascading style sheets (CSS1) for the attributes (resulting in considerably
401shorter and valid HTML 4 file), use: >
402 :let html_use_css = 1
403
404By default "<pre>" and "</pre>" is used around the text. This makes it show
405up as you see it in Vim, but without wrapping. If you prefer wrapping, at the
406risk of making some things look a bit different, use: >
407 :let html_no_pre = 1
408This will use <br> at the end of each line and use "&nbsp;" for repeated
409spaces.
410
411The current value of 'encoding' is used to specify the charset of the HTML
412file. This only works for those values of 'encoding' that have an equivalent
413HTML charset name. To overrule this set g:html_use_encoding to the name of
414the charset to be used: >
415 :let html_use_encoding = "foobar"
416To omit the line that specifies the charset, set g:html_use_encoding to an
417empty string: >
418 :let html_use_encoding = ""
419To go back to the automatic mechanism, delete the g:html_use_encoding
420variable: >
421 :unlet html_use_encoding
422<
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000423Closed folds are kept as they are displayed. If you don't want closed folds
424in the HTML use the |zR| command before converting.
425
426For diff mode a sequence of more than 3 filler lines is displayed as three
427lines with the middle line mentioning the total number of inserted lines. If
428you prefer to see all the inserted lines use: >
429 :let html_whole_filler = 1
430And to go back to displaying up to three lines again: >
431 :unlet html_whole_filler
432
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000433 *convert-to-XML* *convert-to-XHTML*
434An alternative is to have the script generate XHTML (XML compliant HTML). To
435do this set the "use_xhtml" variable: >
436 :let use_xhtml = 1
437To disable it again delete the variable: >
438 :unlet use_xhtml
439The generated XHTML file can be used in DocBook XML documents. See:
440 http://people.mech.kuleuven.ac.be/~pissaris/howto/src2db.html
441
442Remarks:
443- This only works in a version with GUI support. If the GUI is not actually
444 running (possible for X11) it still works, but not very well (the colors
445 may be wrong).
446- Older browsers will not show the background colors.
447- From most browsers you can also print the file (in color)!
448
449Here is an example how to run the script over all .c and .h files from a
450Unix shell: >
451 for f in *.[ch]; do gvim -f +"syn on" +"run! syntax/2html.vim" +"wq" +"q" $f; done
452<
453
454ABEL *abel.vim* *abel-syntax*
455
456ABEL highlighting provides some user-defined options. To enable them, assign
457any value to the respective variable. Example: >
458 :let abel_obsolete_ok=1
459To disable them use ":unlet". Example: >
460 :unlet abel_obsolete_ok
461
462Variable Highlight ~
463abel_obsolete_ok obsolete keywords are statements, not errors
464abel_cpp_comments_illegal do not interpret '//' as inline comment leader
465
466
467ADA *ada.vim* *ada-syntax*
468
469This mode is designed for the 1995 edition of Ada ("Ada95"), which
470includes support for objected-programming, protected types, and so on.
471It handles code written for the original Ada language
472("Ada83" or "Ada87") as well, though Ada83 code which uses Ada95-only
473keywords will be wrongly colored (such code should be fixed anyway).
474For more information about Ada, see http://www.adapower.com.
475
476The Ada mode handles a number of situations cleanly.
477For example, it knows that the "-" in "-5" is a number, but the same
478character in "A-5" is an operator. Normally, a "with" or "use" clause
479referencing another compilation unit is colored the same way as C's
480"#include" is colored. If you have "Conditional" or "Repeat"
481groups colored differently, then "end if" and "end loop" will be
482colored as part of those respective groups.
483You can set these to different colors using vim's "highlight" command
484(e.g., to change how loops are displayed, enter the command
485":hi Repeat" followed by the color specification; on simple terminals
486the color specification ctermfg=White often shows well).
487
488There are several options you can select in this Ada mode.
489To enable them, assign a value to the option. For example, to turn one on:
490 let ada_standard_types = 1
491To disable them use ":unlet". Example:
492 unlet ada_standard_types = 1
493You can just use ":" and type these into the command line to set these
494temporarily before loading an Ada file. You can make these option settings
495permanent by adding the "let" command(s), without a colon,
496to your "~/.vimrc" file.
497
498Here are the Ada mode options:
499
500Variable Action ~
501ada_standard_types Highlight types in package Standard (e.g., "Float")
502ada_space_errors Highlight extraneous errors in spaces...
503ada_no_trail_space_error but ignore trailing spaces at the end of a line
504ada_no_tab_space_error but ignore tabs after spaces
505ada_withuse_ordinary Show "with" and "use" as ordinary keywords
506 (when used to reference other compilation units
507 they're normally highlighted specially).
508ada_begin_preproc Show all begin-like keywords using the coloring
509 of C preprocessor commands.
510
511Even on a slow (90Mhz) PC this mode works quickly, but if you find
512the performance unacceptable, turn on ada_withuse_ordinary.
513
514
515ANT *ant.vim* *ant-syntax*
516
517The ant syntax file provides syntax highlighting for javascript and python
518by default. Syntax highlighting for other script languages can be installed
519by the function AntSyntaxScript(), which takes the tag name as first argument
520and the script syntax file name as second argument. Example: >
521
522 :call AntSyntaxScript('perl', 'perl.vim')
523
524will install syntax perl highlighting for the following ant code >
525
526 <script language = 'perl'><![CDATA[
527 # everything inside is highlighted as perl
528 ]]></script>
529
530See |mysyntaxfile-add| for installing script languages permanently.
531
532
533APACHE *apache.vim* *apache-syntax*
534
535The apache syntax file provides syntax highlighting depending on Apache HTTP
536server version, by default for 1.3.x. Set "apache_version" to Apache version
537(as a string) to get highlighting for another version. Example: >
538
539 :let apache_version = "2.0"
540<
541
542 *asm.vim* *asmh8300.vim* *nasm.vim* *masm.vim* *asm68k*
543ASSEMBLY *asm-syntax* *asmh8300-syntax* *nasm-syntax* *masm-syntax*
544 *asm68k-syntax* *fasm.vim*
545
546Files matching "*.i" could be Progress or Assembly. If the automatic detection
547doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
548startup vimrc: >
549 :let filetype_i = "asm"
550Replace "asm" with the type of assembly you use.
551
552There are many types of assembly languages that all use the same file name
553extensions. Therefore you will have to select the type yourself, or add a
554line in the assembly file that Vim will recognize. Currently these syntax
555files are included:
556 asm GNU assembly (the default)
557 asm68k Motorola 680x0 assembly
558 asmh8300 Hitachi H-8300 version of GNU assembly
559 ia64 Intel Itanium 64
560 fasm Flat assembly (http://flatassembler.net)
561 masm Microsoft assembly (probably works for any 80x86)
562 nasm Netwide assembly
563 tasm Turbo Assembly (with opcodes 80x86 up to Pentium, and
564 MMX)
565 pic PIC assembly (currently for PIC16F84)
566
567The most flexible is to add a line in your assembly file containing: >
568 :asmsyntax=nasm
569Replace "nasm" with the name of the real assembly syntax. This line must be
570one of the first five lines in the file.
571
572The syntax type can always be overruled for a specific buffer by setting the
573b:asmsyntax variable: >
574 :let b:asmsyntax=nasm
575
576If b:asmsyntax is not set, either automatically or by hand, then the value of
577the global variable asmsyntax is used. This can be seen as a default assembly
578language: >
579 :let asmsyntax=nasm
580
581As a last resort, if nothing is defined, the "asm" syntax is used.
582
583
584Netwide assembler (nasm.vim) optional highlighting ~
585
586To enable a feature: >
587 :let {variable}=1|set syntax=nasm
588To disable a feature: >
589 :unlet {variable} |set syntax=nasm
590
591Variable Highlight ~
592nasm_loose_syntax unofficial parser allowed syntax not as Error
593 (parser dependent; not recommended)
594nasm_ctx_outside_macro contexts outside macro not as Error
595nasm_no_warn potentially risky syntax not as ToDo
596
597
598ASPPERL and ASPVBS *aspperl-syntax* *aspvbs-syntax*
599
600*.asp and *.asa files could be either Perl or Visual Basic script. Since it's
601hard to detect this you can set two global variables to tell Vim what you are
602using. For Perl script use: >
603 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspperl"
604 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspperl"
605For Visual Basic use: >
606 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspvbs"
607 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspvbs"
608
609
610BASIC *basic.vim* *vb.vim* *basic-syntax* *vb-syntax*
611
612Both Visual Basic and "normal" basic use the extension ".bas". To detect
613which one should be used, Vim checks for the string "VB_Name" in the first
614five lines of the file. If it is not found, filetype will be "basic",
615otherwise "vb". Files with the ".frm" extension will always be seen as Visual
616Basic.
617
618
619C *c.vim* *c-syntax*
620
621A few things in C highlighting are optional. To enable them assign any value
622to the respective variable. Example: >
623 :let c_comment_strings=1
624To disable them use ":unlet". Example: >
625 :unlet c_comment_strings
626
627Variable Highlight ~
628c_gnu GNU gcc specific items
629c_comment_strings strings and numbers inside a comment
630c_space_errors trailing white space and spaces before a <Tab>
631c_no_trail_space_error ... but no trailing spaces
632c_no_tab_space_error ... but no spaces before a <Tab>
633c_no_bracket_error don't highlight {}; inside [] as errors
634c_no_ansi don't do standard ANSI types and constants
635c_ansi_typedefs ... but do standard ANSI types
636c_ansi_constants ... but do standard ANSI constants
637c_no_utf don't highlight \u and \U in strings
638c_syntax_for_h use C syntax for *.h files, instead of C++
639c_no_if0 don't highlight "#if 0" blocks as comments
640c_no_cformat don't highlight %-formats in strings
641c_no_c99 don't highlight C99 standard items
642
643If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
644when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "c_minlines" internal variable
645to a larger number: >
646 :let c_minlines = 100
647This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
648displayed line. The default value is 50 (15 when c_no_if0 is set). The
649disadvantage of using a larger number is that redrawing can become slow.
650
651When using the "#if 0" / "#endif" comment highlighting, notice that this only
652works when the "#if 0" is within "c_minlines" from the top of the window. If
653you have a long "#if 0" construct it will not be highlighted correctly.
654
655To match extra items in comments, use the cCommentGroup cluster.
656Example: >
657 :au Syntax c call MyCadd()
658 :function MyCadd()
659 : syn keyword cMyItem contained Ni
660 : syn cluster cCommentGroup add=cMyItem
661 : hi link cMyItem Title
662 :endfun
663
664ANSI constants will be highlighted with the "cConstant" group. This includes
665"NULL", "SIG_IGN" and others. But not "TRUE", for example, because this is
666not in the ANSI standard. If you find this confusing, remove the cConstant
667highlighting: >
668 :hi link cConstant NONE
669
670If you see '{' and '}' highlighted as an error where they are OK, reset the
671highlighting for cErrInParen and cErrInBracket.
672
673If you want to use folding in your C files, you can add these lines in a file
674an the "after" directory in 'runtimepath'. For Unix this would be
675~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim. >
676 syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
677 syn sync fromstart
678 set foldmethod=syntax
679
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +0000680CH *ch.vim* *ch-syntax*
681
682C/C++ interpreter. Ch has similar syntax highlighting to C and builds upon
683the C syntax file. See |c.vim| for all the settings that are available for C.
684
685By setting a variable you can tell Vim to use Ch syntax for *.h files, instead
686of C or C++: >
687 :let ch_syntax_for_h = 1
688
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000689
690CHILL *chill.vim* *chill-syntax*
691
692Chill syntax highlighting is similar to C. See |c.vim| for all the settings
693that are available. Additionally there is:
694
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000695chill_space_errors like c_space_errors
696chill_comment_string like c_comment_strings
697chill_minlines like c_minlines
698
699
700CHANGELOG *changelog.vim* *changelog-syntax*
701
702ChangeLog supports highlighting spaces at the start of a line.
703If you do not like this, add following line to your .vimrc: >
704 let g:changelog_spacing_errors = 0
705This works the next time you edit a changelog file. You can also use
706"b:changelog_spacing_errors" to set this per buffer (before loading the syntax
707file).
708
709You can change the highlighting used, e.g., to flag the spaces as an error: >
710 :hi link ChangelogError Error
711Or to avoid the highlighting: >
712 :hi link ChangelogError NONE
713This works immediately.
714
715
716COBOL *cobol.vim* *cobol-syntax*
717
718COBOL highlighting has different needs for legacy code than it does for fresh
719development. This is due to differences in what is being done (maintenance
720versus development) and other factors. To enable legacy code highlighting,
721add this line to your .vimrc: >
722 :let cobol_legacy_code = 1
723To disable it again, use this: >
724 :unlet cobol_legacy_code
725
726
727COLD FUSION *coldfusion.vim* *coldfusion-syntax*
728
729The ColdFusion has its own version of HTML comments. To turn on ColdFusion
730comment highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
731
732 :let html_wrong_comments = 1
733
734The ColdFusion syntax file is based on the HTML syntax file.
735
736
737CSH *csh.vim* *csh-syntax*
738
739This covers the shell named "csh". Note that on some systems tcsh is actually
740used.
741
742Detecting whether a file is csh or tcsh is notoriously hard. Some systems
743symlink /bin/csh to /bin/tcsh, making it almost impossible to distinguish
744between csh and tcsh. In case VIM guesses wrong you can set the
745"filetype_csh" variable. For using csh: >
746
747 :let filetype_csh = "csh"
748
749For using tcsh: >
750
751 :let filetype_csh = "tcsh"
752
753Any script with a tcsh extension or a standard tcsh filename (.tcshrc,
754tcsh.tcshrc, tcsh.login) will have filetype tcsh. All other tcsh/csh scripts
755will be classified as tcsh, UNLESS the "filetype_csh" variable exists. If the
756"filetype_csh" variable exists, the filetype will be set to the value of the
757variable.
758
759
760CYNLIB *cynlib.vim* *cynlib-syntax*
761
762Cynlib files are C++ files that use the Cynlib class library to enable
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +0000763hardware modelling and simulation using C++. Typically Cynlib files have a .cc
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000764or a .cpp extension, which makes it very difficult to distinguish them from a
765normal C++ file. Thus, to enable Cynlib highlighting for .cc files, add this
766line to your .vimrc file: >
767
768 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cc=1
769
770Similarly for cpp files (this extension is only usually used in Windows) >
771
772 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp=1
773
774To disable these again, use this: >
775
776 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cc
777 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp
778<
779
780CWEB *cweb.vim* *cweb-syntax*
781
782Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection
783doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
784startup vimrc: >
785 :let filetype_w = "cweb"
786
787
788DESKTOP *desktop.vim* *desktop-syntax*
789
790Primary goal of this syntax file is to highlight .desktop and .directory files
791according to freedesktop.org standard: http://pdx.freedesktop.org/Standards/
792But actually almost none implements this standard fully. Thus it will
793highlight all Unix ini files. But you can force strict highlighting according
794to standard by placing this in your vimrc file: >
795 :let enforce_freedesktop_standard = 1
796
797
798DIRCOLORS *dircolors.vim* *dircolors-syntax*
799
800The dircolors utility highlighting definition has one option. It exists to
801provide compatibility with the Slackware GNU/Linux distributions version of
802the command. It adds a few keywords that are generally ignored by most
803versions. On Slackware systems, however, the utility accepts the keywords and
804uses them for processing. To enable the Slackware keywords add the following
805line to your startup file: >
806 let dircolors_is_slackware = 1
807
808
809DOCBOOK *docbk.vim* *docbk-syntax* *docbook*
810DOCBOOK XML *docbkxml.vim* *docbkxml-syntax*
811DOCBOOK SGML *docbksgml.vim* *docbksgml-syntax*
812
813There are two types of DocBook files: SGML and XML. To specify what type you
814are using the "b:docbk_type" variable should be set. Vim does this for you
815automatically if it can recognize the type. When Vim can't guess it the type
816defaults to XML.
817You can set the type manually: >
818 :let docbk_type = "sgml"
819or: >
820 :let docbk_type = "xml"
821You need to do this before loading the syntax file, which is complicated.
822Simpler is setting the filetype to "docbkxml" or "docbksgml": >
823 :set filetype=docbksgml
824or: >
825 :set filetype=docbkxml
826
827
828DOSBATCH *dosbatch.vim* *dosbatch-syntax*
829
830There is one option with highlighting DOS batch files. This covers new
831extensions to the Command Interpreter introduced with Windows 2000 and
832is controlled by the variable dosbatch_cmdextversion. For Windows NT
833this should have the value 1, and for Windows 2000 it should be 2.
834Select the version you want with the following line: >
835
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +0000836 :let dosbatch_cmdextversion = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000837
838If this variable is not defined it defaults to a value of 2 to support
839Windows 2000.
840
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +0000841A second option covers whether *.btm files should be detected as type
842"dosbatch" (MS-DOS batch files) or type "btm" (4DOS batch files). The latter
843is used by default. You may select the former with the following line: >
844
845 :let g:dosbatch_syntax_for_btm = 1
846
847If this variable is undefined or zero, btm syntax is selected.
848
849
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000850
851DTD *dtd.vim* *dtd-syntax*
852
853The DTD syntax highlighting is case sensitive by default. To disable
854case-sensitive highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
855
856 :let dtd_ignore_case=1
857
858The DTD syntax file will highlight unknown tags as errors. If
859this is annoying, it can be turned off by setting: >
860
861 :let dtd_no_tag_errors=1
862
863before sourcing the dtd.vim syntax file.
864Parameter entity names are highlighted in the definition using the
865'Type' highlighting group and 'Comment' for punctuation and '%'.
866Parameter entity instances are highlighted using the 'Constant'
867highlighting group and the 'Type' highlighting group for the
868delimiters % and ;. This can be turned off by setting: >
869
870 :let dtd_no_param_entities=1
871
872The DTD syntax file is also included by xml.vim to highlight included dtd's.
873
874
875EIFFEL *eiffel.vim* *eiffel-syntax*
876
877While Eiffel is not case-sensitive, its style guidelines are, and the
878syntax highlighting file encourages their use. This also allows to
879highlight class names differently. If you want to disable case-sensitive
880highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
881
882 :let eiffel_ignore_case=1
883
884Case still matters for class names and TODO marks in comments.
885
886Conversely, for even stricter checks, add one of the following lines: >
887
888 :let eiffel_strict=1
889 :let eiffel_pedantic=1
890
891Setting eiffel_strict will only catch improper capitalization for the
892five predefined words "Current", "Void", "Result", "Precursor", and
893"NONE", to warn against their accidental use as feature or class names.
