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Bram Moolenaarcfbc5ee2004-07-02 15:38:35 +00001*syntax.txt* For Vim version 7.0aa. Last change: 2004 Jul 01
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7Syntax highlighting *syntax* *syntax-highlighting* *coloring*
8
9Syntax highlighting enables Vim to show parts of the text in another font or
10color. Those parts can be specific keywords or text matching a pattern. Vim
11doesn't parse the whole file (to keep it fast), so the highlighting has its
12limitations. Lexical highlighting might be a better name, but since everybody
13calls it syntax highlighting we'll stick with that.
14
15Vim supports syntax highlighting on all terminals. But since most ordinary
16terminals have very limited highlighting possibilities, it works best in the
17GUI version, gvim.
18
19In the User Manual:
20|usr_06.txt| introduces syntax highlighting.
21|usr_44.txt| introduces writing a syntax file.
22
231. Quick start |:syn-qstart|
242. Syntax files |:syn-files|
253. Syntax loading procedure |syntax-loading|
264. Syntax file remarks |:syn-file-remarks|
275. Defining a syntax |:syn-define|
286. :syntax arguments |:syn-arguments|
297. Syntax patterns |:syn-pattern|
308. Syntax clusters |:syn-cluster|
319. Including syntax files |:syn-include|
3210. Synchronizing |:syn-sync|
3311. Listing syntax items |:syntax|
3412. Highlight command |:highlight|
3513. Linking groups |:highlight-link|
3614. Cleaning up |:syn-clear|
3715. Highlighting tags |tag-highlight|
3816. Color xterms |xterm-color|
39
40{Vi does not have any of these commands}
41
42Syntax highlighting is not available when the |+syntax| feature has been
43disabled at compile time.
44
45==============================================================================
461. Quick start *:syn-qstart*
47
48 *:syn-enable* *:syntax-enable*
49This command switches on syntax highlighting: >
50
51 :syntax enable
52
53What this command actually does is to execute the command >
54 :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
55
56If the VIM environment variable is not set, Vim will try to find
57the path in another way (see |$VIMRUNTIME|). Usually this works just
58fine. If it doesn't, try setting the VIM environment variable to the
59directory where the Vim stuff is located. For example, if your syntax files
60are in the "/usr/vim/vim50/syntax" directory, set $VIMRUNTIME to
61"/usr/vim/vim50". You must do this in the shell, before starting Vim.
62
63 *:syn-on* *:syntax-on*
64The ":syntax enable" command will keep your current color settings. This
65allows using ":highlight" commands to set your preferred colors before or
66after using this command. If you want Vim to overrule your settings with the
67defaults, use: >
68 :syntax on
69<
70 *:hi-normal* *:highlight-normal*
71If you are running in the GUI, you can get white text on a black background
72with: >
73 :highlight Normal guibg=Black guifg=White
74For a color terminal see |:hi-normal-cterm|.
75For setting up your own colors syntax highlighting see |syncolor|.
76
77NOTE: The syntax files on MS-DOS and Windows have lines that end in <CR><NL>.
78The files for Unix end in <NL>. This means you should use the right type of
79file for your system. Although on MS-DOS and Windows the right format is
80automatically selected if the 'fileformats' option is not empty.
81
82NOTE: When using reverse video ("gvim -fg white -bg black"), the default value
83of 'background' will not be set until the GUI window is opened, which is after
84reading the .gvimrc. This will cause the wrong default highlighting to be
85used. To set the default value of 'background' before switching on
86highlighting, include the ":gui" command in the .gvimrc: >
87
88 :gui " open window and set default for 'background'
89 :syntax on " start highlighting, use 'background' to set colors
90
91NOTE: Using ":gui" in the .gvimrc means that "gvim -f" won't start in the
92foreground! Use ":gui -f" then.
93
94
95You can toggle the syntax on/off with this command >
96 :if exists("syntax_on") | syntax off | else | syntax enable | endif
97
98To put this into a mapping, you can use: >
99 :map <F7> :if exists("syntax_on") <Bar>
100 \ syntax off <Bar>
101 \ else <Bar>
102 \ syntax enable <Bar>
103 \ endif <CR>
104[using the |<>| notation, type this literally]
105
106Details
107The ":syntax" commands are implemented by sourcing a file. To see exactly how
108this works, look in the file:
109 command file ~
110 :syntax enable $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
111 :syntax on $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
112 :syntax manual $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/manual.vim
113 :syntax off $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
114Also see |syntax-loading|.
115
116==============================================================================
1172. Syntax files *:syn-files*
118
119The syntax and highlighting commands for one language are normally stored in
120a syntax file. The name convention is: "{name}.vim". Where {name} is the
121name of the language, or an abbreviation (to fit the name in 8.3 characters,
122a requirement in case the file is used on a DOS filesystem).
123Examples:
124 c.vim perl.vim java.vim html.vim
125 cpp.vim sh.vim csh.vim
126
127The syntax file can contain any Ex commands, just like a vimrc file. But
128the idea is that only commands for a specific language are included. When a
129language is a superset of another language, it may include the other one,
130for example, the cpp.vim file could include the c.vim file: >
131 :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/c.vim
132
133The .vim files are normally loaded with an autocommand. For example: >
134 :au Syntax c runtime! syntax/c.vim
135 :au Syntax cpp runtime! syntax/cpp.vim
136These commands are normally in the file $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/synload.vim.
137
138
139MAKING YOUR OWN SYNTAX FILES *mysyntaxfile*
140
141When you create your own syntax files, and you want to have Vim use these
142automatically with ":syntax enable", do this:
143
1441. Create your user runtime directory. You would normally use the first item
145 of the 'runtimepath' option. Example for Unix: >
146 mkdir ~/.vim
147
1482. Create a directory in there called "syntax". For Unix: >
149 mkdir ~/.vim/syntax
150
1513. Write the Vim syntax file. Or download one from the internet. Then write
152 it in your syntax directory. For example, for the "mine" syntax: >
153 :w ~/.vim/syntax/mine.vim
154
155Now you can start using your syntax file manually: >
156 :set syntax=mine
157You don't have to exit Vim to use this.
158
159If you also want Vim to detect the type of file, see |new-filetype|.
160
161If you are setting up a system with many users and you don't want each user
162to add the same syntax file, you can use another directory from 'runtimepath'.
163
164
165ADDING TO AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE *mysyntaxfile-add*
166
167If you are mostly satisfied with an existing syntax file, but would like to
168add a few items or change the highlighting, follow these steps:
169
1701. Create your user directory from 'runtimepath', see above.
171
1722. Create a directory in there called "after/syntax". For Unix: >
173 mkdir ~/.vim/after
174 mkdir ~/.vim/after/syntax
175
1763. Write a Vim script that contains the commands you want to use. For
177 example, to change the colors for the C syntax: >
178 highlight cComment ctermfg=Green guifg=Green
179
1804. Write that file in the "after/syntax" directory. Use the name of the
181 syntax, with ".vim" added. For our C syntax: >
182 :w ~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim
183
184That's it. The next time you edit a C file the Comment color will be
185different. You don't even have to restart Vim.
186
187
188REPLACING AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE *mysyntaxfile-replace*
189
190If you don't like a distributed syntax file, or you have downloaded a new
191version, follow the same steps as for |mysyntaxfile| above. Just make sure
192that you write the syntax file in a directory that is early in 'runtimepath'.
193Vim will only load the first syntax file found.
194
195
196NAMING CONVENTIONS
197 *group-name* *{group-name}* *E669* *W18*
198The name for a highlight or syntax group must consist of ASCII letters, digits
199and the underscore. As a regexp: "[a-zA-Z0-9_]*"
200
201To be able to allow each user to pick his favorite set of colors, there must
202be preferred names for highlight groups that are common for many languages.
203These are the suggested group names (if syntax highlighting works properly
204you can see the actual color, except for "Ignore"):
205
206 *Comment any comment
207
208 *Constant any constant
209 String a string constant: "this is a string"
210 Character a character constant: 'c', '\n'
211 Number a number constant: 234, 0xff
212 Boolean a boolean constant: TRUE, false
213 Float a floating point constant: 2.3e10
214
215 *Identifier any variable name
216 Function function name (also: methods for classes)
217
218 *Statement any statement
219 Conditional if, then, else, endif, switch, etc.
220 Repeat for, do, while, etc.
221 Label case, default, etc.
222 Operator "sizeof", "+", "*", etc.
223 Keyword any other keyword
224 Exception try, catch, throw
225
226 *PreProc generic Preprocessor
227 Include preprocessor #include
228 Define preprocessor #define
229 Macro same as Define
230 PreCondit preprocessor #if, #else, #endif, etc.
231
232 *Type int, long, char, etc.
233 StorageClass static, register, volatile, etc.
234 Structure struct, union, enum, etc.
235 Typedef A typedef
236
237 *Special any special symbol
238 SpecialChar special character in a constant
239 Tag you can use CTRL-] on this
240 Delimiter character that needs attention
241 SpecialComment special things inside a comment
242 Debug debugging statements
243
244 *Underlined text that stands out, HTML links
245
246 *Ignore left blank, hidden
247
248 *Error any erroneous construct
249
250 *Todo anything that needs extra attention; mostly the
251 keywords TODO FIXME and XXX
252
253The names marked with * are the preferred groups; the others are minor groups.
254For the preferred groups, the "syntax.vim" file contains default highlighting.
255The minor groups are linked to the preferred groups, so they get the same
256highlighting. You can override these defaults by using ":highlight" commands
257after sourcing the "syntax.vim" file.
258
259Note that highlight group names are not case sensitive. "String" and "string"
260can be used for the same group.
261
262The following names are reserved and cannot be used as a group name:
263 NONE ALL ALLBUT contains contained
264
265==============================================================================
2663. Syntax loading procedure *syntax-loading*
267
268This explains the details that happen when the command ":syntax enable" is
269issued. When Vim initializes itself, it finds out where the runtime files are
270located. This is used here as the variable |$VIMRUNTIME|.
271
272":syntax enable" and ":syntax on" do the following:
273
274 Source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
275 |
276 +- Clear out any old syntax by sourcing $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
277 |
278 +- Source first syntax/synload.vim in 'runtimepath'
279 | |
280 | +- Setup the colors for syntax highlighting. If a color scheme is
281 | | defined it is loaded again with ":colors {name}". Otherwise
282 | | ":runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim" is used. ":syntax on" overrules
283 | | existing colors, ":syntax enable" only sets groups that weren't
284 | | set yet.
285 | |
286 | +- Set up syntax autocmds to load the appropriate syntax file when
287 | | the 'syntax' option is set. *synload-1*
288 | |
289 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the |mysyntaxfile| variable.
290 | This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only. *synload-2*
291 |
292 +- Do ":filetype on", which does ":runtime! filetype.vim". It loads any
293 | filetype.vim files found. It should always Source
294 | $VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim, which does the following.
295 | |
296 | +- Install autocmds based on suffix to set the 'filetype' option
297 | | This is where the connection between file name and file type is
298 | | made for known file types. *synload-3*
299 | |
300 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the *myfiletypefile*
301 | | variable. This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
302 | | *synload-4*
303 | |
304 | +- Install one autocommand which sources scripts.vim when no file
305 | | type was detected yet. *synload-5*
306 | |
307 | +- Source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim, to setup the Syntax menu. |menu.vim|
308 |
309 +- Install a FileType autocommand to set the 'syntax' option when a file
310 | type has been detected. *synload-6*
311 |
312 +- Execute syntax autocommands to start syntax highlighting for each
313 already loaded buffer.
314
315
316Upon loading a file, Vim finds the relevant syntax file as follows:
317
318 Loading the file triggers the BufReadPost autocommands.
319 |
320 +- If there is a match with one of the autocommands from |synload-3|
321 | (known file types) or |synload-4| (user's file types), the 'filetype'
322 | option is set to the file type.
323 |
324 +- The autocommand at |synload-5| is triggered. If the file type was not
325 | found yet, then scripts.vim is searched for in 'runtimepath'. This
326 | should always load $VIMRUNTIME/scripts.vim, which does the following.
327 | |
328 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the *myscriptsfile*
329 | | variable. This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
330 | |
331 | +- If the file type is still unknown, check the contents of the file,
332 | again with checks like "getline(1) =~ pattern" as to whether the
333 | file type can be recognized, and set 'filetype'.
334 |
335 +- When the file type was determined and 'filetype' was set, this
336 | triggers the FileType autocommand |synload-6| above. It sets
337 | 'syntax' to the determined file type.
338 |
339 +- When the 'syntax' option was set above, this triggers an autocommand
340 | from |synload-1| (and |synload-2|). This find the main syntax file in
341 | 'runtimepath', with this command:
342 | runtime! syntax/<name>.vim
343 |
344 +- Any other user installed FileType or Syntax autocommands are
345 triggered. This can be used to change the highlighting for a specific
346 syntax.
347
348==============================================================================
3494. Syntax file remarks *:syn-file-remarks*
350
351 *b:current_syntax-variable*
352Vim stores the name of the syntax that has been loaded in the
353"b:current_syntax" variable. You can use this if you want to load other
354settings, depending on which syntax is active. Example: >
355 :au BufReadPost * if b:current_syntax == "csh"
356 :au BufReadPost * do-some-things
357 :au BufReadPost * endif
358
359
3602HTML *2html.vim* *convert-to-HTML*
361
362This is not a syntax file itself, but a script that converts the current
363window into HTML. Vim opens a new window in which it builds the HTML file.
364
365You are not supposed to set the 'filetype' or 'syntax' option to "2html"!
366Source the script to convert the current file: >
367
368 :runtime! syntax/2html.vim
369<
370Warning: This is slow!
371 *:TOhtml*
372Or use the ":TOhtml" user command. It is defined in a standard plugin.
373":TOhtml" also works with a range and in a Visual area: >
374
375 :10,40TOhtml
376
377After you save the resulting file, you can view it with any HTML viewer, such
378as Netscape. The colors should be exactly the same as you see them in Vim.
379
380To restrict the conversion to a range of lines set "html_start_line" and
381"html_end_line" to the first and last line to be converted. Example, using
382the last set Visual area: >
383
384 :let html_start_line = line("'<")
385 :let html_end_line = line("'>")
386
387The lines are numbered according to 'number' option and the Number
388highlighting. You can force lines to be numbered in the HTML output by
389setting "html_number_lines" to non-zero value: >
390 :let html_number_lines = 1
391Force to omit the line numbers by using a zero value: >
392 :let html_number_lines = 0
393Go back to the default to use 'number' by deleting the variable: >
394 :unlet html_number_lines
395
396By default, HTML optimized for old browsers is generated. If you prefer using
397cascading style sheets (CSS1) for the attributes (resulting in considerably
398shorter and valid HTML 4 file), use: >
399 :let html_use_css = 1
400
401By default "<pre>" and "</pre>" is used around the text. This makes it show
402up as you see it in Vim, but without wrapping. If you prefer wrapping, at the
403risk of making some things look a bit different, use: >
404 :let html_no_pre = 1
405This will use <br> at the end of each line and use "&nbsp;" for repeated
406spaces.
407
408The current value of 'encoding' is used to specify the charset of the HTML
409file. This only works for those values of 'encoding' that have an equivalent
410HTML charset name. To overrule this set g:html_use_encoding to the name of
411the charset to be used: >
412 :let html_use_encoding = "foobar"
413To omit the line that specifies the charset, set g:html_use_encoding to an
414empty string: >
415 :let html_use_encoding = ""
416To go back to the automatic mechanism, delete the g:html_use_encoding
417variable: >
418 :unlet html_use_encoding
419<
420 *convert-to-XML* *convert-to-XHTML*
421An alternative is to have the script generate XHTML (XML compliant HTML). To
422do this set the "use_xhtml" variable: >
423 :let use_xhtml = 1
424To disable it again delete the variable: >
425 :unlet use_xhtml
426The generated XHTML file can be used in DocBook XML documents. See:
427 http://people.mech.kuleuven.ac.be/~pissaris/howto/src2db.html
428
429Remarks:
430- This only works in a version with GUI support. If the GUI is not actually
431 running (possible for X11) it still works, but not very well (the colors
432 may be wrong).
433- Older browsers will not show the background colors.
434- From most browsers you can also print the file (in color)!
435
436Here is an example how to run the script over all .c and .h files from a
437Unix shell: >
438 for f in *.[ch]; do gvim -f +"syn on" +"run! syntax/2html.vim" +"wq" +"q" $f; done
439<
440
441ABEL *abel.vim* *abel-syntax*
442
443ABEL highlighting provides some user-defined options. To enable them, assign
444any value to the respective variable. Example: >
445 :let abel_obsolete_ok=1
446To disable them use ":unlet". Example: >
447 :unlet abel_obsolete_ok
448
449Variable Highlight ~
450abel_obsolete_ok obsolete keywords are statements, not errors
451abel_cpp_comments_illegal do not interpret '//' as inline comment leader
452
453
454ADA *ada.vim* *ada-syntax*
455
456This mode is designed for the 1995 edition of Ada ("Ada95"), which
457includes support for objected-programming, protected types, and so on.
458It handles code written for the original Ada language
459("Ada83" or "Ada87") as well, though Ada83 code which uses Ada95-only
460keywords will be wrongly colored (such code should be fixed anyway).
461For more information about Ada, see http://www.adapower.com.
462
463The Ada mode handles a number of situations cleanly.
464For example, it knows that the "-" in "-5" is a number, but the same
465character in "A-5" is an operator. Normally, a "with" or "use" clause
466referencing another compilation unit is colored the same way as C's
467"#include" is colored. If you have "Conditional" or "Repeat"
468groups colored differently, then "end if" and "end loop" will be
469colored as part of those respective groups.
470You can set these to different colors using vim's "highlight" command
471(e.g., to change how loops are displayed, enter the command
472":hi Repeat" followed by the color specification; on simple terminals
473the color specification ctermfg=White often shows well).
474
475There are several options you can select in this Ada mode.
476To enable them, assign a value to the option. For example, to turn one on:
477 let ada_standard_types = 1
478To disable them use ":unlet". Example:
479 unlet ada_standard_types = 1
480You can just use ":" and type these into the command line to set these
481temporarily before loading an Ada file. You can make these option settings
482permanent by adding the "let" command(s), without a colon,
483to your "~/.vimrc" file.
484
485Here are the Ada mode options:
486
487Variable Action ~
488ada_standard_types Highlight types in package Standard (e.g., "Float")
489ada_space_errors Highlight extraneous errors in spaces...
490ada_no_trail_space_error but ignore trailing spaces at the end of a line
491ada_no_tab_space_error but ignore tabs after spaces
492ada_withuse_ordinary Show "with" and "use" as ordinary keywords
493 (when used to reference other compilation units
494 they're normally highlighted specially).
495ada_begin_preproc Show all begin-like keywords using the coloring
496 of C preprocessor commands.
497
498Even on a slow (90Mhz) PC this mode works quickly, but if you find
499the performance unacceptable, turn on ada_withuse_ordinary.
500
501
502ANT *ant.vim* *ant-syntax*
503
504The ant syntax file provides syntax highlighting for javascript and python
505by default. Syntax highlighting for other script languages can be installed
506by the function AntSyntaxScript(), which takes the tag name as first argument
507and the script syntax file name as second argument. Example: >
508
509 :call AntSyntaxScript('perl', 'perl.vim')
510
511will install syntax perl highlighting for the following ant code >
512
513 <script language = 'perl'><![CDATA[
514 # everything inside is highlighted as perl
515 ]]></script>
516
517See |mysyntaxfile-add| for installing script languages permanently.
518
519
520APACHE *apache.vim* *apache-syntax*
521
522The apache syntax file provides syntax highlighting depending on Apache HTTP
523server version, by default for 1.3.x. Set "apache_version" to Apache version
524(as a string) to get highlighting for another version. Example: >
525
526 :let apache_version = "2.0"
527<
528
529 *asm.vim* *asmh8300.vim* *nasm.vim* *masm.vim* *asm68k*
530ASSEMBLY *asm-syntax* *asmh8300-syntax* *nasm-syntax* *masm-syntax*
531 *asm68k-syntax* *fasm.vim*
532
533Files matching "*.i" could be Progress or Assembly. If the automatic detection
534doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
535startup vimrc: >
536 :let filetype_i = "asm"
537Replace "asm" with the type of assembly you use.
538
539There are many types of assembly languages that all use the same file name
540extensions. Therefore you will have to select the type yourself, or add a
541line in the assembly file that Vim will recognize. Currently these syntax
542files are included:
543 asm GNU assembly (the default)
544 asm68k Motorola 680x0 assembly
545 asmh8300 Hitachi H-8300 version of GNU assembly
546 ia64 Intel Itanium 64
547 fasm Flat assembly (http://flatassembler.net)
548 masm Microsoft assembly (probably works for any 80x86)
549 nasm Netwide assembly
550 tasm Turbo Assembly (with opcodes 80x86 up to Pentium, and
551 MMX)
552 pic PIC assembly (currently for PIC16F84)
553
554The most flexible is to add a line in your assembly file containing: >
555 :asmsyntax=nasm
556Replace "nasm" with the name of the real assembly syntax. This line must be
557one of the first five lines in the file.
558
559The syntax type can always be overruled for a specific buffer by setting the
560b:asmsyntax variable: >
561 :let b:asmsyntax=nasm
562
563If b:asmsyntax is not set, either automatically or by hand, then the value of
564the global variable asmsyntax is used. This can be seen as a default assembly
565language: >
566 :let asmsyntax=nasm
567
568As a last resort, if nothing is defined, the "asm" syntax is used.