894
895Setting eiffel_pedantic will enforce adherence to the Eiffel style
896guidelines fairly rigorously (like arbitrary mixes of upper- and
897lowercase letters as well as outdated ways to capitalize keywords).
898
899If you want to use the lower-case version of "Current", "Void",
900"Result", and "Precursor", you can use >
901
902 :let eiffel_lower_case_predef=1
903
904instead of completely turning case-sensitive highlighting off.
905
906Support for ISE's proposed new creation syntax that is already
907experimentally handled by some compilers can be enabled by: >
908
909 :let eiffel_ise=1
910
911Finally, some vendors support hexadecimal constants. To handle them, add >
912
913 :let eiffel_hex_constants=1
914
915to your startup file.
916
917
918ERLANG *erlang.vim* *erlang-syntax*
919
920The erlang highlighting supports Erlang (ERicsson LANGuage).
921Erlang is case sensitive and default extension is ".erl".
922
923If you want to disable keywords highlighting, put in your .vimrc: >
924 :let erlang_keywords = 1
925If you want to disable built-in-functions highlighting, put in your
926.vimrc file: >
927 :let erlang_functions = 1
928If you want to disable special characters highlighting, put in
929your .vimrc: >
930 :let erlang_characters = 1
931
932
933FORM *form.vim* *form-syntax*
934
935The coloring scheme for syntax elements in the FORM file uses the default
936modes Conditional, Number, Statement, Comment, PreProc, Type, and String,
937following the language specifications in 'Symbolic Manipulation with FORM'' by
938J.A.M. Vermaseren, CAN, Netherlands, 1991.
939
940If you want include your own changes to the default colors, you have to
941redefine the following syntax groups:
942
943 - formConditional
944 - formNumber
945 - formStatement
946 - formHeaderStatement
947 - formComment
948 - formPreProc
949 - formDirective
950 - formType
951 - formString
952
953Note that the form.vim syntax file implements FORM preprocessor commands and
954directives per default in the same syntax group.
955
956A predefined enhanced color mode for FORM is available to distinguish between
957header statements and statements in the body of a FORM program. To activate
958this mode define the following variable in your vimrc file >
959
960 :let form_enhanced_color=1
961
962The enhanced mode also takes advantage of additional color features for a dark
963gvim display. Here, statements are colored LightYellow instead of Yellow, and
964conditionals are LightBlue for better distinction.
965
966
967FORTRAN *fortran.vim* *fortran-syntax*
968
969Default highlighting and dialect ~
970Highlighting appropriate for f95 (Fortran 95) is used by default. This choice
971should be appropriate for most users most of the time because Fortran 95 is a
972superset of Fortran 90 and almost a superset of Fortran 77.
973
974Fortran source code form ~
975Fortran 9x code can be in either fixed or free source form. Note that the
976syntax highlighting will not be correct if the form is incorrectly set.
977
978When you create a new fortran file, the syntax script assumes fixed source
979form. If you always use free source form, then >
980 :let fortran_free_source=1
981in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command. If you always use fixed source
982form, then >
983 :let fortran_fixed_source=1
984in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command.
985
986If the form of the source code depends upon the file extension, then it is
987most convenient to set fortran_free_source in a ftplugin file. For more
988information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
989fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in free source form and the
990rest in fixed source form, add the following code to your ftplugin file >
991 let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
992 if s:extfname ==? "f90"
993 let fortran_free_source=1
994 unlet! fortran_fixed_source
995 else
996 let fortran_fixed_source=1
997 unlet! fortran_free_source
998 endif
999Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
1000precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
1001
1002When you edit an existing fortran file, the syntax script will assume free
1003source form if the fortran_free_source variable has been set, and assumes
1004fixed source form if the fortran_fixed_source variable has been set. If
1005neither of these variables have been set, the syntax script attempts to
1006determine which source form has been used by examining the first five columns
1007of the first 25 lines of your file. If no signs of free source form are
1008detected, then the file is assumed to be in fixed source form. The algorithm
1009should work in the vast majority of cases. In some cases, such as a file that
1010begins with 25 or more full-line comments, the script may incorrectly decide
1011that the fortran code is in fixed form. If that happens, just add a
1012non-comment statement beginning anywhere in the first five columns of the
1013first twenty five lines, save (:w) and then reload (:e!) the file.
1014
1015Tabs in fortran files ~
1016Tabs are not recognized by the Fortran standards. Tabs are not a good idea in
1017fixed format fortran source code which requires fixed column boundaries.
1018Therefore, tabs are marked as errors. Nevertheless, some programmers like
1019using tabs. If your fortran files contain tabs, then you should set the
1020variable fortran_have_tabs in your .vimrc with a command such as >
1021 :let fortran_have_tabs=1
1022placed prior to the :syntax on command. Unfortunately, the use of tabs will
1023mean that the syntax file will not be able to detect incorrect margins.
1024
1025Syntax folding of fortran files ~
1026If you wish to use foldmethod=syntax, then you must first set the variable
1027fortran_fold with a command such as >
1028 :let fortran_fold=1
1029to instruct the syntax script to define fold regions for program units, that
1030is main programs starting with a program statement, subroutines, function
1031subprograms, block data subprograms, interface blocks, and modules. If you
1032also set the variable fortran_fold_conditionals with a command such as >
1033 :let fortran_fold_conditionals=1
1034then fold regions will also be defined for do loops, if blocks, and select
1035case constructs. If you also set the variable
1036fortran_fold_multilinecomments with a command such as >
1037 :let fortran_fold_multilinecomments=1
1038then fold regions will also be defined for three or more consecutive comment
1039lines. Note that defining fold regions can be slow for large files.
1040
1041If fortran_fold, and possibly fortran_fold_conditionals and/or
1042fortran_fold_multilinecomments, have been set, then vim will fold your file if
1043you set foldmethod=syntax. Comments or blank lines placed between two program
1044units are not folded because they are seen as not belonging to any program
1045unit.
1046
1047More precise fortran syntax ~
1048If you set the variable fortran_more_precise with a command such as >
1049 :let fortran_more_precise=1
1050then the syntax coloring will be more precise but slower. In particular,
1051statement labels used in do, goto and arithmetic if statements will be
1052recognized, as will construct names at the end of a do, if, select or forall
1053construct.
1054
1055Non-default fortran dialects ~
1056The syntax script supports five Fortran dialects: f95, f90, f77, the Lahey
1057subset elf90, and the Imagine1 subset F.
1058
1059If you use f77 with extensions, even common ones like do/enddo loops, do/while
1060loops and free source form that are supported by most f77 compilers including
1061g77 (GNU Fortran), then you will probably find the default highlighting
1062satisfactory. However, if you use strict f77 with no extensions, not even free
1063source form or the MIL STD 1753 extensions, then the advantages of setting the
1064dialect to f77 are that names such as SUM are recognized as user variable
1065names and not highlighted as f9x intrinsic functions, that obsolete constructs
1066such as ASSIGN statements are not highlighted as todo items, and that fixed
1067source form will be assumed.
1068
1069If you use elf90 or F, the advantage of setting the dialect appropriately is
1070that f90 features excluded from these dialects will be highlighted as todo
1071items and that free source form will be assumed as required for these
1072dialects.
1073
1074The dialect can be selected by setting the variable fortran_dialect. The
1075permissible values of fortran_dialect are case-sensitive and must be "f95",
1076"f90", "f77", "elf" or "F". Invalid values of fortran_dialect are ignored.
1077
1078If all your fortran files use the same dialect, set fortran_dialect in your
1079.vimrc prior to your syntax on statement. If the dialect depends upon the file
1080extension, then it is most convenient to set it in a ftplugin file. For more
1081information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
1082fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in the elf subset, your
1083ftplugin file should contain the code >
1084 let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
1085 if s:extfname ==? "f90"
1086 let fortran_dialect="elf"
1087 else
1088 unlet! fortran_dialect
1089 endif
1090Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
1091precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
1092
1093Finer control is necessary if the file extension does not uniquely identify
1094the dialect. You can override the default dialect, on a file-by-file basis, by
1095including a comment with the directive "fortran_dialect=xx" (where xx=f77 or
1096elf or F or f90 or f95) in one of the first three lines in your file. For
1097example, your older .f files may be written in extended f77 but your newer
1098ones may be F codes, and you would identify the latter by including in the
1099first three lines of those files a Fortran comment of the form >
1100 ! fortran_dialect=F
1101F overrides elf if both directives are present.
1102
1103Limitations ~
1104Parenthesis checking does not catch too few closing parentheses. Hollerith
1105strings are not recognized. Some keywords may be highlighted incorrectly
1106because Fortran90 has no reserved words.
1107
1108For further information related to fortran, see |fortran-indent| and
1109|fortran-plugin|.
1110
1111
1112FVWM CONFIGURATION FILES *fvwm.vim* *fvwm-syntax*
1113
1114In order for Vim to recognize Fvwm configuration files that do not match
1115the patterns *fvwmrc* or *fvwm2rc* , you must put additional patterns
1116appropriate to your system in your myfiletypes.vim file. For these
1117patterns, you must set the variable "b:fvwm_version" to the major version
1118number of Fvwm, and the 'filetype' option to fvwm.
1119
1120For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/X11/fvwm2/
1121as Fvwm2 configuration files, add the following: >
1122
1123 :au! BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/X11/fvwm2/* let b:fvwm_version = 2 |
1124 \ set filetype=fvwm
1125
1126If you'd like Vim to highlight all valid color names, tell it where to
1127find the color database (rgb.txt) on your system. Do this by setting
1128"rgb_file" to its location. Assuming your color database is located
1129in /usr/X11/lib/X11/, you should add the line >
1130
1131 :let rgb_file = "/usr/X11/lib/X11/rgb.txt"
1132
1133to your .vimrc file.
1134
1135
1136GSP *gsp.vim*
1137
1138The default coloring style for GSP pages is defined by |html.vim|, and
1139the coloring for java code (within java tags or inline between backticks)
1140is defined by |java.vim|. The following HTML groups defined in |html.vim|
1141are redefined to incorporate and highlight inline java code:
1142
1143 htmlString
1144 htmlValue
1145 htmlEndTag
1146 htmlTag
1147 htmlTagN
1148
1149Highlighting should look fine most of the places where you'd see inline
1150java code, but in some special cases it may not. To add another HTML
1151group where you will have inline java code where it does not highlight
1152correctly, just copy the line you want from |html.vim| and add gspJava
1153to the contains clause.
1154
1155The backticks for inline java are highlighted according to the htmlError
1156group to make them easier to see.
1157
1158
1159GROFF *groff.vim* *groff-syntax*
1160
1161The groff syntax file is a wrapper for |nroff.vim|, see the notes
1162under that heading for examples of use and configuration. The purpose
1163of this wrapper is to set up groff syntax extensions by setting the
1164filetype from a |modeline| or in a personal filetype definitions file
1165(see |filetype.txt|).
1166
1167
1168HASKELL *haskell.vim* *lhaskell.vim* *haskell-syntax*
1169
1170The Haskell syntax files support plain Haskell code as well as literate
1171Haskell code, the latter in both Bird style and TeX style. The Haskell
1172syntax highlighting will also highlight C preprocessor directives.
1173
1174If you want to highlight delimiter characters (useful if you have a
1175light-coloured background), add to your .vimrc: >
1176 :let hs_highlight_delimiters = 1
1177To treat True and False as keywords as opposed to ordinary identifiers,
1178add: >
1179 :let hs_highlight_boolean = 1
1180To also treat the names of primitive types as keywords: >
1181 :let hs_highlight_types = 1
1182And to treat the names of even more relatively common types as keywords: >
1183 :let hs_highlight_more_types = 1
1184If you want to highlight the names of debugging functions, put in
1185your .vimrc: >
1186 :let hs_highlight_debug = 1
1187
1188The Haskell syntax highlighting also highlights C preprocessor
1189directives, and flags lines that start with # but are not valid
1190directives as erroneous. This interferes with Haskell's syntax for
1191operators, as they may start with #. If you want to highlight those
1192as operators as opposed to errors, put in your .vimrc: >
1193 :let hs_allow_hash_operator = 1
1194
1195The syntax highlighting for literate Haskell code will try to
1196automatically guess whether your literate Haskell code contains
1197TeX markup or not, and correspondingly highlight TeX constructs
1198or nothing at all. You can override this globally by putting
1199in your .vimrc >
1200 :let lhs_markup = none
1201for no highlighting at all, or >
1202 :let lhs_markup = tex
1203to force the highlighting to always try to highlight TeX markup.
1204For more flexibility, you may also use buffer local versions of
1205this variable, so e.g. >
1206 :let b:lhs_markup = tex
1207will force TeX highlighting for a particular buffer. It has to be
1208set before turning syntax highlighting on for the buffer or
1209loading a file.
1210
1211
1212HTML *html.vim* *html-syntax*
1213
1214The coloring scheme for tags in the HTML file works as follows.
1215
1216The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
1217This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
1218closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
1219defined for you)
1220
1221Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag
1222names are colored with the same color as the <> or </> respectively which
1223makes it easy to spot errors
1224
1225Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
1226names are colored differently than unknown ones.
1227
1228Some HTML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
1229are recognized by the html.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
1230text is shown: <B> <I> <U> <EM> <STRONG> (<EM> is used as an alias for <I>,
1231while <STRONG> as an alias for <B>), <H1> - <H6>, <HEAD>, <TITLE> and <A>, but
1232only if used as a link that is, it must include a href as in
1233<A href="somfile.html">).
1234
1235If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
1236following syntax groups:
1237
1238 - htmlBold
1239 - htmlBoldUnderline
1240 - htmlBoldUnderlineItalic
1241 - htmlUnderline
1242 - htmlUnderlineItalic
1243 - htmlItalic
1244 - htmlTitle for titles
1245 - htmlH1 - htmlH6 for headings
1246
1247To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all with the exception
1248of the last two (htmlTitle and htmlH[1-6], which are optional) and define the
1249following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
1250are read during initialization) >
1251 :let html_my_rendering=1
1252
1253If you'd like to see an example download mysyntax.vim at
1254http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html
1255
1256You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
1257vimrc file: >
1258 :let html_no_rendering=1
1259
1260HTML comments are rather special (see an HTML reference document for the
1261details), and the syntax coloring scheme will highlight all errors.
1262However, if you prefer to use the wrong style (starts with <!-- and
1263ends with --!>) you can define >
1264 :let html_wrong_comments=1
1265
1266JavaScript and Visual Basic embedded inside HTML documents are highlighted as
1267'Special' with statements, comments, strings and so on colored as in standard
1268programming languages. Note that only JavaScript and Visual Basic are currently
1269supported, no other scripting language has been added yet.
1270
1271Embedded and inlined cascading style sheets (CSS) are highlighted too.
1272
1273There are several html preprocessor languages out there. html.vim has been
1274written such that it should be trivial to include it. To do so add the
1275following two lines to the syntax coloring file for that language
1276(the example comes from the asp.vim file):
1277
1278 runtime! syntax/html.vim
1279 syn cluster htmlPreproc add=asp
1280
1281Now you just need to make sure that you add all regions that contain
1282the preprocessor language to the cluster htmlPreproc.
1283
1284
1285HTML/OS (by Aestiva) *htmlos.vim* *htmlos-syntax*
1286
1287The coloring scheme for HTML/OS works as follows:
1288
1289Functions and variable names are the same color by default, because VIM
1290doesn't specify different colors for Functions and Identifiers. To change
1291this (which is recommended if you want function names to be recognizable in a
1292different color) you need to add the following line to either your ~/.vimrc: >
1293 :hi Function term=underline cterm=bold ctermfg=LightGray
1294
1295Of course, the ctermfg can be a different color if you choose.
1296
1297Another issues that HTML/OS runs into is that there is no special filetype to
1298signify that it is a file with HTML/OS coding. You can change this by opening
1299a file and turning on HTML/OS syntax by doing the following: >
1300 :set syntax=htmlos
1301
1302Lastly, it should be noted that the opening and closing characters to begin a
1303block of HTML/OS code can either be << or [[ and >> or ]], respectively.
1304
1305
1306IA64 *ia64.vim* *intel-itanium* *ia64-syntax*
1307
1308Highlighting for the Intel Itanium 64 assembly language. See |asm.vim| for
1309how to recognize this filetype.
1310
1311To have *.inc files be recognized as IA64, add this to your .vimrc file: >
1312 :let g:filetype_inc = "ia64"
1313
1314
1315INFORM *inform.vim* *inform-syntax*
1316
1317Inform highlighting includes symbols provided by the Inform Library, as
1318most programs make extensive use of it. If do not wish Library symbols
1319to be highlighted add this to your vim startup: >
1320 :let inform_highlight_simple=1
1321
1322By default it is assumed that Inform programs are Z-machine targeted,
1323and highlights Z-machine assembly language symbols appropriately. If
1324you intend your program to be targeted to a Glulx/Glk environment you
1325need to add this to your startup sequence: >
1326 :let inform_highlight_glulx=1
1327
1328This will highlight Glulx opcodes instead, and also adds glk() to the
1329set of highlighted system functions.
1330
1331The Inform compiler will flag certain obsolete keywords as errors when
1332it encounters them. These keywords are normally highlighted as errors
1333by Vim. To prevent such error highlighting, you must add this to your
1334startup sequence: >
1335 :let inform_suppress_obsolete=1
1336
1337By default, the language features highlighted conform to Compiler
1338version 6.30 and Library version 6.11. If you are using an older
1339Inform development environment, you may with to add this to your
1340startup sequence: >
1341 :let inform_highlight_old=1
1342
1343
1344JAVA *java.vim* *java-syntax*
1345
1346The java.vim syntax highlighting file offers several options:
1347
1348In Java 1.0.2 it was never possible to have braces inside parens, so this was
1349flagged as an error. Since Java 1.1 this is possible (with anonymous
1350classes), and therefore is no longer marked as an error. If you prefer the old
1351way, put the following line into your vim startup file: >
1352 :let java_mark_braces_in_parens_as_errors=1
1353
1354All identifiers in java.lang.* are always visible in all classes. To
1355highlight them use: >
1356 :let java_highlight_java_lang_ids=1
1357
1358You can also highlight identifiers of most standard java packages if you
1359download the javaid.vim script at http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html.
1360If you prefer to only highlight identifiers of a certain package, say java.io
1361use the following: >
1362 :let java_highlight_java_io=1
1363Check the javaid.vim file for a list of all the packages that are supported.