569
570
571Netwide assembler (nasm.vim) optional highlighting ~
572
573To enable a feature: >
574 :let {variable}=1|set syntax=nasm
575To disable a feature: >
576 :unlet {variable} |set syntax=nasm
577
578Variable Highlight ~
579nasm_loose_syntax unofficial parser allowed syntax not as Error
580 (parser dependent; not recommended)
581nasm_ctx_outside_macro contexts outside macro not as Error
582nasm_no_warn potentially risky syntax not as ToDo
583
584
585ASPPERL and ASPVBS *aspperl-syntax* *aspvbs-syntax*
586
587*.asp and *.asa files could be either Perl or Visual Basic script. Since it's
588hard to detect this you can set two global variables to tell Vim what you are
589using. For Perl script use: >
590 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspperl"
591 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspperl"
592For Visual Basic use: >
593 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspvbs"
594 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspvbs"
595
596
597BASIC *basic.vim* *vb.vim* *basic-syntax* *vb-syntax*
598
599Both Visual Basic and "normal" basic use the extension ".bas". To detect
600which one should be used, Vim checks for the string "VB_Name" in the first
601five lines of the file. If it is not found, filetype will be "basic",
602otherwise "vb". Files with the ".frm" extension will always be seen as Visual
603Basic.
604
605
606C *c.vim* *c-syntax*
607
608A few things in C highlighting are optional. To enable them assign any value
609to the respective variable. Example: >
610 :let c_comment_strings=1
611To disable them use ":unlet". Example: >
612 :unlet c_comment_strings
613
614Variable Highlight ~
615c_gnu GNU gcc specific items
616c_comment_strings strings and numbers inside a comment
617c_space_errors trailing white space and spaces before a <Tab>
618c_no_trail_space_error ... but no trailing spaces
619c_no_tab_space_error ... but no spaces before a <Tab>
620c_no_bracket_error don't highlight {}; inside [] as errors
621c_no_ansi don't do standard ANSI types and constants
622c_ansi_typedefs ... but do standard ANSI types
623c_ansi_constants ... but do standard ANSI constants
624c_no_utf don't highlight \u and \U in strings
625c_syntax_for_h use C syntax for *.h files, instead of C++
626c_no_if0 don't highlight "#if 0" blocks as comments
627c_no_cformat don't highlight %-formats in strings
628c_no_c99 don't highlight C99 standard items
629
630If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
631when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "c_minlines" internal variable
632to a larger number: >
633 :let c_minlines = 100
634This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
635displayed line. The default value is 50 (15 when c_no_if0 is set). The
636disadvantage of using a larger number is that redrawing can become slow.
637
638When using the "#if 0" / "#endif" comment highlighting, notice that this only
639works when the "#if 0" is within "c_minlines" from the top of the window. If
640you have a long "#if 0" construct it will not be highlighted correctly.
641
642To match extra items in comments, use the cCommentGroup cluster.
643Example: >
644 :au Syntax c call MyCadd()
645 :function MyCadd()
646 : syn keyword cMyItem contained Ni
647 : syn cluster cCommentGroup add=cMyItem
648 : hi link cMyItem Title
649 :endfun
650
651ANSI constants will be highlighted with the "cConstant" group. This includes
652"NULL", "SIG_IGN" and others. But not "TRUE", for example, because this is
653not in the ANSI standard. If you find this confusing, remove the cConstant
654highlighting: >
655 :hi link cConstant NONE
656
657If you see '{' and '}' highlighted as an error where they are OK, reset the
658highlighting for cErrInParen and cErrInBracket.
659
660If you want to use folding in your C files, you can add these lines in a file
661an the "after" directory in 'runtimepath'. For Unix this would be
662~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim. >
663 syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
664 syn sync fromstart
665 set foldmethod=syntax
666
667
668CHILL *chill.vim* *chill-syntax*
669
670Chill syntax highlighting is similar to C. See |c.vim| for all the settings
671that are available. Additionally there is:
672
673chill_syntax_for_h use Ch syntax for *.h files, instead of C or C++
674chill_space_errors like c_space_errors
675chill_comment_string like c_comment_strings
676chill_minlines like c_minlines
677
678
679CHANGELOG *changelog.vim* *changelog-syntax*
680
681ChangeLog supports highlighting spaces at the start of a line.
682If you do not like this, add following line to your .vimrc: >
683 let g:changelog_spacing_errors = 0
684This works the next time you edit a changelog file. You can also use
685"b:changelog_spacing_errors" to set this per buffer (before loading the syntax
686file).
687
688You can change the highlighting used, e.g., to flag the spaces as an error: >
689 :hi link ChangelogError Error
690Or to avoid the highlighting: >
691 :hi link ChangelogError NONE
692This works immediately.
693
694
695COBOL *cobol.vim* *cobol-syntax*
696
697COBOL highlighting has different needs for legacy code than it does for fresh
698development. This is due to differences in what is being done (maintenance
699versus development) and other factors. To enable legacy code highlighting,
700add this line to your .vimrc: >
701 :let cobol_legacy_code = 1
702To disable it again, use this: >
703 :unlet cobol_legacy_code
704
705
706COLD FUSION *coldfusion.vim* *coldfusion-syntax*
707
708The ColdFusion has its own version of HTML comments. To turn on ColdFusion
709comment highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
710
711 :let html_wrong_comments = 1
712
713The ColdFusion syntax file is based on the HTML syntax file.
714
715
716CSH *csh.vim* *csh-syntax*
717
718This covers the shell named "csh". Note that on some systems tcsh is actually
719used.
720
721Detecting whether a file is csh or tcsh is notoriously hard. Some systems
722symlink /bin/csh to /bin/tcsh, making it almost impossible to distinguish
723between csh and tcsh. In case VIM guesses wrong you can set the
724"filetype_csh" variable. For using csh: >
725
726 :let filetype_csh = "csh"
727
728For using tcsh: >
729
730 :let filetype_csh = "tcsh"
731
732Any script with a tcsh extension or a standard tcsh filename (.tcshrc,
733tcsh.tcshrc, tcsh.login) will have filetype tcsh. All other tcsh/csh scripts
734will be classified as tcsh, UNLESS the "filetype_csh" variable exists. If the
735"filetype_csh" variable exists, the filetype will be set to the value of the
736variable.
737
738
739CYNLIB *cynlib.vim* *cynlib-syntax*
740
741Cynlib files are C++ files that use the Cynlib class library to enable
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +0000742hardware modelling and simulation using C++. Typically Cynlib files have a .cc
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000743or a .cpp extension, which makes it very difficult to distinguish them from a
744normal C++ file. Thus, to enable Cynlib highlighting for .cc files, add this
745line to your .vimrc file: >
746
747 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cc=1
748
749Similarly for cpp files (this extension is only usually used in Windows) >
750
751 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp=1
752
753To disable these again, use this: >
754
755 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cc
756 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp
757<
758
759CWEB *cweb.vim* *cweb-syntax*
760
761Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection
762doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
763startup vimrc: >
764 :let filetype_w = "cweb"
765
766
767DESKTOP *desktop.vim* *desktop-syntax*
768
769Primary goal of this syntax file is to highlight .desktop and .directory files
770according to freedesktop.org standard: http://pdx.freedesktop.org/Standards/
771But actually almost none implements this standard fully. Thus it will
772highlight all Unix ini files. But you can force strict highlighting according
773to standard by placing this in your vimrc file: >
774 :let enforce_freedesktop_standard = 1
775
776
777DIRCOLORS *dircolors.vim* *dircolors-syntax*
778
779The dircolors utility highlighting definition has one option. It exists to
780provide compatibility with the Slackware GNU/Linux distributions version of
781the command. It adds a few keywords that are generally ignored by most
782versions. On Slackware systems, however, the utility accepts the keywords and
783uses them for processing. To enable the Slackware keywords add the following
784line to your startup file: >
785 let dircolors_is_slackware = 1
786
787
788DOCBOOK *docbk.vim* *docbk-syntax* *docbook*
789DOCBOOK XML *docbkxml.vim* *docbkxml-syntax*
790DOCBOOK SGML *docbksgml.vim* *docbksgml-syntax*
791
792There are two types of DocBook files: SGML and XML. To specify what type you
793are using the "b:docbk_type" variable should be set. Vim does this for you
794automatically if it can recognize the type. When Vim can't guess it the type
795defaults to XML.
796You can set the type manually: >
797 :let docbk_type = "sgml"
798or: >
799 :let docbk_type = "xml"
800You need to do this before loading the syntax file, which is complicated.
801Simpler is setting the filetype to "docbkxml" or "docbksgml": >
802 :set filetype=docbksgml
803or: >
804 :set filetype=docbkxml
805
806
807DOSBATCH *dosbatch.vim* *dosbatch-syntax*
808
809There is one option with highlighting DOS batch files. This covers new
810extensions to the Command Interpreter introduced with Windows 2000 and
811is controlled by the variable dosbatch_cmdextversion. For Windows NT
812this should have the value 1, and for Windows 2000 it should be 2.
813Select the version you want with the following line: >
814
815 :let dosbatch_cmdextversion = 1
816
817If this variable is not defined it defaults to a value of 2 to support
818Windows 2000.
819
820
821DTD *dtd.vim* *dtd-syntax*
822
823The DTD syntax highlighting is case sensitive by default. To disable
824case-sensitive highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
825
826 :let dtd_ignore_case=1
827
828The DTD syntax file will highlight unknown tags as errors. If
829this is annoying, it can be turned off by setting: >
830
831 :let dtd_no_tag_errors=1
832
833before sourcing the dtd.vim syntax file.
834Parameter entity names are highlighted in the definition using the
835'Type' highlighting group and 'Comment' for punctuation and '%'.
836Parameter entity instances are highlighted using the 'Constant'
837highlighting group and the 'Type' highlighting group for the
838delimiters % and ;. This can be turned off by setting: >
839
840 :let dtd_no_param_entities=1
841
842The DTD syntax file is also included by xml.vim to highlight included dtd's.
843
844
845EIFFEL *eiffel.vim* *eiffel-syntax*
846
847While Eiffel is not case-sensitive, its style guidelines are, and the
848syntax highlighting file encourages their use. This also allows to
849highlight class names differently. If you want to disable case-sensitive
850highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
851
852 :let eiffel_ignore_case=1
853
854Case still matters for class names and TODO marks in comments.
855
856Conversely, for even stricter checks, add one of the following lines: >
857
858 :let eiffel_strict=1
859 :let eiffel_pedantic=1
860
861Setting eiffel_strict will only catch improper capitalization for the
862five predefined words "Current", "Void", "Result", "Precursor", and
863"NONE", to warn against their accidental use as feature or class names.
864
865Setting eiffel_pedantic will enforce adherence to the Eiffel style
866guidelines fairly rigorously (like arbitrary mixes of upper- and
867lowercase letters as well as outdated ways to capitalize keywords).
868
869If you want to use the lower-case version of "Current", "Void",
870"Result", and "Precursor", you can use >
871
872 :let eiffel_lower_case_predef=1
873
874instead of completely turning case-sensitive highlighting off.
875
876Support for ISE's proposed new creation syntax that is already
877experimentally handled by some compilers can be enabled by: >
878
879 :let eiffel_ise=1
880
881Finally, some vendors support hexadecimal constants. To handle them, add >
882
883 :let eiffel_hex_constants=1
884
885to your startup file.
886
887
888ERLANG *erlang.vim* *erlang-syntax*
889
890The erlang highlighting supports Erlang (ERicsson LANGuage).
891Erlang is case sensitive and default extension is ".erl".
892
893If you want to disable keywords highlighting, put in your .vimrc: >
894 :let erlang_keywords = 1
895If you want to disable built-in-functions highlighting, put in your
896.vimrc file: >
897 :let erlang_functions = 1
898If you want to disable special characters highlighting, put in
899your .vimrc: >
900 :let erlang_characters = 1
901
902
903FORM *form.vim* *form-syntax*
904
905The coloring scheme for syntax elements in the FORM file uses the default
906modes Conditional, Number, Statement, Comment, PreProc, Type, and String,
907following the language specifications in 'Symbolic Manipulation with FORM'' by
908J.A.M. Vermaseren, CAN, Netherlands, 1991.
909
910If you want include your own changes to the default colors, you have to
911redefine the following syntax groups:
912
913 - formConditional
914 - formNumber
915 - formStatement
916 - formHeaderStatement
917 - formComment
918 - formPreProc
919 - formDirective
920 - formType
921 - formString
922
923Note that the form.vim syntax file implements FORM preprocessor commands and
924directives per default in the same syntax group.
925
926A predefined enhanced color mode for FORM is available to distinguish between
927header statements and statements in the body of a FORM program. To activate
928this mode define the following variable in your vimrc file >
929
930 :let form_enhanced_color=1
931
932The enhanced mode also takes advantage of additional color features for a dark
933gvim display. Here, statements are colored LightYellow instead of Yellow, and
934conditionals are LightBlue for better distinction.
935
936
937FORTRAN *fortran.vim* *fortran-syntax*
938
939Default highlighting and dialect ~
940Highlighting appropriate for f95 (Fortran 95) is used by default. This choice
941should be appropriate for most users most of the time because Fortran 95 is a
942superset of Fortran 90 and almost a superset of Fortran 77.
943
944Fortran source code form ~
945Fortran 9x code can be in either fixed or free source form. Note that the
946syntax highlighting will not be correct if the form is incorrectly set.
947
948When you create a new fortran file, the syntax script assumes fixed source
949form. If you always use free source form, then >
950 :let fortran_free_source=1
951in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command. If you always use fixed source
952form, then >
953 :let fortran_fixed_source=1
954in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command.
955
956If the form of the source code depends upon the file extension, then it is
957most convenient to set fortran_free_source in a ftplugin file. For more
958information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
959fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in free source form and the
960rest in fixed source form, add the following code to your ftplugin file >
961 let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
962 if s:extfname ==? "f90"
963 let fortran_free_source=1
964 unlet! fortran_fixed_source
965 else
966 let fortran_fixed_source=1
967 unlet! fortran_free_source
968 endif
969Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
970precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
971
972When you edit an existing fortran file, the syntax script will assume free
973source form if the fortran_free_source variable has been set, and assumes
974fixed source form if the fortran_fixed_source variable has been set. If
975neither of these variables have been set, the syntax script attempts to
976determine which source form has been used by examining the first five columns
977of the first 25 lines of your file. If no signs of free source form are
978detected, then the file is assumed to be in fixed source form. The algorithm
979should work in the vast majority of cases. In some cases, such as a file that
980begins with 25 or more full-line comments, the script may incorrectly decide
981that the fortran code is in fixed form. If that happens, just add a
982non-comment statement beginning anywhere in the first five columns of the
983first twenty five lines, save (:w) and then reload (:e!) the file.
984
985Tabs in fortran files ~
986Tabs are not recognized by the Fortran standards. Tabs are not a good idea in
987fixed format fortran source code which requires fixed column boundaries.
988Therefore, tabs are marked as errors. Nevertheless, some programmers like
989using tabs. If your fortran files contain tabs, then you should set the
990variable fortran_have_tabs in your .vimrc with a command such as >
991 :let fortran_have_tabs=1
992placed prior to the :syntax on command. Unfortunately, the use of tabs will
993mean that the syntax file will not be able to detect incorrect margins.
994
995Syntax folding of fortran files ~
996If you wish to use foldmethod=syntax, then you must first set the variable
997fortran_fold with a command such as >
998 :let fortran_fold=1
999to instruct the syntax script to define fold regions for program units, that
1000is main programs starting with a program statement, subroutines, function
1001subprograms, block data subprograms, interface blocks, and modules. If you
1002also set the variable fortran_fold_conditionals with a command such as >
1003 :let fortran_fold_conditionals=1
1004then fold regions will also be defined for do loops, if blocks, and select
1005case constructs. If you also set the variable
1006fortran_fold_multilinecomments with a command such as >
1007 :let fortran_fold_multilinecomments=1
1008then fold regions will also be defined for three or more consecutive comment
1009lines. Note that defining fold regions can be slow for large files.
1010
1011If fortran_fold, and possibly fortran_fold_conditionals and/or
1012fortran_fold_multilinecomments, have been set, then vim will fold your file if
1013you set foldmethod=syntax. Comments or blank lines placed between two program
1014units are not folded because they are seen as not belonging to any program
1015unit.
1016
1017More precise fortran syntax ~
1018If you set the variable fortran_more_precise with a command such as >
1019 :let fortran_more_precise=1
1020then the syntax coloring will be more precise but slower. In particular,
1021statement labels used in do, goto and arithmetic if statements will be
1022recognized, as will construct names at the end of a do, if, select or forall
1023construct.
1024
1025Non-default fortran dialects ~
1026The syntax script supports five Fortran dialects: f95, f90, f77, the Lahey
1027subset elf90, and the Imagine1 subset F.
1028
1029If you use f77 with extensions, even common ones like do/enddo loops, do/while
1030loops and free source form that are supported by most f77 compilers including
1031g77 (GNU Fortran), then you will probably find the default highlighting
1032satisfactory. However, if you use strict f77 with no extensions, not even free
1033source form or the MIL STD 1753 extensions, then the advantages of setting the
1034dialect to f77 are that names such as SUM are recognized as user variable
1035names and not highlighted as f9x intrinsic functions, that obsolete constructs
1036such as ASSIGN statements are not highlighted as todo items, and that fixed
1037source form will be assumed.
1038
1039If you use elf90 or F, the advantage of setting the dialect appropriately is
1040that f90 features excluded from these dialects will be highlighted as todo
1041items and that free source form will be assumed as required for these
1042dialects.
1043
1044The dialect can be selected by setting the variable fortran_dialect. The
1045permissible values of fortran_dialect are case-sensitive and must be "f95",
1046"f90", "f77", "elf" or "F". Invalid values of fortran_dialect are ignored.
1047
1048If all your fortran files use the same dialect, set fortran_dialect in your
1049.vimrc prior to your syntax on statement. If the dialect depends upon the file
1050extension, then it is most convenient to set it in a ftplugin file. For more
1051information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
1052fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in the elf subset, your
1053ftplugin file should contain the code >
1054 let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
1055 if s:extfname ==? "f90"
1056 let fortran_dialect="elf"
1057 else
1058 unlet! fortran_dialect
1059 endif
1060Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
1061precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
1062
1063Finer control is necessary if the file extension does not uniquely identify
1064the dialect. You can override the default dialect, on a file-by-file basis, by
1065including a comment with the directive "fortran_dialect=xx" (where xx=f77 or
1066elf or F or f90 or f95) in one of the first three lines in your file. For
1067example, your older .f files may be written in extended f77 but your newer
1068ones may be F codes, and you would identify the latter by including in the
1069first three lines of those files a Fortran comment of the form >
1070 ! fortran_dialect=F
1071F overrides elf if both directives are present.
1072
1073Limitations ~
1074Parenthesis checking does not catch too few closing parentheses. Hollerith
1075strings are not recognized. Some keywords may be highlighted incorrectly
1076because Fortran90 has no reserved words.
1077
1078For further information related to fortran, see |fortran-indent| and
1079|fortran-plugin|.
1080
1081
1082FVWM CONFIGURATION FILES *fvwm.vim* *fvwm-syntax*
1083
1084In order for Vim to recognize Fvwm configuration files that do not match
1085the patterns *fvwmrc* or *fvwm2rc* , you must put additional patterns
1086appropriate to your system in your myfiletypes.vim file. For these
1087patterns, you must set the variable "b:fvwm_version" to the major version
1088number of Fvwm, and the 'filetype' option to fvwm.
1089
1090For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/X11/fvwm2/
1091as Fvwm2 configuration files, add the following: >
1092
1093 :au! BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/X11/fvwm2/* let b:fvwm_version = 2 |
1094 \ set filetype=fvwm
1095
1096If you'd like Vim to highlight all valid color names, tell it where to
1097find the color database (rgb.txt) on your system. Do this by setting
1098"rgb_file" to its location. Assuming your color database is located
1099in /usr/X11/lib/X11/, you should add the line >
1100
1101 :let rgb_file = "/usr/X11/lib/X11/rgb.txt"
1102
1103to your .vimrc file.
1104
1105
1106GSP *gsp.vim*
1107
1108The default coloring style for GSP pages is defined by |html.vim|, and
1109the coloring for java code (within java tags or inline between backticks)
1110is defined by |java.vim|. The following HTML groups defined in |html.vim|
1111are redefined to incorporate and highlight inline java code:
1112
1113 htmlString
1114 htmlValue
1115 htmlEndTag
1116 htmlTag
1117 htmlTagN
1118
1119Highlighting should look fine most of the places where you'd see inline
1120java code, but in some special cases it may not. To add another HTML
1121group where you will have inline java code where it does not highlight
1122correctly, just copy the line you want from |html.vim| and add gspJava
1123to the contains clause.
1124
1125The backticks for inline java are highlighted according to the htmlError
1126group to make them easier to see.
1127
1128
1129GROFF *groff.vim* *groff-syntax*
1130
1131The groff syntax file is a wrapper for |nroff.vim|, see the notes
1132under that heading for examples of use and configuration. The purpose
1133of this wrapper is to set up groff syntax extensions by setting the
1134filetype from a |modeline| or in a personal filetype definitions file
1135(see |filetype.txt|).
1136
1137
1138HASKELL *haskell.vim* *lhaskell.vim* *haskell-syntax*
1139
1140The Haskell syntax files support plain Haskell code as well as literate
1141Haskell code, the latter in both Bird style and TeX style. The Haskell
1142syntax highlighting will also highlight C preprocessor directives.
1143
1144If you want to highlight delimiter characters (useful if you have a
1145light-coloured background), add to your .vimrc: >
1146 :let hs_highlight_delimiters = 1
1147To treat True and False as keywords as opposed to ordinary identifiers,
1148add: >
1149 :let hs_highlight_boolean = 1
1150To also treat the names of primitive types as keywords: >
1151 :let hs_highlight_types = 1
1152And to treat the names of even more relatively common types as keywords: >
1153 :let hs_highlight_more_types = 1
1154If you want to highlight the names of debugging functions, put in
1155your .vimrc: >
1156 :let hs_highlight_debug = 1
1157
1158The Haskell syntax highlighting also highlights C preprocessor
1159directives, and flags lines that start with # but are not valid
1160directives as erroneous. This interferes with Haskell's syntax for
1161operators, as they may start with #. If you want to highlight those
1162as operators as opposed to errors, put in your .vimrc: >
1163 :let hs_allow_hash_operator = 1
1164
1165The syntax highlighting for literate Haskell code will try to
1166automatically guess whether your literate Haskell code contains
1167TeX markup or not, and correspondingly highlight TeX constructs
1168or nothing at all. You can override this globally by putting
1169in your .vimrc >
1170 :let lhs_markup = none
1171for no highlighting at all, or >
1172 :let lhs_markup = tex
1173to force the highlighting to always try to highlight TeX markup.