1364
1365Function names are not highlighted, as the way to find functions depends on
1366how you write java code. The syntax file knows two possible ways to highlight
1367functions:
1368
1369If you write function declarations that are always indented by either
1370a tab, 8 spaces or 2 spaces you may want to set >
1371 :let java_highlight_functions="indent"
1372However, if you follow the Java guidelines about how functions and classes are
1373supposed to be named (with respect to upper and lowercase), use >
1374 :let java_highlight_functions="style"
1375If both options do not work for you, but you would still want function
1376declarations to be highlighted create your own definitions by changing the
1377definitions in java.vim or by creating your own java.vim which includes the
1378original one and then adds the code to highlight functions.
1379
1380In java 1.1 the functions System.out.println() and System.err.println() should
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001381only be used for debugging. Therefore it is possible to highlight debugging
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001382statements differently. To do this you must add the following definition in
1383your startup file: >
1384 :let java_highlight_debug=1
1385The result will be that those statements are highlighted as 'Special'
1386characters. If you prefer to have them highlighted differently you must define
1387new highlightings for the following groups.:
1388 Debug, DebugSpecial, DebugString, DebugBoolean, DebugType
1389which are used for the statement itself, special characters used in debug
1390strings, strings, boolean constants and types (this, super) respectively. I
1391have opted to chose another background for those statements.
1392
1393In order to help you to write code that can be easily ported between
1394java and C++, all C++ keywords are marked as error in a java program.
1395However, if you use them regularly, you may want to define the following
1396variable in your .vimrc file: >
1397 :let java_allow_cpp_keywords=1
1398
1399Javadoc is a program that takes special comments out of java program files and
1400creates HTML pages. The standard configuration will highlight this HTML code
1401similarly to HTML files (see |html.vim|). You can even add javascript
1402and CSS inside this code (see below). There are four differences however:
1403 1. The title (all characters up to the first '.' which is followed by
1404 some white space or up to the first '@') is colored differently (to change
1405 the color change the group CommentTitle).
1406 2. The text is colored as 'Comment'.
1407 3. HTML comments are colored as 'Special'
1408 4. The special javadoc tags (@see, @param, ...) are highlighted as specials
1409 and the argument (for @see, @param, @exception) as Function.
1410To turn this feature off add the following line to your startup file: >
1411 :let java_ignore_javadoc=1
1412
1413If you use the special javadoc comment highlighting described above you
1414can also turn on special highlighting for javascript, visual basic
1415scripts and embedded CSS (stylesheets). This makes only sense if you
1416actually have javadoc comments that include either javascript or embedded
1417CSS. The options to use are >
1418 :let java_javascript=1
1419 :let java_css=1
1420 :let java_vb=1
1421
1422In order to highlight nested parens with different colors define colors
1423for javaParen, javaParen1 and javaParen2, for example with >
1424 :hi link javaParen Comment
1425or >
1426 :hi javaParen ctermfg=blue guifg=#0000ff
1427
1428If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
1429when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "java_minlines" internal variable
1430to a larger number: >
1431 :let java_minlines = 50
1432This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
1433displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger
1434number is that redrawing can become slow.
1435
1436
1437LACE *lace.vim* *lace-syntax*
1438
1439Lace (Language for Assembly of Classes in Eiffel) is case insensitive, but the
1440style guide lines are not. If you prefer case insensitive highlighting, just
1441define the vim variable 'lace_case_insensitive' in your startup file: >
1442 :let lace_case_insensitive=1
1443
1444
1445LEX *lex.vim* *lex-syntax*
1446
1447Lex uses brute-force synchronizing as the "^%%$" section delimiter
1448gives no clue as to what section follows. Consequently, the value for >
1449 :syn sync minlines=300
1450may be changed by the user if s/he is experiencing synchronization
1451difficulties (such as may happen with large lex files).
1452
1453
1454LITE *lite.vim* *lite-syntax*
1455
1456There are two options for the lite syntax highlighting.
1457
1458If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1459
1460 :let lite_sql_query = 1
1461
1462For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1463set "lite_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1464
1465 :let lite_minlines = 200
1466
1467
1468LPC *lpc.vim* *lpc-syntax*
1469
1470LPC stands for a simple, memory-efficient language: Lars Pensj| C. The
1471file name of LPC is usually *.c. Recognizing these files as LPC would bother
1472users writing only C programs. If you want to use LPC syntax in Vim, you
1473should set a variable in your .vimrc file: >
1474
1475 :let lpc_syntax_for_c = 1
1476
1477If it doesn't work properly for some particular C or LPC files, use a
1478modeline. For a LPC file:
1479
1480 // vim:set ft=lpc:
1481
1482For a C file that is recognized as LPC:
1483
1484 // vim:set ft=c:
1485
1486If you don't want to set the variable, use the modeline in EVERY LPC file.
1487
1488There are several implementations for LPC, we intend to support most widely
1489used ones. Here the default LPC syntax is for MudOS series, for MudOS v22
1490and before, you should turn off the sensible modifiers, and this will also
1491asserts the new efuns after v22 to be invalid, don't set this variable when
1492you are using the latest version of MudOS: >
1493
1494 :let lpc_pre_v22 = 1
1495
1496For LpMud 3.2 series of LPC: >
1497
1498 :let lpc_compat_32 = 1
1499
1500For LPC4 series of LPC: >
1501
1502 :let lpc_use_lpc4_syntax = 1
1503
1504For uLPC series of LPC:
1505uLPC has been developed to Pike, so you should use Pike syntax
1506instead, and the name of your source file should be *.pike
1507
1508
1509LUA *lua.vim* *lua-syntax*
1510
1511This syntax file may be used for Lua 4.0 and Lua 5.0 (default). If you are
1512programming in Lua 4.0, use this: >
1513
1514 :let lua_version = 4
1515
1516If lua_version variable doesn't exist, it is set to 5.
1517
1518
1519MAIL *mail.vim*
1520
1521Vim highlights all the standard elements of an email (headers, signatures,
1522quoted text and URLs / email addresses). In keeping with standard conventions,
1523signatures begin in a line containing only "--" followed optionally by
1524whitespaces and end with a newline.
1525
1526Vim treats lines beginning with ']', '}', '|', '>' or a word followed by '>'
1527as quoted text. However Vim highlights headers and signatures in quoted text
1528only if the text is quoted with '>' (optionally followed by one space).
1529
1530By default mail.vim synchronises syntax to 100 lines before the first
1531displayed line. If you have a slow machine, and generally deal with emails
1532with short headers, you can change this to a smaller value: >
1533
1534 :let mail_minlines = 30
1535
1536
1537MAKE *make.vim* *make-syntax*
1538
1539In makefiles, commands are usually highlighted to make it easy for you to spot
1540errors. However, this may be too much coloring for you. You can turn this
1541feature off by using: >
1542
1543 :let make_no_commands = 1
1544
1545
1546MAPLE *maple.vim* *maple-syntax*
1547
1548Maple V, by Waterloo Maple Inc, supports symbolic algebra. The language
1549supports many packages of functions which are selectively loaded by the user.
1550The standard set of packages' functions as supplied in Maple V release 4 may be
1551highlighted at the user's discretion. Users may place in their .vimrc file: >
1552
1553 :let mvpkg_all= 1
1554
1555to get all package functions highlighted, or users may select any subset by
1556choosing a variable/package from the table below and setting that variable to
15571, also in their .vimrc file (prior to sourcing
1558$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim).
1559
1560 Table of Maple V Package Function Selectors >
1561 mv_DEtools mv_genfunc mv_networks mv_process
1562 mv_Galois mv_geometry mv_numapprox mv_simplex
1563 mv_GaussInt mv_grobner mv_numtheory mv_stats
1564 mv_LREtools mv_group mv_orthopoly mv_student
1565 mv_combinat mv_inttrans mv_padic mv_sumtools
1566 mv_combstruct mv_liesymm mv_plots mv_tensor
1567 mv_difforms mv_linalg mv_plottools mv_totorder
1568 mv_finance mv_logic mv_powseries
1569
1570
1571MOO *moo.vim* *moo-syntax*
1572
1573If you use C-style comments inside expressions and find it mangles your
1574highlighting, you may want to use extended (slow!) matches for C-style
1575comments: >
1576
1577 :let moo_extended_cstyle_comments = 1
1578
1579To disable highlighting of pronoun substitution patterns inside strings: >
1580
1581 :let moo_no_pronoun_sub = 1
1582
1583To disable highlighting of the regular expression operator '%|', and matching
1584'%(' and '%)' inside strings: >
1585
1586 :let moo_no_regexp = 1
1587
1588Unmatched double quotes can be recognized and highlighted as errors: >
1589
1590 :let moo_unmatched_quotes = 1
1591
1592To highlight builtin properties (.name, .location, .programmer etc.): >
1593
1594 :let moo_builtin_properties = 1
1595
1596Unknown builtin functions can be recognized and highlighted as errors. If you
1597use this option, add your own extensions to the mooKnownBuiltinFunction group.
1598To enable this option: >
1599
1600 :let moo_unknown_builtin_functions = 1
1601
1602An example of adding sprintf() to the list of known builtin functions: >
1603
1604 :syn keyword mooKnownBuiltinFunction sprintf contained
1605
1606
1607MSQL *msql.vim* *msql-syntax*
1608
1609There are two options for the msql syntax highlighting.
1610
1611If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1612
1613 :let msql_sql_query = 1
1614
1615For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1616set "msql_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1617
1618 :let msql_minlines = 200
1619
1620
1621NCF *ncf.vim* *ncf-syntax*
1622
1623There is one option for NCF syntax highlighting.
1624
1625If you want to have unrecognized (by ncf.vim) statements highlighted as
1626errors, use this: >
1627
1628 :let ncf_highlight_unknowns = 1
1629
1630If you don't want to highlight these errors, leave it unset.
1631
1632
1633NROFF *nroff.vim* *nroff-syntax*
1634
1635The nroff syntax file works with AT&T n/troff out of the box. You need to
1636activate the GNU groff extra features included in the syntax file before you
1637can use them.
1638
1639For example, Linux and BSD distributions use groff as their default text
1640processing package. In order to activate the extra syntax highlighting
1641features for groff, add the following option to your start-up files: >
1642
1643 :let b:nroff_is_groff = 1
1644
1645Groff is different from the old AT&T n/troff that you may still find in
1646Solaris. Groff macro and request names can be longer than 2 characters and
1647there are extensions to the language primitives. For example, in AT&T troff
1648you access the year as a 2-digit number with the request \(yr. In groff you
1649can use the same request, recognized for compatibility, or you can use groff's
1650native syntax, \[yr]. Furthermore, you can use a 4-digit year directly:
1651\[year]. Macro requests can be longer than 2 characters, for example, GNU mm
1652accepts the requests ".VERBON" and ".VERBOFF" for creating verbatim
1653environments.
1654
1655In order to obtain the best formatted output g/troff can give you, you should
1656follow a few simple rules about spacing and punctuation.
1657
16581. Do not leave empty spaces at the end of lines.
1659
16602. Leave one space and one space only after an end-of-sentence period,
1661 exclamation mark, etc.
1662
16633. For reasons stated below, it is best to follow all period marks with a
1664 carriage return.
1665
1666The reason behind these unusual tips is that g/n/troff have a line breaking
1667algorithm that can be easily upset if you don't follow the rules given above.
1668
1669Unlike TeX, troff fills text line-by-line, not paragraph-by-paragraph and,
1670furthermore, it does not have a concept of glue or stretch, all horizontal and
1671vertical space input will be output as is.
1672
1673Therefore, you should be careful about not using more space between sentences
1674than you intend to have in your final document. For this reason, the common
1675practice is to insert a carriage return immediately after all punctuation
1676marks. If you want to have "even" text in your final processed output, you
1677need to maintaining regular spacing in the input text. To mark both trailing
1678spaces and two or more spaces after a punctuation as an error, use: >
1679
1680 :let nroff_space_errors = 1
1681
1682Another technique to detect extra spacing and other errors that will interfere
1683with the correct typesetting of your file, is to define an eye-catching
1684highlighting definition for the syntax groups "nroffDefinition" and
1685"nroffDefSpecial" in your configuration files. For example: >
1686
1687 hi def nroffDefinition term=italic cterm=italic gui=reverse
1688 hi def nroffDefSpecial term=italic,bold cterm=italic,bold
1689 \ gui=reverse,bold
1690
1691If you want to navigate preprocessor entries in your source file as easily as
1692with section markers, you can activate the following option in your .vimrc
1693file: >
1694
1695 let b:preprocs_as_sections = 1
1696
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001697As well, the syntax file adds an extra paragraph marker for the extended
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001698paragraph macro (.XP) in the ms package.
1699
1700Finally, there is a |groff.vim| syntax file that can be used for enabling
1701groff syntax highlighting either on a file basis or globally by default.
1702
1703
1704OCAML *ocaml.vim* *ocaml-syntax*
1705
1706The OCaml syntax file handles files having the following prefixes: .ml,
1707.mli, .mll and .mly. By setting the following variable >
1708
1709 :let ocaml_revised = 1
1710
1711you can switch from standard OCaml-syntax to revised syntax as supported
1712by the camlp4 preprocessor. Setting the variable >
1713
1714 :let ocaml_noend_error = 1
1715
1716prevents highlighting of "end" as error, which is useful when sources
1717contain very long structures that Vim does not synchronize anymore.
1718
1719
1720PAPP *papp.vim* *papp-syntax*
1721
1722The PApp syntax file handles .papp files and, to a lesser extend, .pxml
1723and .pxsl files which are all a mixture of perl/xml/html/other using xml
1724as the top-level file format. By default everything inside phtml or pxml
1725sections is treated as a string with embedded preprocessor commands. If
1726you set the variable: >
1727
1728 :let papp_include_html=1
1729
1730in your startup file it will try to syntax-hilight html code inside phtml
1731sections, but this is relatively slow and much too colourful to be able to
1732edit sensibly ;)
1733
1734The newest version of the papp.vim syntax file can usually be found at
1735http://papp.plan9.de.
1736
1737
1738PASCAL *pascal.vim* *pascal-syntax*
1739
1740Files matching "*.p" could be Progress or Pascal. If the automatic detection
1741doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
1742startup vimrc: >
1743
1744 :let filetype_p = "pascal"
1745
1746The Pascal syntax file has been extended to take into account some extensions
1747provided by Turbo Pascal, Free Pascal Compiler and GNU Pascal Compiler.
1748Delphi keywords are also supported. By default, Turbo Pascal 7.0 features are
1749enabled. If you prefer to stick with the standard Pascal keywords, add the
1750following line to your startup file: >
1751
1752 :let pascal_traditional=1
1753
1754To switch on Delphi specific constructions (such as one-line comments,
1755keywords, etc): >
1756
1757 :let pascal_delphi=1
1758
1759
1760The option pascal_symbol_operator controls whether symbol operators such as +,
1761*, .., etc. are displayed using the Operator color or not. To colorize symbol
1762operators, add the following line to your startup file: >
1763
1764 :let pascal_symbol_operator=1
1765
1766Some functions are highlighted by default. To switch it off: >
1767
1768 :let pascal_no_functions=1
1769
1770Furthermore, there are specific variable for some compiler. Besides
1771pascal_delphi, there are pascal_gpc and pascal_fpc. Default extensions try to
1772match Turbo Pascal. >
1773
1774 :let pascal_gpc=1
1775
1776or >
1777
1778 :let pascal_fpc=1
1779
1780To ensure that strings are defined on a single line, you can define the
1781pascal_one_line_string variable. >
1782
1783 :let pascal_one_line_string=1
1784
1785If you dislike <Tab> chars, you can set the pascal_no_tabs variable. Tabs
1786will be highlighted as Error. >
1787
1788 :let pascal_no_tabs=1
1789
1790
1791
1792PERL *perl.vim* *perl-syntax*
1793
1794There are a number of possible options to the perl syntax highlighting.
1795
1796If you use POD files or POD segments, you might: >
1797
1798 :let perl_include_pod = 1
1799
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00001800The reduce the complexity of parsing (and increase performance) you can switch
1801off two elements in the parsing of variable names and contents. >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001802
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00001803To handle package references in variable and function names not differently
1804from the rest of the name (like 'PkgName::' in '$PkgName::VarName'): >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001805
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00001806 :let perl_no_scope_in_variables = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001807
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00001808(In Vim 6.x it was the other way around: "perl_want_scope_in_variables"
1809enabled it.)
1810
1811If you do not want complex things like '@{${"foo"}}' to be parsed: >
1812
1813 :let perl_no_extended_vars = 1
1814
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +00001815(In Vim 6.x it was the other way around: "perl_extended_vars" enabled it.)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001816
1817The coloring strings can be changed. By default strings and qq friends will be
1818highlighted like the first line. If you set the variable
1819perl_string_as_statement, it will be highlighted as in the second line.
1820
1821 "hello world!"; qq|hello world|;
1822 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^NN^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^N (unlet perl_string_as_statement)
1823 S^^^^^^^^^^^^SNNSSS^^^^^^^^^^^SN (let perl_string_as_statement)
1824
1825(^ = perlString, S = perlStatement, N = None at all)
1826
1827The syncing has 3 options. The first two switch off some triggering of
1828synchronization and should only be needed in case it fails to work properly.
1829If while scrolling all of a sudden the whole screen changes color completely
1830then you should try and switch off one of those. Let me know if you can figure
1831out the line that causes the mistake.
1832
1833One triggers on "^\s*sub\s*" and the other on "^[$@%]" more or less. >
1834
1835 :let perl_no_sync_on_sub
1836 :let perl_no_sync_on_global_var
1837
1838Below you can set the maximum distance VIM should look for starting points for
1839its attempts in syntax highlighting. >
1840
1841 :let perl_sync_dist = 100
1842
1843If you want to use folding with perl, set perl_fold: >
1844
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00001845 :let perl_fold = 1
1846
1847If you want to fold blocks in if statements, etc. as well set the following: >
1848
1849 :let perl_fold_blocks = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001850
1851
1852PHP3 and PHP4 *php.vim* *php3.vim* *php-syntax* *php3-syntax*
1853
1854[note: previously this was called "php3", but since it now also supports php4
1855it has been renamed to "php"]
1856
1857There are the following options for the php syntax highlighting.