1174For more flexibility, you may also use buffer local versions of
1175this variable, so e.g. >
1176 :let b:lhs_markup = tex
1177will force TeX highlighting for a particular buffer. It has to be
1178set before turning syntax highlighting on for the buffer or
1179loading a file.
1180
1181
1182HTML *html.vim* *html-syntax*
1183
1184The coloring scheme for tags in the HTML file works as follows.
1185
1186The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
1187This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
1188closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
1189defined for you)
1190
1191Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag
1192names are colored with the same color as the <> or </> respectively which
1193makes it easy to spot errors
1194
1195Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
1196names are colored differently than unknown ones.
1197
1198Some HTML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
1199are recognized by the html.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
1200text is shown: <B> <I> <U> <EM> <STRONG> (<EM> is used as an alias for <I>,
1201while <STRONG> as an alias for <B>), <H1> - <H6>, <HEAD>, <TITLE> and <A>, but
1202only if used as a link that is, it must include a href as in
1203<A href="somfile.html">).
1204
1205If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
1206following syntax groups:
1207
1208 - htmlBold
1209 - htmlBoldUnderline
1210 - htmlBoldUnderlineItalic
1211 - htmlUnderline
1212 - htmlUnderlineItalic
1213 - htmlItalic
1214 - htmlTitle for titles
1215 - htmlH1 - htmlH6 for headings
1216
1217To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all with the exception
1218of the last two (htmlTitle and htmlH[1-6], which are optional) and define the
1219following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
1220are read during initialization) >
1221 :let html_my_rendering=1
1222
1223If you'd like to see an example download mysyntax.vim at
1224http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html
1225
1226You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
1227vimrc file: >
1228 :let html_no_rendering=1
1229
1230HTML comments are rather special (see an HTML reference document for the
1231details), and the syntax coloring scheme will highlight all errors.
1232However, if you prefer to use the wrong style (starts with <!-- and
1233ends with --!>) you can define >
1234 :let html_wrong_comments=1
1235
1236JavaScript and Visual Basic embedded inside HTML documents are highlighted as
1237'Special' with statements, comments, strings and so on colored as in standard
1238programming languages. Note that only JavaScript and Visual Basic are currently
1239supported, no other scripting language has been added yet.
1240
1241Embedded and inlined cascading style sheets (CSS) are highlighted too.
1242
1243There are several html preprocessor languages out there. html.vim has been
1244written such that it should be trivial to include it. To do so add the
1245following two lines to the syntax coloring file for that language
1246(the example comes from the asp.vim file):
1247
1248 runtime! syntax/html.vim
1249 syn cluster htmlPreproc add=asp
1250
1251Now you just need to make sure that you add all regions that contain
1252the preprocessor language to the cluster htmlPreproc.
1253
1254
1255HTML/OS (by Aestiva) *htmlos.vim* *htmlos-syntax*
1256
1257The coloring scheme for HTML/OS works as follows:
1258
1259Functions and variable names are the same color by default, because VIM
1260doesn't specify different colors for Functions and Identifiers. To change
1261this (which is recommended if you want function names to be recognizable in a
1262different color) you need to add the following line to either your ~/.vimrc: >
1263 :hi Function term=underline cterm=bold ctermfg=LightGray
1264
1265Of course, the ctermfg can be a different color if you choose.
1266
1267Another issues that HTML/OS runs into is that there is no special filetype to
1268signify that it is a file with HTML/OS coding. You can change this by opening
1269a file and turning on HTML/OS syntax by doing the following: >
1270 :set syntax=htmlos
1271
1272Lastly, it should be noted that the opening and closing characters to begin a
1273block of HTML/OS code can either be << or [[ and >> or ]], respectively.
1274
1275
1276IA64 *ia64.vim* *intel-itanium* *ia64-syntax*
1277
1278Highlighting for the Intel Itanium 64 assembly language. See |asm.vim| for
1279how to recognize this filetype.
1280
1281To have *.inc files be recognized as IA64, add this to your .vimrc file: >
1282 :let g:filetype_inc = "ia64"
1283
1284
1285INFORM *inform.vim* *inform-syntax*
1286
1287Inform highlighting includes symbols provided by the Inform Library, as
1288most programs make extensive use of it. If do not wish Library symbols
1289to be highlighted add this to your vim startup: >
1290 :let inform_highlight_simple=1
1291
1292By default it is assumed that Inform programs are Z-machine targeted,
1293and highlights Z-machine assembly language symbols appropriately. If
1294you intend your program to be targeted to a Glulx/Glk environment you
1295need to add this to your startup sequence: >
1296 :let inform_highlight_glulx=1
1297
1298This will highlight Glulx opcodes instead, and also adds glk() to the
1299set of highlighted system functions.
1300
1301The Inform compiler will flag certain obsolete keywords as errors when
1302it encounters them. These keywords are normally highlighted as errors
1303by Vim. To prevent such error highlighting, you must add this to your
1304startup sequence: >
1305 :let inform_suppress_obsolete=1
1306
1307By default, the language features highlighted conform to Compiler
1308version 6.30 and Library version 6.11. If you are using an older
1309Inform development environment, you may with to add this to your
1310startup sequence: >
1311 :let inform_highlight_old=1
1312
1313
1314JAVA *java.vim* *java-syntax*
1315
1316The java.vim syntax highlighting file offers several options:
1317
1318In Java 1.0.2 it was never possible to have braces inside parens, so this was
1319flagged as an error. Since Java 1.1 this is possible (with anonymous
1320classes), and therefore is no longer marked as an error. If you prefer the old
1321way, put the following line into your vim startup file: >
1322 :let java_mark_braces_in_parens_as_errors=1
1323
1324All identifiers in java.lang.* are always visible in all classes. To
1325highlight them use: >
1326 :let java_highlight_java_lang_ids=1
1327
1328You can also highlight identifiers of most standard java packages if you
1329download the javaid.vim script at http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html.
1330If you prefer to only highlight identifiers of a certain package, say java.io
1331use the following: >
1332 :let java_highlight_java_io=1
1333Check the javaid.vim file for a list of all the packages that are supported.
1334
1335Function names are not highlighted, as the way to find functions depends on
1336how you write java code. The syntax file knows two possible ways to highlight
1337functions:
1338
1339If you write function declarations that are always indented by either
1340a tab, 8 spaces or 2 spaces you may want to set >
1341 :let java_highlight_functions="indent"
1342However, if you follow the Java guidelines about how functions and classes are
1343supposed to be named (with respect to upper and lowercase), use >
1344 :let java_highlight_functions="style"
1345If both options do not work for you, but you would still want function
1346declarations to be highlighted create your own definitions by changing the
1347definitions in java.vim or by creating your own java.vim which includes the
1348original one and then adds the code to highlight functions.
1349
1350In java 1.1 the functions System.out.println() and System.err.println() should
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001351only be used for debugging. Therefore it is possible to highlight debugging
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001352statements differently. To do this you must add the following definition in
1353your startup file: >
1354 :let java_highlight_debug=1
1355The result will be that those statements are highlighted as 'Special'
1356characters. If you prefer to have them highlighted differently you must define
1357new highlightings for the following groups.:
1358 Debug, DebugSpecial, DebugString, DebugBoolean, DebugType
1359which are used for the statement itself, special characters used in debug
1360strings, strings, boolean constants and types (this, super) respectively. I
1361have opted to chose another background for those statements.
1362
1363In order to help you to write code that can be easily ported between
1364java and C++, all C++ keywords are marked as error in a java program.
1365However, if you use them regularly, you may want to define the following
1366variable in your .vimrc file: >
1367 :let java_allow_cpp_keywords=1
1368
1369Javadoc is a program that takes special comments out of java program files and
1370creates HTML pages. The standard configuration will highlight this HTML code
1371similarly to HTML files (see |html.vim|). You can even add javascript
1372and CSS inside this code (see below). There are four differences however:
1373 1. The title (all characters up to the first '.' which is followed by
1374 some white space or up to the first '@') is colored differently (to change
1375 the color change the group CommentTitle).
1376 2. The text is colored as 'Comment'.
1377 3. HTML comments are colored as 'Special'
1378 4. The special javadoc tags (@see, @param, ...) are highlighted as specials
1379 and the argument (for @see, @param, @exception) as Function.
1380To turn this feature off add the following line to your startup file: >
1381 :let java_ignore_javadoc=1
1382
1383If you use the special javadoc comment highlighting described above you
1384can also turn on special highlighting for javascript, visual basic
1385scripts and embedded CSS (stylesheets). This makes only sense if you
1386actually have javadoc comments that include either javascript or embedded
1387CSS. The options to use are >
1388 :let java_javascript=1
1389 :let java_css=1
1390 :let java_vb=1
1391
1392In order to highlight nested parens with different colors define colors
1393for javaParen, javaParen1 and javaParen2, for example with >
1394 :hi link javaParen Comment
1395or >
1396 :hi javaParen ctermfg=blue guifg=#0000ff
1397
1398If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
1399when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "java_minlines" internal variable
1400to a larger number: >
1401 :let java_minlines = 50
1402This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
1403displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger
1404number is that redrawing can become slow.
1405
1406
1407LACE *lace.vim* *lace-syntax*
1408
1409Lace (Language for Assembly of Classes in Eiffel) is case insensitive, but the
1410style guide lines are not. If you prefer case insensitive highlighting, just
1411define the vim variable 'lace_case_insensitive' in your startup file: >
1412 :let lace_case_insensitive=1
1413
1414
1415LEX *lex.vim* *lex-syntax*
1416
1417Lex uses brute-force synchronizing as the "^%%$" section delimiter
1418gives no clue as to what section follows. Consequently, the value for >
1419 :syn sync minlines=300
1420may be changed by the user if s/he is experiencing synchronization
1421difficulties (such as may happen with large lex files).
1422
1423
1424LITE *lite.vim* *lite-syntax*
1425
1426There are two options for the lite syntax highlighting.
1427
1428If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1429
1430 :let lite_sql_query = 1
1431
1432For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1433set "lite_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1434
1435 :let lite_minlines = 200
1436
1437
1438LPC *lpc.vim* *lpc-syntax*
1439
1440LPC stands for a simple, memory-efficient language: Lars Pensj| C. The
1441file name of LPC is usually *.c. Recognizing these files as LPC would bother
1442users writing only C programs. If you want to use LPC syntax in Vim, you
1443should set a variable in your .vimrc file: >
1444
1445 :let lpc_syntax_for_c = 1
1446
1447If it doesn't work properly for some particular C or LPC files, use a
1448modeline. For a LPC file:
1449
1450 // vim:set ft=lpc:
1451
1452For a C file that is recognized as LPC:
1453
1454 // vim:set ft=c:
1455
1456If you don't want to set the variable, use the modeline in EVERY LPC file.
1457
1458There are several implementations for LPC, we intend to support most widely
1459used ones. Here the default LPC syntax is for MudOS series, for MudOS v22
1460and before, you should turn off the sensible modifiers, and this will also
1461asserts the new efuns after v22 to be invalid, don't set this variable when
1462you are using the latest version of MudOS: >
1463
1464 :let lpc_pre_v22 = 1
1465
1466For LpMud 3.2 series of LPC: >
1467
1468 :let lpc_compat_32 = 1
1469
1470For LPC4 series of LPC: >
1471
1472 :let lpc_use_lpc4_syntax = 1
1473
1474For uLPC series of LPC:
1475uLPC has been developed to Pike, so you should use Pike syntax
1476instead, and the name of your source file should be *.pike
1477
1478
1479LUA *lua.vim* *lua-syntax*
1480
1481This syntax file may be used for Lua 4.0 and Lua 5.0 (default). If you are
1482programming in Lua 4.0, use this: >
1483
1484 :let lua_version = 4
1485
1486If lua_version variable doesn't exist, it is set to 5.
1487
1488
1489MAIL *mail.vim*
1490
1491Vim highlights all the standard elements of an email (headers, signatures,
1492quoted text and URLs / email addresses). In keeping with standard conventions,
1493signatures begin in a line containing only "--" followed optionally by
1494whitespaces and end with a newline.
1495
1496Vim treats lines beginning with ']', '}', '|', '>' or a word followed by '>'
1497as quoted text. However Vim highlights headers and signatures in quoted text
1498only if the text is quoted with '>' (optionally followed by one space).
1499
1500By default mail.vim synchronises syntax to 100 lines before the first
1501displayed line. If you have a slow machine, and generally deal with emails
1502with short headers, you can change this to a smaller value: >
1503
1504 :let mail_minlines = 30
1505
1506
1507MAKE *make.vim* *make-syntax*
1508
1509In makefiles, commands are usually highlighted to make it easy for you to spot
1510errors. However, this may be too much coloring for you. You can turn this
1511feature off by using: >
1512
1513 :let make_no_commands = 1
1514
1515
1516MAPLE *maple.vim* *maple-syntax*
1517
1518Maple V, by Waterloo Maple Inc, supports symbolic algebra. The language
1519supports many packages of functions which are selectively loaded by the user.
1520The standard set of packages' functions as supplied in Maple V release 4 may be
1521highlighted at the user's discretion. Users may place in their .vimrc file: >
1522
1523 :let mvpkg_all= 1
1524
1525to get all package functions highlighted, or users may select any subset by
1526choosing a variable/package from the table below and setting that variable to
15271, also in their .vimrc file (prior to sourcing
1528$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim).
1529
1530 Table of Maple V Package Function Selectors >
1531 mv_DEtools mv_genfunc mv_networks mv_process
1532 mv_Galois mv_geometry mv_numapprox mv_simplex
1533 mv_GaussInt mv_grobner mv_numtheory mv_stats
1534 mv_LREtools mv_group mv_orthopoly mv_student
1535 mv_combinat mv_inttrans mv_padic mv_sumtools
1536 mv_combstruct mv_liesymm mv_plots mv_tensor
1537 mv_difforms mv_linalg mv_plottools mv_totorder
1538 mv_finance mv_logic mv_powseries
1539
1540
1541MOO *moo.vim* *moo-syntax*
1542
1543If you use C-style comments inside expressions and find it mangles your
1544highlighting, you may want to use extended (slow!) matches for C-style
1545comments: >
1546
1547 :let moo_extended_cstyle_comments = 1
1548
1549To disable highlighting of pronoun substitution patterns inside strings: >
1550
1551 :let moo_no_pronoun_sub = 1
1552
1553To disable highlighting of the regular expression operator '%|', and matching
1554'%(' and '%)' inside strings: >
1555
1556 :let moo_no_regexp = 1
1557
1558Unmatched double quotes can be recognized and highlighted as errors: >
1559
1560 :let moo_unmatched_quotes = 1
1561
1562To highlight builtin properties (.name, .location, .programmer etc.): >
1563
1564 :let moo_builtin_properties = 1
1565
1566Unknown builtin functions can be recognized and highlighted as errors. If you
1567use this option, add your own extensions to the mooKnownBuiltinFunction group.
1568To enable this option: >
1569
1570 :let moo_unknown_builtin_functions = 1
1571
1572An example of adding sprintf() to the list of known builtin functions: >
1573
1574 :syn keyword mooKnownBuiltinFunction sprintf contained
1575
1576
1577MSQL *msql.vim* *msql-syntax*
1578
1579There are two options for the msql syntax highlighting.
1580
1581If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1582
1583 :let msql_sql_query = 1
1584
1585For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1586set "msql_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1587
1588 :let msql_minlines = 200
1589
1590
1591NCF *ncf.vim* *ncf-syntax*
1592
1593There is one option for NCF syntax highlighting.
1594
1595If you want to have unrecognized (by ncf.vim) statements highlighted as
1596errors, use this: >
1597
1598 :let ncf_highlight_unknowns = 1
1599
1600If you don't want to highlight these errors, leave it unset.
1601
1602
1603NROFF *nroff.vim* *nroff-syntax*
1604
1605The nroff syntax file works with AT&T n/troff out of the box. You need to
1606activate the GNU groff extra features included in the syntax file before you
1607can use them.
1608
1609For example, Linux and BSD distributions use groff as their default text
1610processing package. In order to activate the extra syntax highlighting
1611features for groff, add the following option to your start-up files: >
1612
1613 :let b:nroff_is_groff = 1
1614
1615Groff is different from the old AT&T n/troff that you may still find in
1616Solaris. Groff macro and request names can be longer than 2 characters and
1617there are extensions to the language primitives. For example, in AT&T troff
1618you access the year as a 2-digit number with the request \(yr. In groff you
1619can use the same request, recognized for compatibility, or you can use groff's
1620native syntax, \[yr]. Furthermore, you can use a 4-digit year directly:
1621\[year]. Macro requests can be longer than 2 characters, for example, GNU mm
1622accepts the requests ".VERBON" and ".VERBOFF" for creating verbatim
1623environments.
1624
1625In order to obtain the best formatted output g/troff can give you, you should
1626follow a few simple rules about spacing and punctuation.
1627
16281. Do not leave empty spaces at the end of lines.
1629
16302. Leave one space and one space only after an end-of-sentence period,
1631 exclamation mark, etc.
1632
16333. For reasons stated below, it is best to follow all period marks with a
1634 carriage return.
1635
1636The reason behind these unusual tips is that g/n/troff have a line breaking
1637algorithm that can be easily upset if you don't follow the rules given above.
1638
1639Unlike TeX, troff fills text line-by-line, not paragraph-by-paragraph and,
1640furthermore, it does not have a concept of glue or stretch, all horizontal and
1641vertical space input will be output as is.
1642
1643Therefore, you should be careful about not using more space between sentences
1644than you intend to have in your final document. For this reason, the common
1645practice is to insert a carriage return immediately after all punctuation
1646marks. If you want to have "even" text in your final processed output, you
1647need to maintaining regular spacing in the input text. To mark both trailing
1648spaces and two or more spaces after a punctuation as an error, use: >
1649
1650 :let nroff_space_errors = 1
1651
1652Another technique to detect extra spacing and other errors that will interfere
1653with the correct typesetting of your file, is to define an eye-catching
1654highlighting definition for the syntax groups "nroffDefinition" and
1655"nroffDefSpecial" in your configuration files. For example: >
1656
1657 hi def nroffDefinition term=italic cterm=italic gui=reverse
1658 hi def nroffDefSpecial term=italic,bold cterm=italic,bold
1659 \ gui=reverse,bold
1660
1661If you want to navigate preprocessor entries in your source file as easily as
1662with section markers, you can activate the following option in your .vimrc
1663file: >
1664
1665 let b:preprocs_as_sections = 1
1666
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001667As well, the syntax file adds an extra paragraph marker for the extended
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001668paragraph macro (.XP) in the ms package.
1669
1670Finally, there is a |groff.vim| syntax file that can be used for enabling
1671groff syntax highlighting either on a file basis or globally by default.
1672
1673
1674OCAML *ocaml.vim* *ocaml-syntax*
1675
1676The OCaml syntax file handles files having the following prefixes: .ml,
1677.mli, .mll and .mly. By setting the following variable >
1678
1679 :let ocaml_revised = 1
1680
1681you can switch from standard OCaml-syntax to revised syntax as supported
1682by the camlp4 preprocessor. Setting the variable >
1683
1684 :let ocaml_noend_error = 1
1685
1686prevents highlighting of "end" as error, which is useful when sources
1687contain very long structures that Vim does not synchronize anymore.
1688
1689
1690PAPP *papp.vim* *papp-syntax*
1691
1692The PApp syntax file handles .papp files and, to a lesser extend, .pxml
1693and .pxsl files which are all a mixture of perl/xml/html/other using xml
1694as the top-level file format. By default everything inside phtml or pxml
1695sections is treated as a string with embedded preprocessor commands. If
1696you set the variable: >
1697
1698 :let papp_include_html=1
1699
1700in your startup file it will try to syntax-hilight html code inside phtml
1701sections, but this is relatively slow and much too colourful to be able to
1702edit sensibly ;)
1703
1704The newest version of the papp.vim syntax file can usually be found at
1705http://papp.plan9.de.
1706
1707
1708PASCAL *pascal.vim* *pascal-syntax*
1709
1710Files matching "*.p" could be Progress or Pascal. If the automatic detection
1711doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
1712startup vimrc: >
1713
1714 :let filetype_p = "pascal"
1715
1716The Pascal syntax file has been extended to take into account some extensions
1717provided by Turbo Pascal, Free Pascal Compiler and GNU Pascal Compiler.
1718Delphi keywords are also supported. By default, Turbo Pascal 7.0 features are
1719enabled. If you prefer to stick with the standard Pascal keywords, add the
1720following line to your startup file: >
1721
1722 :let pascal_traditional=1
1723
1724To switch on Delphi specific constructions (such as one-line comments,
1725keywords, etc): >
1726
1727 :let pascal_delphi=1
1728
1729
1730The option pascal_symbol_operator controls whether symbol operators such as +,
1731*, .., etc. are displayed using the Operator color or not. To colorize symbol
1732operators, add the following line to your startup file: >
1733
1734 :let pascal_symbol_operator=1
1735
1736Some functions are highlighted by default. To switch it off: >
1737
1738 :let pascal_no_functions=1
1739
1740Furthermore, there are specific variable for some compiler. Besides
1741pascal_delphi, there are pascal_gpc and pascal_fpc. Default extensions try to
1742match Turbo Pascal. >
1743
1744 :let pascal_gpc=1
1745
1746or >
1747
1748 :let pascal_fpc=1
1749
1750To ensure that strings are defined on a single line, you can define the
1751pascal_one_line_string variable. >
1752
1753 :let pascal_one_line_string=1
1754
1755If you dislike <Tab> chars, you can set the pascal_no_tabs variable. Tabs
1756will be highlighted as Error. >
1757
1758 :let pascal_no_tabs=1
1759
1760
1761
1762PERL *perl.vim* *perl-syntax*
1763
1764There are a number of possible options to the perl syntax highlighting.