1858
1859If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings: >
1860
1861 let php_sql_query = 1
1862
1863For highlighting the Baselib methods: >
1864
1865 let php_baselib = 1
1866
1867Enable HTML syntax highlighting inside strings: >
1868
1869 let php_htmlInStrings = 1
1870
1871Using the old colorstyle: >
1872
1873 let php_oldStyle = 1
1874
1875Enable highlighting ASP-style short tags: >
1876
1877 let php_asp_tags = 1
1878
1879Disable short tags: >
1880
1881 let php_noShortTags = 1
1882
1883For highlighting parent error ] or ): >
1884
1885 let php_parent_error_close = 1
1886
1887For skipping an php end tag, if there exists an open ( or [ without a closing
1888one: >
1889
1890 let php_parent_error_open = 1
1891
1892Enable folding for classes and functions: >
1893
1894 let php_folding = 1
1895
1896Selecting syncing method: >
1897
1898 let php_sync_method = x
1899
1900x = -1 to sync by search (default),
1901x > 0 to sync at least x lines backwards,
1902x = 0 to sync from start.
1903
1904
1905PPWIZARD *ppwiz.vim* *ppwiz-syntax*
1906
1907PPWizard is a preprocessor for HTML and OS/2 INF files
1908
1909This syntax file has the options:
1910
1911- ppwiz_highlight_defs : determines highlighting mode for PPWizard's
1912 definitions. Possible values are
1913
1914 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 1 : PPWizard #define statements retain the
1915 colors of their contents (e. g. PPWizard macros and variables)
1916
1917 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 2 : preprocessor #define and #evaluate
1918 statements are shown in a single color with the exception of line
1919 continuation symbols
1920
1921 The default setting for ppwiz_highlight_defs is 1.
1922
1923- ppwiz_with_html : If the value is 1 (the default), highlight literal
1924 HTML code; if 0, treat HTML code like ordinary text.
1925
1926
1927PHTML *phtml.vim* *phtml-syntax*
1928
1929There are two options for the phtml syntax highlighting.
1930
1931If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1932
1933 :let phtml_sql_query = 1
1934
1935For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1936set "phtml_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1937
1938 :let phtml_minlines = 200
1939
1940
1941POSTSCRIPT *postscr.vim* *postscr-syntax*
1942
1943There are several options when it comes to highlighting PostScript.
1944
1945First which version of the PostScript language to highlight. There are
1946currently three defined language versions, or levels. Level 1 is the original
1947and base version, and includes all extensions prior to the release of level 2.
1948Level 2 is the most common version around, and includes its own set of
1949extensions prior to the release of level 3. Level 3 is currently the highest
1950level supported. You select which level of the PostScript language you want
1951highlighted by defining the postscr_level variable as follows: >
1952
1953 :let postscr_level=2
1954
1955If this variable is not defined it defaults to 2 (level 2) since this is
1956the most prevalent version currently.
1957
1958Note, not all PS interpreters will support all language features for a
1959particular language level. In particular the %!PS-Adobe-3.0 at the start of
1960PS files does NOT mean the PostScript present is level 3 PostScript!
1961
1962If you are working with Display PostScript, you can include highlighting of
1963Display PS language features by defining the postscr_display variable as
1964follows: >
1965
1966 :let postscr_display=1
1967
1968If you are working with Ghostscript, you can include highlighting of
1969Ghostscript specific language features by defining the variable
1970postscr_ghostscript as follows: >
1971
1972 :let postscr_ghostscript=1
1973
1974PostScript is a large language, with many predefined elements. While it
1975useful to have all these elements highlighted, on slower machines this can
1976cause Vim to slow down. In an attempt to be machine friendly font names and
1977character encodings are not highlighted by default. Unless you are working
1978explicitly with either of these this should be ok. If you want them to be
1979highlighted you should set one or both of the following variables: >
1980
1981 :let postscr_fonts=1
1982 :let postscr_encodings=1
1983
1984There is a stylistic option to the highlighting of and, or, and not. In
1985PostScript the function of these operators depends on the types of their
1986operands - if the operands are booleans then they are the logical operators,
1987if they are integers then they are binary operators. As binary and logical
1988operators can be highlighted differently they have to be highlighted one way
1989or the other. By default they are treated as logical operators. They can be
1990highlighted as binary operators by defining the variable
1991postscr_andornot_binary as follows: >
1992
1993 :let postscr_andornot_binary=1
1994<
1995
1996 *ptcap.vim*
1997PRINTCAP + TERMCAP *ptcap-syntax* *termcap-syntax* *printcap-syntax*
1998
1999This syntax file applies to the printcap and termcap databases.
2000
2001In order for Vim to recognize printcap/termcap files that do not match
2002the patterns *printcap*, or *termcap*, you must put additional patterns
2003appropriate to your system in your |myfiletypefile| file. For these
2004patterns, you must set the variable "b:ptcap_type" to either "print" or
2005"term", and then the 'filetype' option to ptcap.
2006
2007For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/termcaps/ as termcap
2008files, add the following: >
2009
2010 :au BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/termcaps/* let b:ptcap_type = "term" |
2011 \ set filetype=ptcap
2012
2013If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which
2014are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "ptcap_minlines"
2015internal variable to a larger number: >
2016
2017 :let ptcap_minlines = 50
2018
2019(The default is 20 lines.)
2020
2021
2022PROGRESS *progress.vim* *progress-syntax*
2023
2024Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection
2025doesn't work for you, or you don't edit cweb at all, use this in your
2026startup vimrc: >
2027 :let filetype_w = "progress"
2028The same happens for "*.i", which could be assembly, and "*.p", which could be
2029Pascal. Use this if you don't use assembly and Pascal: >
2030 :let filetype_i = "progress"
2031 :let filetype_p = "progress"
2032
2033
2034PYTHON *python.vim* *python-syntax*
2035
2036There are four options to control Python syntax highlighting.
2037
2038For highlighted numbers: >
2039 :let python_highlight_numbers = 1
2040
2041For highlighted builtin functions: >
2042 :let python_highlight_builtins = 1
2043
2044For highlighted standard exceptions: >
2045 :let python_highlight_exceptions = 1
2046
2047For highlighted trailing whitespace and mix of spaces and tabs:
2048 :let python_highlight_space_errors = 1
2049
2050If you want all possible Python highlighting (the same as setting the
2051preceding three options): >
2052 :let python_highlight_all = 1
2053
2054
2055QUAKE *quake.vim* *quake-syntax*
2056
2057The Quake syntax definition should work for most any FPS (First Person
2058Shooter) based on one of the Quake engines. However, the command names vary
2059a bit between the three games (Quake, Quake 2, and Quake 3 Arena) so the
2060syntax definition checks for the existence of three global variables to allow
2061users to specify what commands are legal in their files. The three variables
2062can be set for the following effects:
2063
2064set to highlight commands only available in Quake: >
2065 :let quake_is_quake1 = 1
2066
2067set to highlight commands only available in Quake 2: >
2068 :let quake_is_quake2 = 1
2069
2070set to highlight commands only available in Quake 3 Arena: >
2071 :let quake_is_quake3 = 1
2072
2073Any combination of these three variables is legal, but might highlight more
2074commands than are actually available to you by the game.
2075
2076
2077READLINE *readline.vim* *readline-syntax*
2078
2079The readline library is primarily used by the BASH shell, which adds quite a
2080few commands and options to the ones already available. To highlight these
2081items as well you can add the following to your |vimrc| or just type it in the
2082command line before loading a file with the readline syntax: >
2083 let readline_has_bash = 1
2084
2085This will add highlighting for the commands that BASH (version 2.05a and
2086later, and part earlier) adds.
2087
2088
2089REXX *rexx.vim* *rexx-syntax*
2090
2091If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2092when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "rexx_minlines" internal variable
2093to a larger number: >
2094 :let rexx_minlines = 50
2095This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
2096displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger
2097number is that redrawing can become slow.
2098
2099
2100RUBY *ruby.vim* *ruby-syntax*
2101
2102There are a few options to the Ruby syntax highlighting.
2103
2104By default, the "end" keyword is colorized according to the opening statement
2105of the block it closes. While useful, this feature can be expensive: if you
2106experience slow redrawing (or you are on a terminal with poor color support)
2107you may want to turn it off by defining the "ruby_no_expensive" variable: >
2108 :let ruby_no_expensive = 1
2109In this case the same color will be used for all control keywords.
2110
2111If you do want this feature enabled, but notice highlighting errors while
2112scrolling backwards, which are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting
2113the "ruby_minlines" variable to a value larger than 50: >
2114 :let ruby_minlines = 100
2115Ideally, this value should be a number of lines large enough to embrace your
2116largest class or module.
2117
2118Finally, if you do not like to see too many color items around, you can define
2119"ruby_no_identifiers": >
2120 :let ruby_no_identifiers = 1
2121This will prevent highlighting of special identifiers like "ConstantName",
2122"$global_var", "@instance_var", "| iterator |", and ":symbol".
2123
2124
Bram Moolenaar21cf8232004-07-16 20:18:37 +00002125SCHEME *scheme.vim* *scheme-syntax*
2126
2127By default only R5RS keywords are highlighted and properly indented.
2128
2129MzScheme-specific stuff will be used if b:is_mzscheme or g:is_mzscheme
2130variables are defined.
2131
2132
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002133SDL *sdl.vim* *sdl-syntax*
2134
2135The SDL highlighting probably misses a few keywords, but SDL has so many
2136of them it's almost impossibly to cope.
2137
2138The new standard, SDL-2000, specifies that all identifiers are
2139case-sensitive (which was not so before), and that all keywords can be
2140used either completely lowercase or completely uppercase. To have the
2141highlighting reflect this, you can set the following variable: >
2142 :let sdl_2000=1
2143
2144This also sets many new keywords. If you want to disable the old
2145keywords, which is probably a good idea, use: >
2146 :let SDL_no_96=1
2147
2148
2149The indentation is probably also incomplete, but right now I am very
2150satisfied with it for my own projects.
2151
2152
2153SED *sed.vim* *sed-syntax*
2154
2155To make tabs stand out from regular blanks (accomplished by using Todo
2156highlighting on the tabs), define "highlight_sedtabs" by putting >
2157
2158 :let highlight_sedtabs = 1
2159
2160in the vimrc file. (This special highlighting only applies for tabs
2161inside search patterns, replacement texts, addresses or text included
2162by an Append/Change/Insert command.) If you enable this option, it is
2163also a good idea to set the tab width to one character; by doing that,
2164you can easily count the number of tabs in a string.
2165
2166Bugs:
2167
2168 The transform command (y) is treated exactly like the substitute
2169 command. This means that, as far as this syntax file is concerned,
2170 transform accepts the same flags as substitute, which is wrong.
2171 (Transform accepts no flags.) I tolerate this bug because the
2172 involved commands need very complex treatment (95 patterns, one for
2173 each plausible pattern delimiter).
2174
2175
2176SGML *sgml.vim* *sgml-syntax*
2177
2178The coloring scheme for tags in the SGML file works as follows.
2179
2180The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
2181This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
2182closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
2183defined for you)
2184
2185Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag
2186names are not colored which makes it easy to spot errors.
2187
2188Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
2189names are colored differently than unknown ones.
2190
2191Some SGML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
2192are recognized by the sgml.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
2193text is shown: <varname> <emphasis> <command> <function> <literal>
2194<replaceable> <ulink> and <link>.
2195
2196If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
2197following syntax groups:
2198
2199 - sgmlBold
2200 - sgmlBoldItalic
2201 - sgmlUnderline
2202 - sgmlItalic
2203 - sgmlLink for links
2204
2205To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all and define the
2206following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
2207are read during initialization) >
2208 let sgml_my_rendering=1
2209
2210You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
2211vimrc file: >
2212 let sgml_no_rendering=1
2213
2214(Adapted from the html.vim help text by Claudio Fleiner <claudio@fleiner.com>)
2215
2216
2217SH *sh.vim* *sh-syntax*
2218
2219This covers the "normal" Unix (Bourne) sh, bash and the Korn shell.
2220
2221Vim attempts to determine which shell type is in use by specifying that
2222various filenames are of specific types: >
2223
2224 ksh : .kshrc* *.ksh
2225 bash: .bashrc* bashrc bash.bashrc .bash_profile* *.bash
2226<
2227If none of these cases pertain, then the first line of the file is examined
2228(ex. /bin/sh /bin/ksh /bin/bash). If the first line specifies a shelltype,
2229then that shelltype is used. However some files (ex. .profile) are known to
2230be shell files but the type is not apparent. Furthermore, on many systems
2231sh is symbolically linked to "bash" (linux) or "ksh" (posix).
2232
2233One may specify a global default by instantiating one of the following three
2234variables in your <.vimrc>:
2235
2236 ksh: >
2237 let is_kornshell = 1
2238< bash: >
2239 let is_bash = 1
2240< sh: >
2241 let is_sh = 1
2242
2243If, in your <.vimrc>, you set >
2244 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 1
2245>
2246then various syntax items (HereDocuments and function bodies) become
2247syntax-foldable (see |:syn-fold|).
2248
2249If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2250when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "sh_minlines" internal variable
2251to a larger number. Example: >
2252
2253 let sh_minlines = 500
2254
2255This will make syntax synchronization start 500 lines before the first
2256displayed line. The default value is 200. The disadvantage of using a larger
2257number is that redrawing can become slow.
2258
2259If you don't have much to synchronize on, displaying can be very slow. To
2260reduce this, the "sh_maxlines" internal variable can be set. Example: >
2261
2262 let sh_maxlines = 100
2263<
2264The default is to use the twice sh_minlines. Set it to a smaller number to
2265speed up displaying. The disadvantage is that highlight errors may appear.
2266
2267
2268SPEEDUP (AspenTech plant simulator) *spup.vim* *spup-syntax*
2269
2270The Speedup syntax file has some options:
2271
2272- strict_subsections : If this variable is defined, only keywords for
2273 sections and subsections will be highlighted as statements but not
2274 other keywords (like WITHIN in the OPERATION section).
2275
2276- highlight_types : Definition of this variable causes stream types
2277 like temperature or pressure to be highlighted as Type, not as a
2278 plain Identifier. Included are the types that are usually found in
2279 the DECLARE section; if you defined own types, you have to include
2280 them in the syntax file.
2281
2282- oneline_comments : this value ranges from 1 to 3 and determines the
2283 highlighting of # style comments.
2284
2285 oneline_comments = 1 : allow normal Speedup code after an even
2286 number of #s.
2287
2288 oneline_comments = 2 : show code starting with the second # as
2289 error. This is the default setting.
2290
2291 oneline_comments = 3 : show the whole line as error if it contains
2292 more than one #.
2293
2294Since especially OPERATION sections tend to become very large due to
2295PRESETting variables, syncing may be critical. If your computer is
2296fast enough, you can increase minlines and/or maxlines near the end of
2297the syntax file.
2298
2299
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00002300SQL *sql.vim* *sql-syntax*
2301 *sqlinformix.vim* *sqlinformix-syntax*
2302
2303While there is an ANSI standard for SQL, most database engines add their
2304own custom extensions. Vim currently supports the Oracle and Informix
2305dialects of SQL. Vim assumes "*.sql" files are Oracle SQL by default.
2306
2307If you want to use the Informix dialect, put this in your startup vimrc: >
2308 :let g:filetype_sql = "sqlinformix"
2309
2310
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002311TCSH *tcsh.vim* *tcsh-syntax*
2312
2313This covers the shell named "tcsh". It is a superset of csh. See |csh.vim|
2314for how the filetype is detected.
2315
2316Tcsh does not allow \" in strings unless the "backslash_quote" shell variable
2317is set. If you want VIM to assume that no backslash quote constructs exist add
2318this line to your .vimrc: >
2319
2320 :let tcsh_backslash_quote = 0
2321
2322If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2323when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "tcsh_minlines" internal variable
2324to a larger number: >
2325
2326 :let tcsh_minlines = 100
2327
2328This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
2329displayed line. The default value is 15. The disadvantage of using a larger
2330number is that redrawing can become slow.
2331
2332
2333TEX *tex.vim* *tex-syntax*
2334
2335Run-on Comments/Math? ~
2336
2337The tex highlighting supports TeX, LaTeX, and some AmsTeX. The
2338highlighting supports three primary zones: normal, texZone, and texMathZone.
2339Although a considerable effort has been made to have these zones terminate
2340properly, zones delineated by $..$ and $$..$$ cannot be synchronized as
2341there's no difference between start and end patterns. Consequently, a
2342special "TeX comment" has been provided >
2343 %stopzone
2344which will forcibly terminate the highlighting of either a texZone or a
2345texMathZone.
2346
2347Slow Syntax Highlighting? ~
2348
2349If you have a slow computer, you may wish to reduce the values for >
2350 :syn sync maxlines=200
2351 :syn sync minlines=50
2352(especially the latter). If your computer is fast, you may wish to
2353increase them. This primarily affects synchronizing (ie. just what group,
2354if any, is the text at the top of the screen supposed to be in?).
2355
2356Excessive Error Highlighting? ~
2357
2358The <tex.vim> supports lexical error checking of various sorts. Thus,
2359although the error checking is ofttimes very useful, it can indicate
2360errors where none actually are. If this proves to be a problem for you,
2361you may put in your <.vimrc> the following statement: >
2362 let tex_no_error=1
2363and all error checking by <tex.vim> will be suppressed.
2364
2365Need a new Math Group? ~
2366
2367If you want to include a new math group in your LaTeX, the following
2368code shows you an example as to how you might do so: >
2369
2370 syn cluster texMathZones add=texMathZoneLOCAL
2371 syn region texMathZoneLOCAL start="\\begin\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\s*}"
2372 \ end="\\end\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\s*}" keepend
2373 \ contains=@texMathZoneGroup
2374 if !exists("tex_no_math")
2375 syn sync match texSyncMathZoneLOCAL grouphere texMathZoneLOCAL
2376 \ "\\begin\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\*\s*}"
2377 syn sync match texSyncMathZoneLOCAL groupthere NONE
2378 \ "\\end\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\*\s*}"
2379 endif
2380 hi link texMathZoneLOCAL texMath
2381<
2382You'll need to change LOCALMATH to the name of your new math group,
2383and then to put it into .vim/after/syntax/tex.vim.
2384
2385Starting a New Style? ~
2386
2387One may use "\makeatletter" in *.tex files, thereby making the use of "@" in
2388commands available. However, since the *.tex file doesn't have one of the
2389following suffices: sty cls clo dtx ltx, the syntax highlighting will flag
2390such use of @ as an error. To solve this: >
2391
2392 :let b:tex_stylish = 1
2393 :set ft=tex
2394
2395Putting "let g:tex_stylish=1" into your <.vimrc> will make <syntax/tex.vim>
2396always accept such use of @.