1765
1766If you use POD files or POD segments, you might: >
1767
1768 :let perl_include_pod = 1
1769
1770To handle package references in variable and function names differently from
1771the rest of the name (like 'PkgName::' in '$PkgName::VarName'): >
1772
1773 :let perl_want_scope_in_variables = 1
1774
1775If you want complex things like '@{${"foo"}}' to be parsed: >
1776
1777 :let perl_extended_vars = 1
1778
1779The coloring strings can be changed. By default strings and qq friends will be
1780highlighted like the first line. If you set the variable
1781perl_string_as_statement, it will be highlighted as in the second line.
1782
1783 "hello world!"; qq|hello world|;
1784 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^NN^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^N (unlet perl_string_as_statement)
1785 S^^^^^^^^^^^^SNNSSS^^^^^^^^^^^SN (let perl_string_as_statement)
1786
1787(^ = perlString, S = perlStatement, N = None at all)
1788
1789The syncing has 3 options. The first two switch off some triggering of
1790synchronization and should only be needed in case it fails to work properly.
1791If while scrolling all of a sudden the whole screen changes color completely
1792then you should try and switch off one of those. Let me know if you can figure
1793out the line that causes the mistake.
1794
1795One triggers on "^\s*sub\s*" and the other on "^[$@%]" more or less. >
1796
1797 :let perl_no_sync_on_sub
1798 :let perl_no_sync_on_global_var
1799
1800Below you can set the maximum distance VIM should look for starting points for
1801its attempts in syntax highlighting. >
1802
1803 :let perl_sync_dist = 100
1804
1805If you want to use folding with perl, set perl_fold: >
1806
1807 :let perl_fold = 1
1808
1809
1810PHP3 and PHP4 *php.vim* *php3.vim* *php-syntax* *php3-syntax*
1811
1812[note: previously this was called "php3", but since it now also supports php4
1813it has been renamed to "php"]
1814
1815There are the following options for the php syntax highlighting.
1816
1817If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings: >
1818
1819 let php_sql_query = 1
1820
1821For highlighting the Baselib methods: >
1822
1823 let php_baselib = 1
1824
1825Enable HTML syntax highlighting inside strings: >
1826
1827 let php_htmlInStrings = 1
1828
1829Using the old colorstyle: >
1830
1831 let php_oldStyle = 1
1832
1833Enable highlighting ASP-style short tags: >
1834
1835 let php_asp_tags = 1
1836
1837Disable short tags: >
1838
1839 let php_noShortTags = 1
1840
1841For highlighting parent error ] or ): >
1842
1843 let php_parent_error_close = 1
1844
1845For skipping an php end tag, if there exists an open ( or [ without a closing
1846one: >
1847
1848 let php_parent_error_open = 1
1849
1850Enable folding for classes and functions: >
1851
1852 let php_folding = 1
1853
1854Selecting syncing method: >
1855
1856 let php_sync_method = x
1857
1858x = -1 to sync by search (default),
1859x > 0 to sync at least x lines backwards,
1860x = 0 to sync from start.
1861
1862
1863PPWIZARD *ppwiz.vim* *ppwiz-syntax*
1864
1865PPWizard is a preprocessor for HTML and OS/2 INF files
1866
1867This syntax file has the options:
1868
1869- ppwiz_highlight_defs : determines highlighting mode for PPWizard's
1870 definitions. Possible values are
1871
1872 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 1 : PPWizard #define statements retain the
1873 colors of their contents (e. g. PPWizard macros and variables)
1874
1875 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 2 : preprocessor #define and #evaluate
1876 statements are shown in a single color with the exception of line
1877 continuation symbols
1878
1879 The default setting for ppwiz_highlight_defs is 1.
1880
1881- ppwiz_with_html : If the value is 1 (the default), highlight literal
1882 HTML code; if 0, treat HTML code like ordinary text.
1883
1884
1885PHTML *phtml.vim* *phtml-syntax*
1886
1887There are two options for the phtml syntax highlighting.
1888
1889If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1890
1891 :let phtml_sql_query = 1
1892
1893For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1894set "phtml_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1895
1896 :let phtml_minlines = 200
1897
1898
1899POSTSCRIPT *postscr.vim* *postscr-syntax*
1900
1901There are several options when it comes to highlighting PostScript.
1902
1903First which version of the PostScript language to highlight. There are
1904currently three defined language versions, or levels. Level 1 is the original
1905and base version, and includes all extensions prior to the release of level 2.
1906Level 2 is the most common version around, and includes its own set of
1907extensions prior to the release of level 3. Level 3 is currently the highest
1908level supported. You select which level of the PostScript language you want
1909highlighted by defining the postscr_level variable as follows: >
1910
1911 :let postscr_level=2
1912
1913If this variable is not defined it defaults to 2 (level 2) since this is
1914the most prevalent version currently.
1915
1916Note, not all PS interpreters will support all language features for a
1917particular language level. In particular the %!PS-Adobe-3.0 at the start of
1918PS files does NOT mean the PostScript present is level 3 PostScript!
1919
1920If you are working with Display PostScript, you can include highlighting of
1921Display PS language features by defining the postscr_display variable as
1922follows: >
1923
1924 :let postscr_display=1
1925
1926If you are working with Ghostscript, you can include highlighting of
1927Ghostscript specific language features by defining the variable
1928postscr_ghostscript as follows: >
1929
1930 :let postscr_ghostscript=1
1931
1932PostScript is a large language, with many predefined elements. While it
1933useful to have all these elements highlighted, on slower machines this can
1934cause Vim to slow down. In an attempt to be machine friendly font names and
1935character encodings are not highlighted by default. Unless you are working
1936explicitly with either of these this should be ok. If you want them to be
1937highlighted you should set one or both of the following variables: >
1938
1939 :let postscr_fonts=1
1940 :let postscr_encodings=1
1941
1942There is a stylistic option to the highlighting of and, or, and not. In
1943PostScript the function of these operators depends on the types of their
1944operands - if the operands are booleans then they are the logical operators,
1945if they are integers then they are binary operators. As binary and logical
1946operators can be highlighted differently they have to be highlighted one way
1947or the other. By default they are treated as logical operators. They can be
1948highlighted as binary operators by defining the variable
1949postscr_andornot_binary as follows: >
1950
1951 :let postscr_andornot_binary=1
1952<
1953
1954 *ptcap.vim*
1955PRINTCAP + TERMCAP *ptcap-syntax* *termcap-syntax* *printcap-syntax*
1956
1957This syntax file applies to the printcap and termcap databases.
1958
1959In order for Vim to recognize printcap/termcap files that do not match
1960the patterns *printcap*, or *termcap*, you must put additional patterns
1961appropriate to your system in your |myfiletypefile| file. For these
1962patterns, you must set the variable "b:ptcap_type" to either "print" or
1963"term", and then the 'filetype' option to ptcap.
1964
1965For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/termcaps/ as termcap
1966files, add the following: >
1967
1968 :au BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/termcaps/* let b:ptcap_type = "term" |
1969 \ set filetype=ptcap
1970
1971If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which
1972are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "ptcap_minlines"
1973internal variable to a larger number: >
1974
1975 :let ptcap_minlines = 50
1976
1977(The default is 20 lines.)
1978
1979
1980PROGRESS *progress.vim* *progress-syntax*
1981
1982Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection
1983doesn't work for you, or you don't edit cweb at all, use this in your
1984startup vimrc: >
1985 :let filetype_w = "progress"
1986The same happens for "*.i", which could be assembly, and "*.p", which could be
1987Pascal. Use this if you don't use assembly and Pascal: >
1988 :let filetype_i = "progress"
1989 :let filetype_p = "progress"
1990
1991
1992PYTHON *python.vim* *python-syntax*
1993
1994There are four options to control Python syntax highlighting.
1995
1996For highlighted numbers: >
1997 :let python_highlight_numbers = 1
1998
1999For highlighted builtin functions: >
2000 :let python_highlight_builtins = 1
2001
2002For highlighted standard exceptions: >
2003 :let python_highlight_exceptions = 1
2004
2005For highlighted trailing whitespace and mix of spaces and tabs:
2006 :let python_highlight_space_errors = 1
2007
2008If you want all possible Python highlighting (the same as setting the
2009preceding three options): >
2010 :let python_highlight_all = 1
2011
2012
2013QUAKE *quake.vim* *quake-syntax*
2014
2015The Quake syntax definition should work for most any FPS (First Person
2016Shooter) based on one of the Quake engines. However, the command names vary
2017a bit between the three games (Quake, Quake 2, and Quake 3 Arena) so the
2018syntax definition checks for the existence of three global variables to allow
2019users to specify what commands are legal in their files. The three variables
2020can be set for the following effects:
2021
2022set to highlight commands only available in Quake: >
2023 :let quake_is_quake1 = 1
2024
2025set to highlight commands only available in Quake 2: >
2026 :let quake_is_quake2 = 1
2027
2028set to highlight commands only available in Quake 3 Arena: >
2029 :let quake_is_quake3 = 1
2030
2031Any combination of these three variables is legal, but might highlight more
2032commands than are actually available to you by the game.
2033
2034
2035READLINE *readline.vim* *readline-syntax*
2036
2037The readline library is primarily used by the BASH shell, which adds quite a
2038few commands and options to the ones already available. To highlight these
2039items as well you can add the following to your |vimrc| or just type it in the
2040command line before loading a file with the readline syntax: >
2041 let readline_has_bash = 1
2042
2043This will add highlighting for the commands that BASH (version 2.05a and
2044later, and part earlier) adds.
2045
2046
2047REXX *rexx.vim* *rexx-syntax*
2048
2049If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2050when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "rexx_minlines" internal variable
2051to a larger number: >
2052 :let rexx_minlines = 50
2053This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
2054displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger
2055number is that redrawing can become slow.
2056
2057
2058RUBY *ruby.vim* *ruby-syntax*
2059
2060There are a few options to the Ruby syntax highlighting.
2061
2062By default, the "end" keyword is colorized according to the opening statement
2063of the block it closes. While useful, this feature can be expensive: if you
2064experience slow redrawing (or you are on a terminal with poor color support)
2065you may want to turn it off by defining the "ruby_no_expensive" variable: >
2066 :let ruby_no_expensive = 1
2067In this case the same color will be used for all control keywords.
2068
2069If you do want this feature enabled, but notice highlighting errors while
2070scrolling backwards, which are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting
2071the "ruby_minlines" variable to a value larger than 50: >
2072 :let ruby_minlines = 100
2073Ideally, this value should be a number of lines large enough to embrace your
2074largest class or module.