2397
2398
2399TF *tf.vim* *tf-syntax*
2400
2401There is one option for the tf syntax highlighting.
2402
2403For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
2404set "tf_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
2405
2406 :let tf_minlines = your choice
2407
2408
2409VIM *vim.vim* *vim-syntax*
2410
2411There is a tradeoff between more accurate syntax highlighting versus
2412screen updating speed. To improve accuracy, you may wish to increase
2413the g:vim_minlines variable. The g:vim_maxlines variable may be used
2414to improve screen updating rates (see |:syn-sync| for more on this).
2415
2416 g:vim_minlines : used to set synchronization minlines
2417 g:vim_maxlines : used to set synchronization maxlines
2418
2419The g:vimembedscript option allows for somewhat faster loading of syntax
2420highlighting for vim scripts at the expense of supporting syntax highlighting
2421for external scripting languages (currently perl, python, ruby, and tcl).
2422
2423 g:vimembedscript == 1 (default) <vim.vim> will allow highlighting
2424 g:vimembedscript doesn't exist of supported embedded scripting
2425 languages: perl, python, ruby and
2426 tcl.
2427
2428 g:vimembedscript == 0 Syntax highlighting for embedded
2429 scripting languages will not be
2430 loaded.
2431
2432
2433XF86CONFIG *xf86conf.vim* *xf86conf-syntax*
2434
2435The syntax of XF86Config file differs in XFree86 v3.x and v4.x. Both
2436variants are supported. Automatic detection is used, but is far from perfect.
2437You may need to specify the version manually. Set the variable
2438xf86conf_xfree86_version to 3 or 4 according to your XFree86 version in
2439your .vimrc. Example: >
2440 :let xf86conf_xfree86_version=3
2441When using a mix of versions, set the b:xf86conf_xfree86_version variable.
2442
2443Note that spaces and underscores in option names are not supported. Use
2444"SyncOnGreen" instead of "__s yn con gr_e_e_n" if you want the option name
2445highlighted.
2446
2447
2448XML *xml.vim* *xml-syntax*
2449
2450Xml namespaces are highlighted by default. This can be inhibited by
2451setting a global variable: >
2452
2453 :let g:xml_namespace_transparent=1
2454<
2455 *xml-folding*
2456The xml syntax file provides syntax |folding| (see |:syn-fold|) between
2457start and end tags. This can be turned on by >
2458
2459 :let g:xml_syntax_folding = 1
2460 :set foldmethod=syntax
2461
2462Note: syntax folding might slow down syntax highlighting significantly,
2463especially for large files.
2464
2465
2466X Pixmaps (XPM) *xpm.vim* *xpm-syntax*
2467
2468xpm.vim creates its syntax items dynamically based upon the contents of the
2469XPM file. Thus if you make changes e.g. in the color specification strings,
2470you have to source it again e.g. with ":set syn=xpm".
2471
2472To copy a pixel with one of the colors, yank a "pixel" with "yl" and insert it
2473somewhere else with "P".
2474
2475Do you want to draw with the mouse? Try the following: >
2476 :function! GetPixel()
2477 : let c = getline(line("."))[col(".") - 1]
2478 : echo c
2479 : exe "noremap <LeftMouse> <LeftMouse>r".c
2480 : exe "noremap <LeftDrag> <LeftMouse>r".c
2481 :endfunction
2482 :noremap <RightMouse> <LeftMouse>:call GetPixel()<CR>
2483 :set guicursor=n:hor20 " to see the color beneath the cursor
2484This turns the right button into a pipette and the left button into a pen.
2485It will work with XPM files that have one character per pixel only and you
2486must not click outside of the pixel strings, but feel free to improve it.
2487
2488It will look much better with a font in a quadratic cell size, e.g. for X: >
2489 :set guifont=-*-clean-medium-r-*-*-8-*-*-*-*-80-*
2490
2491==============================================================================
24925. Defining a syntax *:syn-define* *E410*
2493
2494Vim understands three types of syntax items:
2495
24961. Keyword.
2497 It can only contain keyword characters, according to the 'iskeyword'
2498 option. It cannot contain other syntax items. It will only match with a
2499 complete word (there are no keyword characters before or after the match).
2500 The keyword "if" would match in "if(a=b)", but not in "ifdef x", because
2501 "(" is not a keyword character and "d" is.
2502
25032. Match.
2504 This is a match with a single regexp pattern.
2505
25063. Region.
2507 This starts at a match of the "start" regexp pattern and ends with a match
2508 with the "end" regexp pattern. Any other text can appear in between. A
2509 "skip" regexp pattern can be used to avoid matching the "end" pattern.
2510
2511Several syntax ITEMs can be put into one syntax GROUP. For a syntax group
2512you can give highlighting attributes. For example, you could have an item
2513to define a "/* .. */" comment and another one that defines a "// .." comment,
2514and put them both in the "Comment" group. You can then specify that a
2515"Comment" will be in bold font and have a blue color. You are free to make
2516one highlight group for one syntax item, or put all items into one group.
2517This depends on how you want to specify your highlighting attributes. Putting
2518each item in its own group results in having to specify the highlighting
2519for a lot of groups.
2520
2521Note that a syntax group and a highlight group are similar. For a highlight
2522group you will have given highlight attributes. These attributes will be used
2523for the syntax group with the same name.
2524
2525In case more than one item matches at the same position, the one that was
2526defined LAST wins. Thus you can override previously defined syntax items by
2527using an item that matches the same text. But a keyword always goes before a
2528match or region. And a keyword with matching case always goes before a
2529keyword with ignoring case.
2530
2531
2532PRIORITY *:syn-priority*
2533
2534When several syntax items may match, these rules are used:
2535
25361. When multiple Match or Region items start in the same position, the item
2537 defined last has priority.
25382. A Keyword has priority over Match and Region items.
25393. An item that starts in an earlier position has priority over items that
2540 start in later positions.
2541
2542
2543DEFINING CASE *:syn-case* *E390*
2544
2545:sy[ntax] case [match|ignore]
2546 This defines if the following ":syntax" commands will work with
2547 matching case, when using "match", or with ignoring case, when using
2548 "ignore". Note that any items before this are not affected, and all
2549 items until the next ":syntax case" command are affected.
2550
2551
2552DEFINING KEYWORDS *:syn-keyword*
2553
2554:sy[ntax] keyword {group-name} [{options}] {keyword} .. [{options}]
2555
2556 This defines a number of keywords.
2557
2558 {group-name} Is a syntax group name such as "Comment".
2559 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2560 {keyword} .. Is a list of keywords which are part of this group.
2561
2562 Example: >
2563 :syntax keyword Type int long char
2564<
2565 The {options} can be given anywhere in the line. They will apply to
2566 all keywords given, also for options that come after a keyword.
2567 These examples do exactly the same: >
2568 :syntax keyword Type contained int long char
2569 :syntax keyword Type int long contained char
2570 :syntax keyword Type int long char contained
2571<
2572 When you have a keyword with an optional tail, like Ex commands in
2573 Vim, you can put the optional characters inside [], to define all the
2574 variations at once: >
2575 :syntax keyword vimCommand ab[breviate] n[ext]
2576<
2577 Don't forget that a keyword can only be recognized if all the
2578 characters are included in the 'iskeyword' option. If one character
2579 isn't, the keyword will never be recognized.
2580 Multi-byte characters can also be used. These do not have to be in
2581 'iskeyword'.
2582
2583 A keyword always has higher priority than a match or region, the
2584 keyword is used if more than one item matches. Keywords do not nest
2585 and a keyword can't contain anything else.
2586
2587 Note that when you have a keyword that is the same as an option (even
2588 one that isn't allowed here), you can not use it. Use a match
2589 instead.
2590
2591 The maximum length of a keyword is 80 characters.
2592
2593 The same keyword can be defined multiple times, when its containment
2594 differs. For example, you can define the keyword once not contained
2595 and use one highlight group, and once contained, and use a different
2596 highlight group. Example: >
2597 :syn keyword vimCommand tag
2598 :syn keyword vimSetting contained tag
2599< When finding "tag" outside of any syntax item, the "vimCommand"
2600 highlight group is used. When finding "tag" in a syntax item that
2601 contains "vimSetting", the "vimSetting" group is used.
2602
2603
2604DEFINING MATCHES *:syn-match*
2605
2606:sy[ntax] match {group-name} [{options}] [excludenl] {pattern} [{options}]
2607
2608 This defines one match.
2609
2610 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment".
2611 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2612 [excludenl] Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
2613 extend a containing match or region. Must be
2614 given before the pattern. |:syn-excludenl|
2615 {pattern} The search pattern that defines the match.
2616 See |:syn-pattern| below.
2617 Note that the pattern may match more than one
2618 line, which makes the match depend on where
2619 Vim starts searching for the pattern. You
2620 need to make sure syncing takes care of this.
2621
2622 Example (match a character constant): >
2623 :syntax match Character /'.'/hs=s+1,he=e-1
2624<
2625
2626DEFINING REGIONS *:syn-region* *:syn-start* *:syn-skip* *:syn-end*
2627 *E398* *E399*
2628:sy[ntax] region {group-name} [{options}]
2629 [matchgroup={group-name}]
2630 [keepend]
2631 [extend]
2632 [excludenl]
2633 start={start_pattern} ..
2634 [skip={skip_pattern}]
2635 end={end_pattern} ..
2636 [{options}]
2637
2638 This defines one region. It may span several lines.
2639
2640 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment".
2641 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2642 [matchgroup={group-name}] The syntax group to use for the following
2643 start or end pattern matches only. Not used
2644 for the text in between the matched start and
2645 end patterns. Use NONE to reset to not using
2646 a different group for the start or end match.
2647 See |:syn-matchgroup|.
2648 keepend Don't allow contained matches to go past a
2649 match with the end pattern. See
2650 |:syn-keepend|.
2651 extend Override a "keepend" for an item this region
2652 is contained in. See |:syn-extend|.
2653 excludenl Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
2654 extend a containing match or item. Only
2655 useful for end patterns. Must be given before
2656 the patterns it applies to. |:syn-excludenl|
2657 start={start_pattern} The search pattern that defines the start of
2658 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2659 skip={skip_pattern} The search pattern that defines text inside
2660 the region where not to look for the end
2661 pattern. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2662 end={end_pattern} The search pattern that defines the end of
2663 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2664
2665 Example: >
2666 :syntax region String start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+
2667<
2668 The start/skip/end patterns and the options can be given in any order.
2669 There can be zero or one skip pattern. There must be one or more
2670 start and end patterns. This means that you can omit the skip
2671 pattern, but you must give at least one start and one end pattern. It
2672 is allowed to have white space before and after the equal sign
2673 (although it mostly looks better without white space).
2674
2675 When more than one start pattern is given, a match with one of these
2676 is sufficient. This means there is an OR relation between the start
2677 patterns. The last one that matches is used. The same is true for
2678 the end patterns.
2679
2680 The search for the end pattern starts right after the start pattern.
2681 Offsets are not used for this. This implies that the match for the
2682 end pattern will never overlap with the start pattern.
2683
2684 The skip and end pattern can match across line breaks, but since the
2685 search for the pattern can start in any line it often does not do what
2686 you want. The skip pattern doesn't avoid a match of an end pattern in
2687 the next line. Use single-line patterns to avoid trouble.
2688
2689 Note: The decision to start a region is only based on a matching start
2690 pattern. There is no check for a matching end pattern. This does NOT
2691 work: >
2692 :syn region First start="(" end=":"
2693 :syn region Second start="(" end=";"
2694< The Second always matches before the First (last defined pattern has
2695 higher priority). The Second region then continues until the next
2696 ';', no matter if there is a ':' before it. Using a match does work: >
2697 :syn match First "(\_.\{-}:"
2698 :syn match Second "(\_.\{-};"
2699< This pattern matches any character or line break with "\_." and
2700 repeats that with "\{-}" (repeat as few as possible).
2701
2702 *:syn-keepend*
2703 By default, a contained match can obscure a match for the end pattern.
2704 This is useful for nesting. For example, a region that starts with
2705 "{" and ends with "}", can contain another region. An encountered "}"
2706 will then end the contained region, but not the outer region:
2707 { starts outer "{}" region
2708 { starts contained "{}" region
2709 } ends contained "{}" region
2710 } ends outer "{} region
2711 If you don't want this, the "keepend" argument will make the matching
2712 of an end pattern of the outer region also end any contained item.
2713 This makes it impossible to nest the same region, but allows for
2714 contained items to highlight parts of the end pattern, without causing
2715 that to skip the match with the end pattern. Example: >
2716 :syn match vimComment +"[^"]\+$+
2717 :syn region vimCommand start="set" end="$" contains=vimComment keepend
2718< The "keepend" makes the vimCommand always end at the end of the line,
2719 even though the contained vimComment includes a match with the <EOL>.
2720
2721 When "keepend" is not used, a match with an end pattern is retried
2722 after each contained match. When "keepend" is included, the first
2723 encountered match with an end pattern is used, truncating any
2724 contained matches.
2725 *:syn-extend*
2726 The "keepend" behavior can be changed by using the "extend" argument.
2727 When an item with "extend" is contained in an item that uses
2728 "keepend", the "keepend" is ignored and the containing region will be
2729 extended.
2730 This can be used to have some contained items extend a region while
2731 others don't. Example: >
2732
2733 :syn region htmlRef start=+<a>+ end=+</a>+ keepend contains=htmlItem,htmlScript
2734 :syn match htmlItem +<[^>]*>+ contained
2735 :syn region htmlScript start=+<script+ end=+</script[^>]*>+ contained extend
2736
2737< Here the htmlItem item does not make the htmlRef item continue
2738 further, it is only used to highlight the <> items. The htmlScript
2739 item does extend the htmlRef item.
2740
2741 Another example: >
2742 :syn region xmlFold start="<a>" end="</a>" fold transparent keepend extend
2743< This defines a region with "keepend", so that its end cannot be
2744 changed by contained items, like when the "</a>" is matched to
2745 highlight it differently. But when the xmlFold region is nested (it
2746 includes itself), the "extend" applies, so that the "</a>" of a nested
2747 region only ends that region, and not the one it is contained in.
2748
2749 *:syn-excludenl*
2750 When a pattern for a match or end pattern of a region includes a '$'
2751 to match the end-of-line, it will make a region item that it is
2752 contained in continue on the next line. For example, a match with
2753 "\\$" (backslash at the end of the line) can make a region continue
2754 that would normally stop at the end of the line. This is the default
2755 behavior. If this is not wanted, there are two ways to avoid it:
2756 1. Use "keepend" for the containing item. This will keep all
2757 contained matches from extending the match or region. It can be
2758 used when all contained items must not extend the containing item.
2759 2. Use "excludenl" in the contained item. This will keep that match
2760 from extending the containing match or region. It can be used if
2761 only some contained items must not extend the containing item.
2762 "excludenl" must be given before the pattern it applies to.
2763
2764 *:syn-matchgroup*
2765 "matchgroup" can be used to highlight the start and/or end pattern
2766 differently than the body of the region. Example: >
2767 :syntax region String matchgroup=Quote start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+
2768< This will highlight the quotes with the "Quote" group, and the text in
2769 between with the "String" group.
2770 The "matchgroup" is used for all start and end patterns that follow,
2771 until the next "matchgroup". Use "matchgroup=NONE" to go back to not
2772 using a matchgroup.
2773
2774 In a start or end pattern that is highlighted with "matchgroup" the
2775 contained items of the region are not used. This can be used to avoid
2776 that a contained item matches in the start or end pattern match. When
2777 using "transparent", this does not apply to a start or end pattern
2778 match that is highlighted with "matchgroup".
2779
2780 Here is an example, which highlights three levels of parentheses in
2781 different colors: >
2782 :sy region par1 matchgroup=par1 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par2
2783 :sy region par2 matchgroup=par2 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par3 contained
2784 :sy region par3 matchgroup=par3 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par1 contained
2785 :hi par1 ctermfg=red guifg=red
2786 :hi par2 ctermfg=blue guifg=blue
2787 :hi par3 ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
2788
2789==============================================================================
27906. :syntax arguments *:syn-arguments*
2791
2792The :syntax commands that define syntax items take a number of arguments.
2793The common ones are explained here. The arguments may be given in any order
2794and may be mixed with patterns.
2795
2796Not all commands accept all arguments. This table shows which arguments
2797can not be used for all commands:
2798 *E395* *E396*
2799 contains oneline fold display extend ~
2800:syntax keyword - - - - -
2801:syntax match yes - yes yes yes
2802:syntax region yes yes yes yes yes
2803
2804These arguments can be used for all three commands:
2805 contained
2806 containedin
2807 nextgroup
2808 transparent
2809 skipwhite
2810 skipnl
2811 skipempty
2812
2813
2814contained *:syn-contained*
2815
2816When the "contained" argument is given, this item will not be recognized at
2817the top level, but only when it is mentioned in the "contains" field of
2818another match. Example: >
2819 :syntax keyword Todo TODO contained
2820 :syntax match Comment "//.*" contains=Todo
2821
2822
2823display *:syn-display*
2824
2825If the "display" argument is given, this item will be skipped when the
2826detected highlighting will not be displayed. This will speed up highlighting,
2827by skipping this item when only finding the syntax state for the text that is
2828to be displayed.
2829
2830Generally, you can use "display" for match and region items that meet these
2831conditions:
2832- The item does not continue past the end of a line. Example for C: A region
2833 for a "/*" comment can't contain "display", because it continues on the next
2834 line.
2835- The item does not contain items that continue past the end of the line or
2836 make it continue on the next line.
2837- The item does not change the size of any item it is contained in. Example
2838 for C: A match with "\\$" in a preprocessor match can't have "display",
2839 because it may make that preprocessor match shorter.
2840- The item does not allow other items to match that didn't match otherwise,
2841 and that item may extend the match too far. Example for C: A match for a
2842 "//" comment can't use "display", because a "/*" inside that comment would
2843 match then and start a comment which extends past the end of the line.
2844
2845Examples, for the C language, where "display" can be used:
2846- match with a number
2847- match with a label
2848
2849
2850transparent *:syn-transparent*
2851
2852If the "transparent" argument is given, this item will not be highlighted
2853itself, but will take the highlighting of the item it is contained in. This
2854is useful for syntax items that don't need any highlighting but are used
2855only to skip over a part of the text.