2075
2076Finally, if you do not like to see too many color items around, you can define
2077"ruby_no_identifiers": >
2078 :let ruby_no_identifiers = 1
2079This will prevent highlighting of special identifiers like "ConstantName",
2080"$global_var", "@instance_var", "| iterator |", and ":symbol".
2081
2082
2083SDL *sdl.vim* *sdl-syntax*
2084
2085The SDL highlighting probably misses a few keywords, but SDL has so many
2086of them it's almost impossibly to cope.
2087
2088The new standard, SDL-2000, specifies that all identifiers are
2089case-sensitive (which was not so before), and that all keywords can be
2090used either completely lowercase or completely uppercase. To have the
2091highlighting reflect this, you can set the following variable: >
2092 :let sdl_2000=1
2093
2094This also sets many new keywords. If you want to disable the old
2095keywords, which is probably a good idea, use: >
2096 :let SDL_no_96=1
2097
2098
2099The indentation is probably also incomplete, but right now I am very
2100satisfied with it for my own projects.
2101
2102
2103SED *sed.vim* *sed-syntax*
2104
2105To make tabs stand out from regular blanks (accomplished by using Todo
2106highlighting on the tabs), define "highlight_sedtabs" by putting >
2107
2108 :let highlight_sedtabs = 1
2109
2110in the vimrc file. (This special highlighting only applies for tabs
2111inside search patterns, replacement texts, addresses or text included
2112by an Append/Change/Insert command.) If you enable this option, it is
2113also a good idea to set the tab width to one character; by doing that,
2114you can easily count the number of tabs in a string.
2115
2116Bugs:
2117
2118 The transform command (y) is treated exactly like the substitute
2119 command. This means that, as far as this syntax file is concerned,
2120 transform accepts the same flags as substitute, which is wrong.
2121 (Transform accepts no flags.) I tolerate this bug because the
2122 involved commands need very complex treatment (95 patterns, one for
2123 each plausible pattern delimiter).
2124
2125
2126SGML *sgml.vim* *sgml-syntax*
2127
2128The coloring scheme for tags in the SGML file works as follows.
2129
2130The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
2131This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
2132closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
2133defined for you)
2134
2135Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag
2136names are not colored which makes it easy to spot errors.
2137
2138Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
2139names are colored differently than unknown ones.
2140
2141Some SGML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
2142are recognized by the sgml.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
2143text is shown: <varname> <emphasis> <command> <function> <literal>
2144<replaceable> <ulink> and <link>.
2145
2146If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
2147following syntax groups:
2148
2149 - sgmlBold
2150 - sgmlBoldItalic
2151 - sgmlUnderline
2152 - sgmlItalic
2153 - sgmlLink for links
2154
2155To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all and define the
2156following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
2157are read during initialization) >
2158 let sgml_my_rendering=1
2159
2160You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
2161vimrc file: >
2162 let sgml_no_rendering=1
2163
2164(Adapted from the html.vim help text by Claudio Fleiner <claudio@fleiner.com>)
2165
2166
2167SH *sh.vim* *sh-syntax*
2168
2169This covers the "normal" Unix (Bourne) sh, bash and the Korn shell.
2170
2171Vim attempts to determine which shell type is in use by specifying that
2172various filenames are of specific types: >
2173
2174 ksh : .kshrc* *.ksh
2175 bash: .bashrc* bashrc bash.bashrc .bash_profile* *.bash
2176<
2177If none of these cases pertain, then the first line of the file is examined
2178(ex. /bin/sh /bin/ksh /bin/bash). If the first line specifies a shelltype,
2179then that shelltype is used. However some files (ex. .profile) are known to
2180be shell files but the type is not apparent. Furthermore, on many systems
2181sh is symbolically linked to "bash" (linux) or "ksh" (posix).
2182
2183One may specify a global default by instantiating one of the following three
2184variables in your <.vimrc>:
2185
2186 ksh: >
2187 let is_kornshell = 1
2188< bash: >
2189 let is_bash = 1
2190< sh: >
2191 let is_sh = 1
2192
2193If, in your <.vimrc>, you set >
2194 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 1
2195>
2196then various syntax items (HereDocuments and function bodies) become
2197syntax-foldable (see |:syn-fold|).
2198
2199If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2200when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "sh_minlines" internal variable
2201to a larger number. Example: >
2202
2203 let sh_minlines = 500
2204
2205This will make syntax synchronization start 500 lines before the first
2206displayed line. The default value is 200. The disadvantage of using a larger
2207number is that redrawing can become slow.
2208
2209If you don't have much to synchronize on, displaying can be very slow. To
2210reduce this, the "sh_maxlines" internal variable can be set. Example: >
2211
2212 let sh_maxlines = 100
2213<
2214The default is to use the twice sh_minlines. Set it to a smaller number to
2215speed up displaying. The disadvantage is that highlight errors may appear.
2216
2217
2218SPEEDUP (AspenTech plant simulator) *spup.vim* *spup-syntax*
2219
2220The Speedup syntax file has some options:
2221
2222- strict_subsections : If this variable is defined, only keywords for
2223 sections and subsections will be highlighted as statements but not
2224 other keywords (like WITHIN in the OPERATION section).
2225
2226- highlight_types : Definition of this variable causes stream types
2227 like temperature or pressure to be highlighted as Type, not as a
2228 plain Identifier. Included are the types that are usually found in
2229 the DECLARE section; if you defined own types, you have to include
2230 them in the syntax file.
2231
2232- oneline_comments : this value ranges from 1 to 3 and determines the
2233 highlighting of # style comments.
2234
2235 oneline_comments = 1 : allow normal Speedup code after an even
2236 number of #s.
2237
2238 oneline_comments = 2 : show code starting with the second # as
2239 error. This is the default setting.
2240
2241 oneline_comments = 3 : show the whole line as error if it contains
2242 more than one #.
2243
2244Since especially OPERATION sections tend to become very large due to
2245PRESETting variables, syncing may be critical. If your computer is
2246fast enough, you can increase minlines and/or maxlines near the end of
2247the syntax file.
2248
2249
2250TCSH *tcsh.vim* *tcsh-syntax*
2251
2252This covers the shell named "tcsh". It is a superset of csh. See |csh.vim|
2253for how the filetype is detected.
2254
2255Tcsh does not allow \" in strings unless the "backslash_quote" shell variable
2256is set. If you want VIM to assume that no backslash quote constructs exist add
2257this line to your .vimrc: >
2258
2259 :let tcsh_backslash_quote = 0
2260
2261If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2262when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "tcsh_minlines" internal variable
2263to a larger number: >
2264
2265 :let tcsh_minlines = 100
2266
2267This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
2268displayed line. The default value is 15. The disadvantage of using a larger
2269number is that redrawing can become slow.
2270
2271
2272TEX *tex.vim* *tex-syntax*
2273
2274Run-on Comments/Math? ~
2275
2276The tex highlighting supports TeX, LaTeX, and some AmsTeX. The
2277highlighting supports three primary zones: normal, texZone, and texMathZone.
2278Although a considerable effort has been made to have these zones terminate
2279properly, zones delineated by $..$ and $$..$$ cannot be synchronized as
2280there's no difference between start and end patterns. Consequently, a
2281special "TeX comment" has been provided >
2282 %stopzone
2283which will forcibly terminate the highlighting of either a texZone or a
2284texMathZone.
2285
2286Slow Syntax Highlighting? ~
2287
2288If you have a slow computer, you may wish to reduce the values for >
2289 :syn sync maxlines=200
2290 :syn sync minlines=50
2291(especially the latter). If your computer is fast, you may wish to
2292increase them. This primarily affects synchronizing (ie. just what group,
2293if any, is the text at the top of the screen supposed to be in?).
2294
2295Excessive Error Highlighting? ~
2296
2297The <tex.vim> supports lexical error checking of various sorts. Thus,
2298although the error checking is ofttimes very useful, it can indicate
2299errors where none actually are. If this proves to be a problem for you,
2300you may put in your <.vimrc> the following statement: >
2301 let tex_no_error=1
2302and all error checking by <tex.vim> will be suppressed.
2303
2304Need a new Math Group? ~
2305
2306If you want to include a new math group in your LaTeX, the following
2307code shows you an example as to how you might do so: >
2308
2309 syn cluster texMathZones add=texMathZoneLOCAL
2310 syn region texMathZoneLOCAL start="\\begin\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\s*}"
2311 \ end="\\end\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\s*}" keepend
2312 \ contains=@texMathZoneGroup
2313 if !exists("tex_no_math")
2314 syn sync match texSyncMathZoneLOCAL grouphere texMathZoneLOCAL
2315 \ "\\begin\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\*\s*}"
2316 syn sync match texSyncMathZoneLOCAL groupthere NONE
2317 \ "\\end\s*{\s*LOCALMATH\*\s*}"
2318 endif
2319 hi link texMathZoneLOCAL texMath
2320<
2321You'll need to change LOCALMATH to the name of your new math group,
2322and then to put it into .vim/after/syntax/tex.vim.
2323
2324Starting a New Style? ~
2325
2326One may use "\makeatletter" in *.tex files, thereby making the use of "@" in
2327commands available. However, since the *.tex file doesn't have one of the
2328following suffices: sty cls clo dtx ltx, the syntax highlighting will flag
2329such use of @ as an error. To solve this: >
2330
2331 :let b:tex_stylish = 1
2332 :set ft=tex
2333
2334Putting "let g:tex_stylish=1" into your <.vimrc> will make <syntax/tex.vim>
2335always accept such use of @.
2336
2337
2338TF *tf.vim* *tf-syntax*
2339
2340There is one option for the tf syntax highlighting.
2341
2342For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
2343set "tf_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
2344
2345 :let tf_minlines = your choice
2346
2347
2348VIM *vim.vim* *vim-syntax*
2349
2350There is a tradeoff between more accurate syntax highlighting versus
2351screen updating speed. To improve accuracy, you may wish to increase
2352the g:vim_minlines variable. The g:vim_maxlines variable may be used
2353to improve screen updating rates (see |:syn-sync| for more on this).
2354
2355 g:vim_minlines : used to set synchronization minlines
2356 g:vim_maxlines : used to set synchronization maxlines
2357
2358The g:vimembedscript option allows for somewhat faster loading of syntax
2359highlighting for vim scripts at the expense of supporting syntax highlighting
2360for external scripting languages (currently perl, python, ruby, and tcl).
2361
2362 g:vimembedscript == 1 (default) <vim.vim> will allow highlighting
2363 g:vimembedscript doesn't exist of supported embedded scripting
2364 languages: perl, python, ruby and
2365 tcl.
2366
2367 g:vimembedscript == 0 Syntax highlighting for embedded
2368 scripting languages will not be
2369 loaded.
2370
2371
2372XF86CONFIG *xf86conf.vim* *xf86conf-syntax*
2373
2374The syntax of XF86Config file differs in XFree86 v3.x and v4.x. Both
2375variants are supported. Automatic detection is used, but is far from perfect.
2376You may need to specify the version manually. Set the variable
2377xf86conf_xfree86_version to 3 or 4 according to your XFree86 version in
2378your .vimrc. Example