2856
2857The "contains=" argument is also inherited from the item it is contained in,
2858unless a "contains" argument is given for the transparent item itself. To
2859avoid that unwanted items are contained, use "contains=NONE". Example, which
2860highlights words in strings, but makes an exception for "vim": >
2861 :syn match myString /'[^']*'/ contains=myWord,myVim
2862 :syn match myWord /\<[a-z]*\>/ contained
2863 :syn match myVim /\<vim\>/ transparent contained contains=NONE
2864 :hi link myString String
2865 :hi link myWord Comment
2866Since the "myVim" match comes after "myWord" it is the preferred match (last
2867match in the same position overrules an earlier one). The "transparent"
2868argument makes the "myVim" match use the same highlighting as "myString". But
2869it does not contain anything. If the "contains=NONE" argument would be left
2870out, then "myVim" would use the contains argument from myString and allow
2871"myWord" to be contained, which will be highlighted as a Constant. This
2872happens because a contained match doesn't match inside itself in the same
2873position, thus the "myVim" match doesn't overrule the "myWord" match here.
2874
2875When you look at the colored text, it is like looking at layers of contained
2876items. The contained item is on top of the item it is contained in, thus you
2877see the contained item. When a contained item is transparent, you can look
2878through, thus you see the item it is contained in. In a picture:
2879
2880 look from here
2881
2882 | | | | | |
2883 V V V V V V
2884
2885 xxxx yyy more contained items
2886 .................... contained item (transparent)
2887 ============================= first item
2888
2889The 'x', 'y' and '=' represent a highlighted syntax item. The '.' represent a
2890transparent group.
2891
2892What you see is:
2893
2894 =======xxxx=======yyy========
2895
2896Thus you look through the transparent "....".
2897
2898
2899oneline *:syn-oneline*
2900
2901The "oneline" argument indicates that the region does not cross a line
2902boundary. It must match completely in the current line. However, when the
2903region has a contained item that does cross a line boundary, it continues on
2904the next line anyway. A contained item can be used to recognize a line
2905continuation pattern. But the "end" pattern must still match in the first
2906line, otherwise the region doesn't even start.
2907
2908When the start pattern includes a "\n" to match an end-of-line, the end
2909pattern must be found in the same line as where the start pattern ends. The
2910end pattern may also include an end-of-line. Thus the "oneline" argument
2911means that the end of the start pattern and the start of the end pattern must
2912be within one line. This can't be changed by a skip pattern that matches a
2913line break.
2914
2915
2916fold *:syn-fold*
2917
2918The "fold" argument makes the fold level increased by one for this item.
2919Example: >
2920 :syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
2921 :syn sync fromstart
2922 :set foldmethod=syntax
2923This will make each {} block form one fold.
2924
2925The fold will start on the line where the item starts, and end where the item
2926ends. If the start and end are within the same line, there is no fold.
2927The 'foldnestmax' option limits the nesting of syntax folds.
2928{not available when Vim was compiled without |+folding| feature}
2929
2930
2931 *:syn-contains* *E405* *E406* *E407* *E408* *E409*
2932contains={groupname},..
2933
2934The "contains" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. These
2935groups will be allowed to begin inside the item (they may extend past the
2936containing group's end). This allows for recursive nesting of matches and
2937regions. If there is no "contains" argument, no groups will be contained in
2938this item. The group names do not need to be defined before they can be used
2939here.
2940
2941contains=ALL
2942 If the only item in the contains list is "ALL", then all
2943 groups will be accepted inside the item.
2944
2945contains=ALLBUT,{group-name},..
2946 If the first item in the contains list is "ALLBUT", then all
2947 groups will be accepted inside the item, except the ones that
2948 are listed. Example: >
2949 :syntax region Block start="{" end="}" ... contains=ALLBUT,Function
2950
2951contains=TOP
2952 If the first item in the contains list is "TOP", then all
2953 groups will be accepted that don't have the "contained"
2954 argument.
2955contains=TOP,{group-name},..
2956 Like "TOP", but excluding the groups that are listed.
2957
2958contains=CONTAINED
2959 If the first item in the contains list is "CONTAINED", then
2960 all groups will be accepted that have the "contained"
2961 argument.
2962contains=CONTAINED,{group-name},..
2963 Like "CONTAINED", but excluding the groups that are
2964 listed.
2965
2966
2967The {group-name} in the "contains" list can be a pattern. All group names
2968that match the pattern will be included (or excluded, if "ALLBUT" is used).
2969The pattern cannot contain white space or a ','. Example: >
2970 ... contains=Comment.*,Keyw[0-3]
2971The matching will be done at moment the syntax command is executed. Groups
2972that are defined later will not be matched. Also, if the current syntax
2973command defines a new group, it is not matched. Be careful: When putting
2974syntax commands in a file you can't rely on groups NOT being defined, because
2975the file may have been sourced before, and ":syn clear" doesn't remove the
2976group names.
2977
2978The contained groups will also match in the start and end patterns of a
2979region. If this is not wanted, the "matchgroup" argument can be used
2980|:syn-matchgroup|. The "ms=" and "me=" offsets can be used to change the
2981region where contained items do match. Note that this may also limit the
2982area that is highlighted
2983
2984
2985containedin={groupname}... *:syn-containedin*
2986
2987The "containedin" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. The
2988item will be allowed to begin inside these groups. This works as if the
2989containing item has a "contains=" argument that includes this item.
2990
2991The {groupname}... can be used just like for "contains", as explained above.
2992
2993This is useful when adding a syntax item afterwards. An item can be told to
2994be included inside an already existing item, without changing the definition
2995of that item. For example, to highlight a word in a C comment after loading
2996the C syntax: >
2997 :syn keyword myword HELP containedin=cComment contained
2998Note that "contained" is also used, to avoid that the item matches at the top
2999level.
3000
3001Matches for "containedin" are added to the other places where the item can
3002appear. A "contains" argument may also be added as usual. Don't forget that
3003keywords never contain another item, thus adding them to "containedin" won't
3004work.
3005
3006
3007nextgroup={groupname},.. *:syn-nextgroup*
3008
3009The "nextgroup" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names,
3010separated by commas (just like with "contains", so you can also use patterns).
3011
3012If the "nextgroup" argument is given, the mentioned syntax groups will be
3013tried for a match, after the match or region ends. If none of the groups have
3014a match, highlighting continues normally. If there is a match, this group
3015will be used, even when it is not mentioned in the "contains" field of the
3016current group. This is like giving the mentioned group priority over all
3017other groups. Example: >
3018 :syntax match ccFoobar "Foo.\{-}Bar" contains=ccFoo
3019 :syntax match ccFoo "Foo" contained nextgroup=ccFiller
3020 :syntax region ccFiller start="." matchgroup=ccBar end="Bar" contained
3021
3022This will highlight "Foo" and "Bar" differently, and only when there is a
3023"Bar" after "Foo". In the text line below, "f" shows where ccFoo is used for
3024highlighting, and "bbb" where ccBar is used. >
3025
3026 Foo asdfasd Bar asdf Foo asdf Bar asdf
3027 fff bbb fff bbb
3028
3029Note the use of ".\{-}" to skip as little as possible until the next Bar.
3030when ".*" would be used, the "asdf" in between "Bar" and "Foo" would be
3031highlighted according to the "ccFoobar" group, because the ccFooBar match
3032would include the first "Foo" and the last "Bar" in the line (see |pattern|).
3033
3034
3035skipwhite *:syn-skipwhite*
3036skipnl *:syn-skipnl*
3037skipempty *:syn-skipempty*
3038
3039These arguments are only used in combination with "nextgroup". They can be
3040used to allow the next group to match after skipping some text:
3041 skipwhite skip over space and Tab characters
3042 skipnl skip over the end of a line
3043 skipempty skip over empty lines (implies a "skipnl")
3044
3045When "skipwhite" is present, the white space is only skipped if there is no
3046next group that matches the white space.
3047
3048When "skipnl" is present, the match with nextgroup may be found in the next
3049line. This only happens when the current item ends at the end of the current
3050line! When "skipnl" is not present, the nextgroup will only be found after
3051the current item in the same line.
3052
3053When skipping text while looking for a next group, the matches for other
3054groups are ignored. Only when no next group matches, other items are tried
3055for a match again. This means that matching a next group and skipping white
3056space and <EOL>s has a higher priority than other items.
3057
3058Example: >
3059 :syn match ifstart "\<if.*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty
3060 :syn match ifline "[^ \t].*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty contained
3061 :syn match ifline "endif" contained
3062Note that the "[^ \t].*" match matches all non-white text. Thus it would also
3063match "endif". Therefore the "endif" match is put last, so that it takes
3064precedence.
3065Note that this example doesn't work for nested "if"s. You need to add
3066"contains" arguments to make that work (omitted for simplicity of the
3067example).
3068
3069==============================================================================
30707. Syntax patterns *:syn-pattern* *E401* *E402*
3071
3072In the syntax commands, a pattern must be surrounded by two identical
3073characters. This is like it works for the ":s" command. The most common to
3074use is the double quote. But if the pattern contains a double quote, you can
3075use another character that is not used in the pattern. Examples: >
3076 :syntax region Comment start="/\*" end="\*/"
3077 :syntax region String start=+"+ end=+"+ skip=+\\"+
3078
3079See |pattern| for the explanation of what a pattern is. Syntax patterns are
3080always interpreted like the 'magic' options is set, no matter what the actual
3081value of 'magic' is. And the patterns are interpreted like the 'l' flag is
3082not included in 'cpoptions'. This was done to make syntax files portable and
3083independent of 'compatible' and 'magic' settings.
3084
3085Try to avoid patterns that can match an empty string, such as "[a-z]*".
3086This slows down the highlighting a lot, because it matches everywhere.
3087
3088 *:syn-pattern-offset*
3089The pattern can be followed by a character offset. This can be used to
3090change the highlighted part, and to change the text area included in the
3091match or region (which only matters when trying to match other items). Both
3092are relative to the matched pattern. The character offset for a skip
3093pattern can be used to tell where to continue looking for an end pattern.
3094
3095The offset takes the form of "{what}={offset}"
3096The {what} can be one of seven strings:
3097
3098ms Match Start offset for the start of the matched text
3099me Match End offset for the end of the matched text
3100hs Highlight Start offset for where the highlighting starts
3101he Highlight End offset for where the highlighting ends
3102rs Region Start offset for where the body of a region starts
3103re Region End offset for where the body of a region ends
3104lc Leading Context offset past "leading context" of pattern
3105
3106The {offset} can be:
3107
3108s start of the matched pattern
3109s+{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3110s-{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3111e end of the matched pattern
3112e+{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3113e-{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3114{nr} (for "lc" only): start matching {nr} chars to the left
3115
3116Examples: "ms=s+1", "hs=e-2", "lc=3".
3117
3118Although all offsets are accepted after any pattern, they are not always
3119meaningful. This table shows which offsets are actually used:
3120
3121 ms me hs he rs re lc ~
3122match item yes yes yes yes - - yes
3123region item start yes - yes - yes - yes
3124region item skip - yes - - - - yes
3125region item end - yes - yes - yes yes
3126
3127Offsets can be concatenated, with a ',' in between. Example: >
3128 :syn match String /"[^"]*"/hs=s+1,he=e-1
3129<
3130 some "string" text
3131 ^^^^^^ highlighted
3132
3133Notes:
3134- There must be no white space between the pattern and the character
3135 offset(s).
3136- The highlighted area will never be outside of the matched text.
3137- A negative offset for an end pattern may not always work, because the end
3138 pattern may be detected when the highlighting should already have stopped.
3139- The start of a match cannot be in a line other than where the pattern
3140 matched. This doesn't work: "a\nb"ms=e. You can make the highlighting
3141 start in another line, this does work: "a\nb"hs=e.
3142
3143Example (match a comment but don't highlight the /* and */): >
3144 :syntax region Comment start="/\*"hs=e+1 end="\*/"he=s-1
3145<
3146 /* this is a comment */
3147 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ highlighted
3148
3149A more complicated Example: >
3150 :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
3151<
3152 abcfoostringbarabc
3153 mmmmmmmmmmm match
3154 ssrrrreee highlight start/region/end ("Foo", "Exa" and "Bar")
3155
3156Leading context *:syn-lc* *:syn-leading* *:syn-context*
3157
3158Note: This is an obsolete feature, only included for backwards compatibility
3159with previous Vim versions. It's now recommended to use the |/\@<=| construct
3160in the pattern.
3161
3162The "lc" offset specifies leading context -- a part of the pattern that must
3163be present, but is not considered part of the match. An offset of "lc=n" will
3164cause Vim to step back n columns before attempting the pattern match, allowing
3165characters which have already been matched in previous patterns to also be
3166used as leading context for this match. This can be used, for instance, to
3167specify that an "escaping" character must not precede the match: >
3168
3169 :syn match ZNoBackslash "[^\\]z"ms=s+1
3170 :syn match WNoBackslash "[^\\]w"lc=1
3171 :syn match Underline "_\+"
3172<
3173 ___zzzz ___wwww
3174 ^^^ ^^^ matches Underline
3175 ^ ^ matches ZNoBackslash
3176 ^^^^ matches WNoBackslash
3177
3178The "ms" offset is automatically set to the same value as the "lc" offset,
3179unless you set "ms" explicitly.
3180
3181
3182Multi-line patterns *:syn-multi-line*
3183
3184The patterns can include "\n" to match an end-of-line. Mostly this works as
3185expected, but there are a few exceptions.
3186
3187When using a start pattern with an offset, the start of the match is not
3188allowed to start in a following line. The highlighting can start in a
3189following line though.
3190
3191The skip pattern can include the "\n", but the search for an end pattern will
3192continue in the first character of the next line, also when that character is
3193matched by the skip pattern. This is because redrawing may start in any line
3194halfway a region and there is no check if the skip pattern started in a
3195previous line. For example, if the skip pattern is "a\nb" and an end pattern
3196is "b", the end pattern does match in the second line of this: >
3197 x x a
3198 b x x
3199Generally this means that the skip pattern should not match any characters
3200after the "\n".
3201
3202
3203External matches *:syn-ext-match*
3204
3205These extra regular expression items are available in region patterns:
3206
3207 */\z(* */\z(\)* *E50* *E52*
3208 \z(\) Marks the sub-expression as "external", meaning that it is can
3209 be accessed from another pattern match. Currently only usable
3210 in defining a syntax region start pattern.
3211
3212 */\z1* */\z2* */\z3* */\z4* */\z5*
3213 \z1 ... \z9 */\z6* */\z7* */\z8* */\z9* *E66* *E67*
3214 Matches the same string that was matched by the corresponding
3215 sub-expression in a previous start pattern match.
3216
3217Sometimes the start and end patterns of a region need to share a common
3218sub-expression. A common example is the "here" document in Perl and many Unix
3219shells. This effect can be achieved with the "\z" special regular expression
3220items, which marks a sub-expression as "external", in the sense that it can be
3221referenced from outside the pattern in which it is defined. The here-document
3222example, for instance, can be done like this: >
3223 :syn region hereDoc start="<<\z(\I\i*\)" end="^\z1$"
3224
3225As can be seen here, the \z actually does double duty. In the start pattern,
3226it marks the "\(\I\i*\)" sub-expression as external; in the end pattern, it
3227changes the \1 back-reference into an external reference referring to the
3228first external sub-expression in the start pattern. External references can
3229also be used in skip patterns: >
3230 :syn region foo start="start \(\I\i*\)" skip="not end \z1" end="end \z1"
3231
3232Note that normal and external sub-expressions are completely orthogonal and
3233indexed separately; for instance, if the pattern "\z(..\)\(..\)" is applied
3234to the string "aabb", then \1 will refer to "bb" and \z1 will refer to "aa".
3235Note also that external sub-expressions cannot be accessed as back-references
3236within the same pattern like normal sub-expressions. If you want to use one
3237sub-expression as both a normal and an external sub-expression, you can nest
3238the two, as in "\(\z(...\)\)".
3239
3240Note that only matches within a single line can be used. Multi-line matches
3241cannot be referred to.
3242
3243==============================================================================
32448. Syntax clusters *:syn-cluster* *E400*
3245
3246:sy[ntax] cluster {cluster-name} [contains={group-name}..]
3247 [add={group-name}..]
3248 [remove={group-name}..]
3249
3250This command allows you to cluster a list of syntax groups together under a
3251single name.
3252
3253 contains={group-name}..
3254 The cluster is set to the specified list of groups.
3255 add={group-name}..
3256 The specified groups are added to the cluster.
3257 remove={group-name}..
3258 The specified groups are removed from the cluster.
3259
3260A cluster so defined may be referred to in a contains=.., nextgroup=.., add=..
3261or remove=.. list with a "@" prefix. You can also use this notation to
3262implicitly declare a cluster before specifying its contents.
3263
3264Example: >
3265 :syntax match Thing "# [^#]\+ #" contains=@ThingMembers
3266 :syntax cluster ThingMembers contains=ThingMember1,ThingMember2
3267
3268As the previous example suggests, modifications to a cluster are effectively
3269retroactive; the membership of the cluster is checked at the last minute, so
3270to speak: >
3271 :syntax keyword A aaa
3272 :syntax keyword B bbb
3273 :syntax cluster AandB contains=A
3274 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@AandB
3275 :syntax cluster AandB add=B " now both keywords are matched in Stuff
3276
3277This also has implications for nested clusters: >
3278 :syntax keyword A aaa
3279 :syntax keyword B bbb
3280 :syntax cluster SmallGroup contains=B
3281 :syntax cluster BigGroup contains=A,@SmallGroup
3282 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@BigGroup
3283 :syntax cluster BigGroup remove=B " no effect, since B isn't in BigGroup
3284 :syntax cluster SmallGroup remove=B " now bbb isn't matched within Stuff
3285
3286==============================================================================
32879. Including syntax files *:syn-include* *E397*
3288
3289It is often useful for one language's syntax file to include a syntax file for
3290a related language. Depending on the exact relationship, this can be done in
3291two different ways:
3292
3293 - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3294 allowed at the top level in the including syntax, you can simply use
3295 the |:runtime| command: >
3296
3297 " In cpp.vim:
3298 :runtime! syntax/c.vim
3299 :unlet b:current_syntax
3300
3301< - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3302 contained within a region in the including syntax, you can use the
3303 ":syntax include" command:
3304
3305:sy[ntax] include [@{grouplist-name}] {file-name}
3306
3307 All syntax items declared in the included file will have the
3308 "contained" flag added. In addition, if a group list is specified,
3309 all top-level syntax items in the included file will be added to
3310 that list. >
3311
3312 " In perl.vim:
3313 :syntax include @Pod <sfile>:p:h/pod.vim
3314 :syntax region perlPOD start="^=head" end="^=cut" contains=@Pod
3315<
3316 When {file-name} is an absolute path (starts with "/", "c:", "$VAR"
3317 or "<sfile>") that file is sourced. When it is a relative path
3318 (e.g., "syntax/pod.vim") the file is searched for in 'runtimepath'.
3319 All matching files are loaded. Using a relative path is
3320 recommended, because it allows a user to replace the included file
3321 with his own version, without replacing the file that does the ":syn
3322 include".
3323
3324==============================================================================
332510. Synchronizing *:syn-sync* *E403* *E404*
3326
3327Vim wants to be able to start redrawing in any position in the document. To
3328make this possible it needs to know the syntax state at the position where
3329redrawing starts.
3330
3331:sy[ntax] sync [ccomment [group-name] | minlines={N} | ...]
3332
3333There are four ways to synchronize:
33341. Always parse from the start of the file.
3335 |:syn-sync-first|
33362. Based on C-style comments. Vim understands how C-comments work and can
3337 figure out if the current line starts inside or outside a comment.
3338 |:syn-sync-second|
33393. Jumping back a certain number of lines and start parsing there.
3340 |:syn-sync-third|
33414. Searching backwards in the text for a pattern to sync on.
3342 |:syn-sync-fourth|
3343
3344 *:syn-sync-maxlines* *:syn-sync-minlines*
3345For the last three methods, the line range where the parsing can start is
3346limited by "minlines" and "maxlines".
3347
3348If the "minlines={N}" argument is given, the parsing always starts at least
3349that many lines backwards. This can be used if the parsing may take a few
3350lines before it's correct, or when it's not possible to use syncing.
3351
3352If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given, the number of lines that are searched
3353for a comment or syncing pattern is restricted to N lines backwards (after
3354adding "minlines"). This is useful if you have few things to sync on and a
3355slow machine. Example: >
3356 :syntax sync ccomment maxlines=500
3357<
3358 *:syn-sync-linebreaks*
3359When using a pattern that matches multiple lines, a change in one line may
3360cause a pattern to no longer match in a previous line. This means has to
3361start above where the change was made. How many lines can be specified with
3362the "linebreaks" argument. For example, when a pattern may include one line
3363break use this: >
3364 :syntax sync linebreaks=1
3365The result is that redrawing always starts at least one line before where a
3366change was made. The default value for "linebreaks" is zero. Usually the
3367value for "minlines" is bigger than "linebreaks".
3368
3369
3370First syncing method: *:syn-sync-first*
3371>
3372 :syntax sync fromstart
3373
3374The file will be parsed from the start. This makes syntax highlighting
3375accurate, but can be slow for long files. Vim caches previously parsed text,
3376so that it's only slow when parsing the text for the first time. However,
3377when making changes some part of the next needs to be parsed again (worst
3378case: to the end of the file).
3379
3380Using "fromstart" is equivalent to using "minlines" with a very large number.
3381
3382
3383Second syncing method: *:syn-sync-second* *:syn-sync-ccomment*
3384
3385For the second method, only the "ccomment" argument needs to be given.
3386Example: >
3387 :syntax sync ccomment
3388
3389When Vim finds that the line where displaying starts is inside a C-style
3390comment, the last region syntax item with the group-name "Comment" will be
3391used. This requires that there is a region with the group-name "Comment"!
3392An alternate group name can be specified, for example: >
3393 :syntax sync ccomment javaComment
3394This means that the last item specified with "syn region javaComment" will be
3395used for the detected C comment region. This only works properly if that
3396region does have a start pattern "\/*" and an end pattern "*\/".
3397
3398The "maxlines" argument can be used to restrict the search to a number of
3399lines. The "minlines" argument can be used to at least start a number of
3400lines back (e.g., for when there is some construct that only takes a few
3401lines, but it hard to sync on).
3402
3403Note: Syncing on a C comment doesn't work properly when strings are used
3404that cross a line and contain a "*/". Since letting strings cross a line
3405is a bad programming habit (many compilers give a warning message), and the
3406chance of a "*/" appearing inside a comment is very small, this restriction
3407is hardly ever noticed.
3408
3409
3410Third syncing method: *:syn-sync-third*
3411
3412For the third method, only the "minlines={N}" argument needs to be given.
3413Vim will subtract {N} from the line number and start parsing there. This
3414means {N} extra lines need to be parsed, which makes this method a bit slower.
3415Example: >
3416 :syntax sync minlines=50
3417
3418"lines" is equivalent to "minlines" (used by older versions).
3419
3420
3421Fourth syncing method: *:syn-sync-fourth*
3422
3423The idea is to synchronize on the end of a few specific regions, called a
3424sync pattern. Only regions can cross lines, so when we find the end of some
3425region, we might be able to know in which syntax item we are. The search
3426starts in the line just above the one where redrawing starts. From there
3427the search continues backwards in the file.
3428
3429This works just like the non-syncing syntax items. You can use contained
3430matches, nextgroup, etc. But there are a few differences:
3431- Keywords cannot be used.
3432- The syntax items with the "sync" keyword form a completely separated group
3433 of syntax items. You can't mix syncing groups and non-syncing groups.
3434- The matching works backwards in the buffer (line by line), instead of
3435 forwards.
3436- A line continuation pattern can be given. It is used to decide which group
3437 of lines need to be searched like they were one line. This means that the
3438 search for a match with the specified items starts in the first of the
3439 consecutive that contain the continuation pattern.
3440- When using "nextgroup" or "contains", this only works within one line (or
3441 group of continued lines).
3442- When using a region, it must start and end in the same line (or group of
3443 continued lines). Otherwise the end is assumed to be at the end of the
3444 line (or group of continued lines).
3445- When a match with a sync pattern is found, the rest of the line (or group of
3446 continued lines) is searched for another match. The last match is used.
3447 This is used when a line can contain both the start end the end of a region
3448 (e.g., in a C-comment like /* this */, the last "*/" is used).
3449
3450There are two ways how a match with a sync pattern can be used:
34511. Parsing for highlighting starts where redrawing starts (and where the
3452 search for the sync pattern started). The syntax group that is expected
3453 to be valid there must be specified. This works well when the regions
3454 that cross lines cannot contain other regions.
34552. Parsing for highlighting continues just after the match. The syntax group
3456 that is expected to be present just after the match must be specified.
3457 This can be used when the previous method doesn't work well. It's much
3458 slower, because more text needs to be parsed.
3459Both types of sync patterns can be used at the same time.
3460
3461Besides the sync patterns, other matches and regions can be specified, to
3462avoid finding unwanted matches.
3463
3464[The reason that the sync patterns are given separately, is that mostly the
3465search for the sync point can be much simpler than figuring out the
3466highlighting. The reduced number of patterns means it will go (much)
3467faster.]
3468
3469 *syn-sync-grouphere* *E393* *E394*
3470 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} grouphere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3471
3472 Define a match that is used for syncing. {group-name} is the
3473 name of a syntax group that follows just after the match. Parsing
3474 of the text for highlighting starts just after the match. A region
3475 must exist for this {group-name}. The first one defined will be used.
3476 "NONE" can be used for when there is no syntax group after the match.
3477
3478 *syn-sync-groupthere*
3479 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} groupthere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3480
3481 Like "grouphere", but {group-name} is the name of a syntax group that
3482 is to be used at the start of the line where searching for the sync
3483 point started. The text between the match and the start of the sync
3484 pattern searching is assumed not to change the syntax highlighting.
3485 For example, in C you could search backwards for "/*" and "*/". If
3486 "/*" is found first, you know that you are inside a comment, so the
3487 "groupthere" is "cComment". If "*/" is found first, you know that you
3488 are not in a comment, so the "groupthere" is "NONE". (in practice
3489 it's a bit more complicated, because the "/*" and "*/" could appear
3490 inside a string. That's left as an exercise to the reader...).
3491
3492 :syntax sync match ..
3493 :syntax sync region ..
3494
3495 Without a "groupthere" argument. Define a region or match that is
3496 skipped while searching for a sync point.
3497
3498 :syntax sync linecont {pattern}
3499
3500 When {pattern} matches in a line, it is considered to continue in
3501 the next line. This means that the search for a sync point will
3502 consider the lines to be concatenated.
3503
3504If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given too, the number of lines that are
3505searched for a match is restricted to N. This is useful if you have very
3506few things to sync on and a slow machine. Example: >
3507 :syntax sync maxlines=100
3508
3509You can clear all sync settings with: >
3510 :syntax sync clear
3511
3512You can clear specific sync patterns with: >
3513 :syntax sync clear {sync-group-name} ..
3514
3515==============================================================================
351611. Listing syntax items *:syntax* *:sy* *:syn* *:syn-list*
3517
3518This commands lists all the syntax items: >
3519
3520 :sy[ntax] [list]
3521
3522To show the syntax items for one syntax group: >
3523
3524 :sy[ntax] list {group-name}
3525
3526To list the syntax groups in one cluster: *E392* >
3527
3528 :sy[ntax] list @{cluster-name}
3529
3530See above for other arguments for the ":syntax" command.
3531
3532Note that the ":syntax" command can be abbreviated to ":sy", although ":syn"
3533is mostly used, because it looks better.
3534
3535==============================================================================
353612. Highlight command *:highlight* *:hi* *E28* *E411* *E415*
3537
3538There are three types of highlight groups:
3539- The ones used for specific languages. For these the name starts with the
3540 name of the language. Many of these don't have any attributes, but are
3541 linked to a group of the second type.
3542- The ones used for all syntax languages.
3543- The ones used for the 'highlight' option.
3544 *hitest.vim*
3545You can see all the groups currently active with this command: >
3546 :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/hitest.vim
3547This will open a new window containing all highlight group names, displayed
3548in their own color.
3549
3550 *:colo* *:colorscheme* *E185*
3551:colo[rscheme] {name} Load color scheme {name}. This searches 'runtimepath'
3552 for the file "colors/{name}.vim. The first one that
3553 is found is loaded.
3554 To see the name of the currently active color scheme
3555 (if there is one): >
3556 :echo g:colors_name
3557< Doesn't work recursively, thus you can't use
3558 ":colorscheme" in a color scheme script.
Bram Moolenaarcfbc5ee2004-07-02 15:38:35 +00003559 After the color scheme has been loaded the
3560 |ColorScheme| autocommand event is triggered.
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00003561 For info about writing a colorscheme file: >
3562 :edit $VIMRUNTIME/colors/README.txt
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003563
3564:hi[ghlight] List all the current highlight groups that have
3565 attributes set.
3566
3567:hi[ghlight] {group-name}
3568 List one highlight group.
3569
3570:hi[ghlight] clear Reset all highlighting to the defaults. Removes all
3571 highlighting for groups added by the user!
3572 Uses the current value of 'background' to decide which
3573 default colors to use.
3574
3575:hi[ghlight] clear {group-name}
3576:hi[ghlight] {group-name} NONE
3577 Disable the highlighting for one highlight group. It
3578 is _not_ set back to the default colors.
3579
3580:hi[ghlight] [default] {group-name} {key}={arg} ..
3581 Add a highlight group, or change the highlighting for
3582 an existing group.
3583 See |highlight-args| for the {key}={arg} arguments.
3584 See |:highlight-default| for the optional [default]
3585 argument.
3586
3587Normally a highlight group is added once when starting up. This sets the
3588default values for the highlighting. After that, you can use additional
3589highlight commands to change the arguments that you want to set to non-default
3590values. The value "NONE" can be used to switch the value off or go back to
3591the default value.
3592
3593A simple way to change colors is with the |:colorscheme| command. This loads
3594a file with ":highlight" commands such as this: >
3595
3596 :hi Comment gui=bold
3597
3598Note that all settings that are not included remain the same, only the
3599specified field is used, and settings are merged with previous ones. So, the
3600result is like this single command has been used: >
3601 :hi Comment term=bold ctermfg=Cyan guifg=#80a0ff gui=bold
3602<
3603 *highlight-args* *E416* *E417* *E423*
3604There are three types of terminals for highlighting:
3605term a normal terminal (vt100, xterm)
3606cterm a color terminal (MS-DOS console, color-xterm, these have the "Co"
3607 termcap entry)
3608gui the GUI
3609
3610For each type the highlighting can be given. This makes it possible to use
3611the same syntax file on all terminals, and use the optimal highlighting.
3612
36131. highlight arguments for normal terminals
3614
3615term={attr-list} *attr-list* *highlight-term* *E418*
3616 attr-list is a comma separated list (without spaces) of the
3617 following items (in any order):
3618 bold
3619 underline
3620 reverse
3621 inverse same as reverse
3622 italic
3623 standout
3624 NONE no attributes used (used to reset it)
3625
3626 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They
3627 have the same effect.
3628
3629start={term-list} *highlight-start* *E422*
3630stop={term-list} *term-list* *highlight-stop*
3631 These lists of terminal codes can be used to get
3632 non-standard attributes on a terminal.
3633
3634 The escape sequence specified with the "start" argument
3635 is written before the characters in the highlighted
3636 area. It can be anything that you want to send to the
3637 terminal to highlight this area. The escape sequence
3638 specified with the "stop" argument is written after the
3639 highlighted area. This should undo the "start" argument.
3640 Otherwise the screen will look messed up.
3641
3642 The {term-list} can have two forms:
3643
3644 1. A string with escape sequences.
3645 This is any string of characters, except that it can't start with
3646 "t_" and blanks are not allowed. The <> notation is recognized
3647 here, so you can use things like "<Esc>" and "<Space>". Example:
3648 start=<Esc>[27h;<Esc>[<Space>r;
3649
3650 2. A list of terminal codes.
3651 Each terminal code has the form "t_xx", where "xx" is the name of
3652 the termcap entry. The codes have to be separated with commas.
3653 White space is not allowed. Example:
3654 start=t_C1,t_BL
3655 The terminal codes must exist for this to work.
3656
3657
36582. highlight arguments for color terminals
3659
3660cterm={attr-list} *highlight-cterm*
3661 See above for the description of {attr-list} |attr-list|.
3662 The "cterm" argument is likely to be different from "term", when
3663 colors are used. For example, in a normal terminal comments could
3664 be underlined, in a color terminal they can be made Blue.
3665 Note: Many terminals (e.g., DOS console) can't mix these attributes
3666 with coloring. Use only one of "cterm=" OR "ctermfg=" OR "ctermbg=".
3667
3668ctermfg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermfg* *E421*
3669ctermbg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermbg*
3670 The {color-nr} argument is a color number. Its range is zero to
3671 (not including) the number given by the termcap entry "Co".
3672 The actual color with this number depends on the type of terminal
3673 and its settings. Sometimes the color also depends on the settings of
3674 "cterm". For example, on some systems "cterm=bold ctermfg=3" gives
3675 another color, on others you just get color 3.
3676
3677 For an xterm this depends on your resources, and is a bit
3678 unpredictable. See your xterm documentation for the defaults. The
3679 colors for a color-xterm can be changed from the .Xdefaults file.
3680 Unfortunately this means that it's not possible to get the same colors
3681 for each user. See |xterm-color| for info about color xterms.
3682
3683 The MSDOS standard colors are fixed (in a console window), so these
3684 have been used for the names. But the meaning of color names in X11
3685 are fixed, so these color settings have been used, to make the
3686 highlighting settings portable (complicated, isn't it?). The
3687 following names are recognized, with the color number used:
3688
3689 *cterm-colors*
3690 NR-16 NR-8 COLOR NAME ~
3691 0 0 Black
3692 1 4 DarkBlue
3693 2 2 DarkGreen
3694 3 6 DarkCyan
3695 4 1 DarkRed
3696 5 5 DarkMagenta
3697 6 3 Brown, DarkYellow
3698 7 7 LightGray, LightGrey, Gray, Grey
3699 8 0* DarkGray, DarkGrey
3700 9 4* Blue, LightBlue
3701 10 2* Green, LightGreen
3702 11 6* Cyan, LightCyan
3703 12 1* Red, LightRed
3704 13 5* Magenta, LightMagenta
3705 14 3* Yellow, LightYellow
3706 15 7* White
3707
3708 The number under "NR-16" is used for 16-color terminals ('t_Co'
3709 greater than or equal to 16). The number under "NR-8" is used for
3710 8-color terminals ('t_Co' less than 16). The '*' indicates that the
3711 bold attribute is set for ctermfg. In many 8-color terminals (e.g.,
3712 "linux"), this causes the bright colors to appear. This doesn't work
3713 for background colors! Without the '*' the bold attribute is removed.
3714 If you want to set the bold attribute in a different way, put a
3715 "cterm=" argument AFTER the "ctermfg=" or "ctermbg=" argument. Or use
3716 a number instead of a color name.
3717
3718 The case of the color names is ignored.
3719 Note that for 16 color ansi style terminals (including xterms), the
3720 numbers in the NR-8 column is used. Here '*' means 'add 8' so that Blue
3721 is 12, DarkGray is 8 etc.
3722
3723 Note that for some color terminals these names may result in the wrong
3724 colors!
3725
3726 *:hi-normal-cterm*
3727 When setting the "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" colors for the Normal group,
3728 these will become the colors used for the non-highlighted text.
3729 Example: >
3730 :highlight Normal ctermfg=grey ctermbg=darkblue
3731< When setting the "ctermbg" color for the Normal group, the
3732 'background' option will be adjusted automatically. This causes the
3733 highlight groups that depend on 'background' to change! This means
3734 you should set the colors for Normal first, before setting other
3735 colors.
3736 When a colorscheme is being used, changing 'background' causes it to
3737 be reloaded, which may reset all colors (including Normal). First
3738 delete the "colors_name" variable when you don't want this.
3739
3740 When you have set "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" for the Normal group, Vim
3741 needs to reset the color when exiting. This is done with the "op"
3742 termcap entry |t_op|. If this doesn't work correctly, try setting the
3743 't_op' option in your .vimrc.
3744 *E419* *E420*
3745 When Vim knows the normal foreground and background colors, "fg" and
3746 "bg" can be used as color names. This only works after setting the
3747 colors for the Normal group and for the MS-DOS console. Example, for
3748 reverse video: >
3749 :highlight Visual ctermfg=bg ctermbg=fg
3750< Note that the colors are used that are valid at the moment this
3751 command are given. If the Normal group colors are changed later, the
3752 "fg" and "bg" colors will not be adjusted.
3753
3754
37553. highlight arguments for the GUI
3756
3757gui={attr-list} *highlight-gui*
3758 These give the attributes to use in the GUI mode.
3759 See |attr-list| for a description.
3760 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They
3761 have the same effect.
3762 Note that the attributes are ignored for the "Normal" group.
3763
3764font={font-name} *highlight-font*
3765 font-name is the name of a font, as it is used on the system Vim
3766 runs on. For X11 this is a complicated name, for example: >
3767 font=-misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-1
3768<
3769 The font-name "NONE" can be used to revert to the default font.
3770 When setting the font for the "Normal" group, this becomes the default
3771 font (until the 'guifont' option is changed; the last one set is
3772 used).
3773 The following only works with Motif and Athena, not with other GUIs:
3774 When setting the font for the "Menu" group, the menus will be changed.
3775 When setting the font for the "Tooltip" group, the tooltips will be
3776 changed.
3777 All fonts used, except for Menu and Tooltip, should be of the same
3778 character size as the default font! Otherwise redrawing problems will
3779 occur.
3780
3781guifg={color-name} *highlight-guifg*
3782guibg={color-name} *highlight-guibg*
3783 These give the foreground (guifg) and background (guibg) color to
3784 use in the GUI. There are a few special names:
3785 NONE no color (transparent)
3786 bg use normal background color
3787 background use normal background color
3788 fg use normal foreground color
3789 foreground use normal foreground color
3790 To use a color name with an embedded space or other special character,
3791 put it in single quotes. The single quote cannot be used then.
3792 Example: >
3793 :hi comment guifg='salmon pink'
3794<
3795 *gui-colors*
3796 Suggested color names (these are available on most systems):
3797 Red LightRed DarkRed
3798 Green LightGreen DarkGreen SeaGreen
3799 Blue LightBlue DarkBlue SlateBlue
3800 Cyan LightCyan DarkCyan
3801 Magenta LightMagenta DarkMagenta
3802 Yellow LightYellow Brown DarkYellow
3803 Gray LightGray DarkGray
3804 Black White
3805 Orange Purple Violet
3806
3807 In the Win32 GUI version, additional system colors are available. See
3808 |win32-colors|.
3809
3810 You can also specify a color by its Red, Green and Blue values.
3811 The format is "#rrggbb", where
3812 "rr" is the Red value
3813 "bb" is the Blue value
3814 "gg" is the Green value
3815 All values are hexadecimal, range from "00" to "ff". Examples: >
3816 :highlight Comment guifg=#11f0c3 guibg=#ff00ff
3817<
3818 *highlight-groups* *highlight-default*
3819These are the default highlighting groups. These groups are used by the
3820'highlight' option default. Note that the highlighting depends on the value
3821of 'background'. You can see the current settings with the ":highlight"
3822command.
3823 *hl-Cursor*
3824Cursor the character under the cursor
3825 *hl-CursorIM*
3826CursorIM like Cursor, but used when in IME mode |CursorIM|
3827 *hl-Directory*
3828Directory directory names (and other special names in listings)
3829 *hl-DiffAdd*
3830DiffAdd diff mode: Added line |diff.txt|
3831 *hl-DiffChange*
3832DiffChange diff mode: Changed line |diff.txt|
3833 *hl-DiffDelete*
3834DiffDelete diff mode: Deleted line |diff.txt|
3835 *hl-DiffText*
3836DiffText diff mode: Changed text within a changed line |diff.txt|
3837 *hl-ErrorMsg*
3838ErrorMsg error messages on the command line
3839 *hl-VertSplit*
3840VertSplit the column separating vertically split windows
3841 *hl-Folded*
3842Folded line used for closed folds
3843 *hl-FoldColumn*
3844FoldColumn 'foldcolumn'
3845 *hl-SignColumn*
3846SignColumn column where |signs| are displayed
3847 *hl-IncSearch*
3848IncSearch 'incsearch' highlighting; also used for the text replaced with
3849 ":s///c"
3850 *hl-LineNr*
3851LineNr line number for ":number" and ":#" commands, and when 'number'
3852 option is set.
3853 *hl-ModeMsg*
3854ModeMsg 'showmode' message (e.g., "-- INSERT --")
3855 *hl-MoreMsg*
3856MoreMsg |more-prompt|
3857 *hl-NonText*
3858NonText '~' and '@' at the end of the window, characters from
3859 'showbreak' and other characters that do not really exist in
3860 the text (e.g., ">" displayed when a double-wide character
3861 doesn't fit at the end of the line).
3862 *hl-Normal*
3863Normal normal text
3864 *hl-Question*
3865Question |hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions
3866 *hl-Search*
3867Search Last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch').
3868 Also used for highlighting the current line in the quickfix
3869 window and similar items that need to stand out.
3870 *hl-SpecialKey*
3871SpecialKey Meta and special keys listed with ":map", also for text used
3872 to show unprintable characters in the text, 'listchars'.
3873 Generally: text that is displayed differently from what it
3874 really is.
3875 *hl-StatusLine*
3876StatusLine status line of current window
3877 *hl-StatusLineNC*
3878StatusLineNC status lines of not-current windows
3879 Note: if this is equal to "StatusLine" Vim will use "^^^" in
3880 the status line of the current window.
3881 *hl-Title*
3882Title titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc.
3883 *hl-Visual*
3884Visual Visual mode selection
3885 *hl-VisualNOS*
3886VisualNOS Visual mode selection when vim is "Not Owning the Selection".
3887 Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and |xterm-clipboard| supports this.
3888 *hl-WarningMsg*
3889WarningMsg warning messages
3890 *hl-WildMenu*
3891WildMenu current match in 'wildmenu' completion
3892
3893 *hl-User1* *hl-User1..9*
3894The 'statusline' syntax allows the use of 9 different highlights in the
3895statusline and ruler (via 'rulerformat'). The names are User1 to User9.
3896
3897For the GUI you can use these groups to set the colors for the menu,
3898scrollbars and tooltips. They don't have defaults. This doesn't work for the
3899Win32 GUI. Only three highlight arguments have any effect here: font, guibg,
3900and guifg.
3901
3902 *hl-Menu*
3903Menu Current font, background and foreground colors of the menus.
3904 Also used for the toolbar.
3905 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
3906
3907 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
3908 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
3909 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
3910 set.
3911
3912 *hl-Scrollbar*
3913Scrollbar Current background and foreground of the main window's
3914 scrollbars.
3915 Applicable highlight arguments: guibg, guifg.
3916
3917 *hl-Tooltip*
3918Tooltip Current font, background and foreground of the tooltips.
3919 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
3920
3921 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
3922 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
3923 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
3924 set.
3925
3926==============================================================================
392713. Linking groups *:hi-link* *:highlight-link* *E412* *E413*
3928
3929When you want to use the same highlighting for several syntax groups, you
3930can do this more easily by linking the groups into one common highlight
3931group, and give the color attributes only for that group.
3932
3933To set a link:
3934
3935 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} {to-group}
3936
3937To remove a link:
3938
3939 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} NONE
3940
3941Notes: *E414*
3942- If the {from-group} and/or {to-group} doesn't exist, it is created. You
3943 don't get an error message for a non-existing group.
3944- As soon as you use a ":highlight" command for a linked group, the link is
3945 removed.
3946- If there are already highlight settings for the {from-group}, the link is
3947 not made, unless the '!' is given. For a ":highlight link" command in a
3948 sourced file, you don't get an error message. This can be used to skip
3949 links for groups that already have settings.
3950
3951 *:hi-default* *:highlight-default*
3952The [default] argument is used for setting the default highlighting for a
3953group. If highlighting has already been specified for the group the command
3954will be ignored. Also when there is an existing link.
3955
3956Using [default] is especially useful to overrule the highlighting of a
3957specific syntax file. For example, the C syntax file contains: >
3958 :highlight default link cComment Comment
3959If you like Question highlighting for C comments, put this in your vimrc file: >
3960 :highlight link cComment Question
3961Without the "default" in the C syntax file, the highlighting would be
3962overruled when the syntax file is loaded.
3963
3964==============================================================================
396514. Cleaning up *:syn-clear* *E391*
3966
3967If you want to clear the syntax stuff for the current buffer, you can use this
3968command: >
3969 :syntax clear
3970
3971This command should be used when you want to switch off syntax highlighting,
3972or when you want to switch to using another syntax. It's normally not needed
3973in a syntax file itself, because syntax is cleared by the autocommands that
3974load the syntax file.
3975The command also deletes the "b:current_syntax" variable, since no syntax is
3976loaded after this command.
3977
3978If you want to disable syntax highlighting for all buffers, you need to remove
3979the autocommands that load the syntax files: >
3980 :syntax off
3981
3982What this command actually does, is executing the command >
3983 :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
3984See the "nosyntax.vim" file for details. Note that for this to work
3985$VIMRUNTIME must be valid. See |$VIMRUNTIME|.
3986
3987To clean up specific syntax groups for the current buffer: >
3988 :syntax clear {group-name} ..
3989This removes all patterns and keywords for {group-name}.
3990
3991To clean up specific syntax group lists for the current buffer: >
3992 :syntax clear @{grouplist-name} ..
3993This sets {grouplist-name}'s contents to an empty list.
3994
3995 *:syntax-reset* *:syn-reset*
3996If you have changed the colors and messed them up, use this command to get the
3997defaults back: >
3998
3999 :syntax reset
4000
4001This doesn't change the colors for the 'highlight' option.
4002
4003Note that the syntax colors that you set in your vimrc file will also be reset
4004back to their Vim default.
4005Note that if you are using a color scheme, the colors defined by the color
4006scheme for syntax highlighting will be lost.
4007
4008What this actually does is: >
4009
4010 let g:syntax_cmd = "reset"
4011 runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim
4012
4013Note that this uses the 'runtimepath' option.
4014
4015 *syncolor*
4016If you want to use different colors for syntax highlighting, you can add a Vim
4017script file to set these colors. Put this file in a directory in
4018'runtimepath' which comes after $VIMRUNTIME, so that your settings overrule
4019the default colors. This way these colors will be used after the ":syntax
4020reset" command.
4021
4022For Unix you can use the file ~/.vim/after/syntax/syncolor.vim. Example: >
4023
4024 if &background == "light"
4025 highlight comment ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
4026 else
4027 highlight comment ctermfg=green guifg=green
4028 endif
4029
Bram Moolenaarc0197e22004-09-13 20:26:32 +00004030 *E679*
4031Do make sure this syncolor.vim script does not use a "syntax on", set the
4032'background' option or uses a "colorscheme" command, because it results in an
4033endless loop.
4034
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004035Note that when a color scheme is used, there might be some confusion whether
4036your defined colors are to be used or the colors from the scheme. This
4037depends on the color scheme file. See |:colorscheme|.
4038
4039 *syntax_cmd*
4040The "syntax_cmd" variable is set to one of these values when the
4041syntax/syncolor.vim files are loaded:
4042 "on" ":syntax on" command. Highlight colors are overruled but
4043 links are kept
4044 "enable" ":syntax enable" command. Only define colors for groups that
4045 don't have highlighting yet. Use ":syntax default".
4046 "reset" ":syntax reset" command or loading a color scheme. Define all
4047 the colors.
4048 "skip" Don't define colors. Used to skip the default settings when a
4049 syncolor.vim file earlier in 'runtimepath' has already set
4050 them.
4051
4052==============================================================================
405315. Highlighting tags *tag-highlight*
4054
4055If you want to highlight all the tags in your file, you can use the following
4056mappings.
4057
4058 <F11> -- Generate tags.vim file, and highlight tags.
4059 <F12> -- Just highlight tags based on existing tags.vim file.
4060>
4061 :map <F11> :sp tags<CR>:%s/^\([^ :]*:\)\=\([^ ]*\).*/syntax keyword Tag \2/<CR>:wq! tags.vim<CR>/^<CR><F12>
4062 :map <F12> :so tags.vim<CR>
4063
4064WARNING: The longer the tags file, the slower this will be, and the more
4065memory Vim will consume.
4066
4067Only highlighting typedefs, unions and structs can be done too. For this you
4068must use Exuberant ctags (found at http://ctags.sf.net).
4069
4070Put these lines in your Makefile:
4071
4072# Make a highlight file for types. Requires Exuberant ctags and awk
4073types: types.vim
4074types.vim: *.[ch]
4075 ctags -i=gstuS -o- *.[ch] |\
4076 awk 'BEGIN{printf("syntax keyword Type\t")}\
4077 {printf("%s ", $$1)}END{print ""}' > $@
4078
4079And put these lines in your .vimrc: >
4080
4081 " load the types.vim highlighting file, if it exists
4082 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] let fname = expand('<afile>:p:h') . '/types.vim'
4083 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] if filereadable(fname)
4084 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] exe 'so ' . fname
4085 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] endif
4086
4087==============================================================================
408816. Color xterms *xterm-color* *color-xterm*
4089
4090Most color xterms have only eight colors. If you don't get colors with the
4091default setup, it should work with these lines in your .vimrc: >
4092 :if &term =~ "xterm"
4093 : if has("terminfo")
4094 : set t_Co=8
4095 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%p1%dm
4096 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%p1%dm
4097 : else
4098 : set t_Co=8
4099 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4100 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4101 : endif
4102 :endif
4103< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4104
4105You might want to change the first "if" to match the name of your terminal,
4106e.g. "dtterm" instead of "xterm".
4107
4108Note: Do these settings BEFORE doing ":syntax on". Otherwise the colors may
4109be wrong.
4110 *xiterm* *rxvt*
4111The above settings have been mentioned to work for xiterm and rxvt too.
4112But for using 16 colors in an rxvt these should work with terminfo: >
4113 :set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t25;%p1%{40}%+%e5;%p1%{32}%+%;%dm
4114 :set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t22;%p1%{30}%+%e1;%p1%{22}%+%;%dm
4115<
4116 *colortest.vim*
4117To test your color setup, a file has been included in the Vim distribution.
4118To use it, execute these commands: >
4119 :e $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/colortest.vim
4120 :so %
4121
4122Some versions of xterm (and other terminals, like the linux console) can
4123output lighter foreground colors, even though the number of colors is defined
4124at 8. Therefore Vim sets the "cterm=bold" attribute for light foreground
4125colors, when 't_Co' is 8.
4126
4127 *xfree-xterm*
4128To get 16 colors or more, get the newest xterm version (which should be
4129included with Xfree86 3.3 and later). You can also find the latest version
4130at: >
4131 http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html
4132Here is a good way to configure it. This uses 88 colors and enables the
4133termcap-query feature, which allows Vim to ask the xterm how many colors it
4134supports. >
4135 ./configure --disable-bold-color --enable-88-color --enable-tcap-query
4136If you only get 8 colors, check the xterm compilation settings.
4137(Also see |UTF8-xterm| for using this xterm with UTF-8 character encoding).
4138
4139This xterm should work with these lines in your .vimrc (for 16 colors): >
4140 :if has("terminfo")
4141 : set t_Co=16
4142 : set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{92}%+%;%dm
4143 : set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{82}%+%;%dm
4144 :else
4145 : set t_Co=16
4146 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4147 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4148 :endif
4149< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4150
4151Without |+terminfo|, Vim will recognize these settings, and automatically
4152translate cterm colors of 8 and above to "<Esc>[9%dm" and "<Esc>[10%dm".
4153Colors above 16 are also translated automatically.
4154
4155For 256 colors this has been reported to work: >
4156
4157 :set t_AB=<Esc>[48;5;%dm
4158 :set t_AF=<Esc>[38;5;%dm
4159
4160Or just set the TERM environment variable to "xterm-color" or "xterm-16color"
4161and try if that works.
4162
4163You probably want to use these X resources (in your ~/.Xdefaults file):
4164 XTerm*color0: #000000
4165 XTerm*color1: #c00000
4166 XTerm*color2: #008000
4167 XTerm*color3: #808000
4168 XTerm*color4: #0000c0
4169 XTerm*color5: #c000c0
4170 XTerm*color6: #008080
4171 XTerm*color7: #c0c0c0
4172 XTerm*color8: #808080
4173 XTerm*color9: #ff6060
4174 XTerm*color10: #00ff00
4175 XTerm*color11: #ffff00
4176 XTerm*color12: #8080ff
4177 XTerm*color13: #ff40ff
4178 XTerm*color14: #00ffff
4179 XTerm*color15: #ffffff
4180 Xterm*cursorColor: Black
4181
4182[Note: The cursorColor is required to work around a bug, which changes the
4183cursor color to the color of the last drawn text. This has been fixed by a
4184newer version of xterm, but not everybody is it using yet.]
4185
4186To get these right away, reload the .Xdefaults file to the X Option database
4187Manager (you only need to do this when you just changed the .Xdefaults file): >
4188 xrdb -merge ~/.Xdefaults
4189<
4190 *xterm-blink* *xterm-blinking-cursor*
4191To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see tools/blink.c. Or use Thomas
4192Dickey's xterm above patchlevel 107 (see above for where to get it), with
4193these resources:
4194 XTerm*cursorBlink: on
4195 XTerm*cursorOnTime: 400
4196 XTerm*cursorOffTime: 250
4197 XTerm*cursorColor: White
4198
4199 *hpterm-color*
4200These settings work (more or less) for a hpterm, which only supports 8
4201foreground colors: >
4202 :if has("terminfo")
4203 : set t_Co=8
4204 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%p1%dS
4205 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4206 :else
4207 : set t_Co=8
4208 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%dS
4209 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4210 :endif
4211< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4212
4213 *Eterm* *enlightened-terminal*
4214These settings have been reported to work for the Enlightened terminal
4215emulator, or Eterm. They might work for all xterm-like terminals that use the
4216bold attribute to get bright colors. Add an ":if" like above when needed. >
4217 :set t_Co=16
4218 :set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t3%p1%d%e%p1%{22}%+%d;1%;m
4219 :set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t4%p1%d%e%p1%{32}%+%d;1%;m
4220<
4221 *TTpro-telnet*
4222These settings should work for TTpro telnet. Tera Term Pro is a freeware /
4223open-source program for MS-Windows. >
4224 set t_Co=16
4225 set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{32}%+5;%;%dm
4226 set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{22}%+1;%;%dm
4227Also make sure TTpro's Setup / Window / Full Color is enabled, and make sure
4228that Setup / Font / Enable Bold is NOT enabled.
4229(info provided by John Love-Jensen <eljay@Adobe.COM>)
4230
4231 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl: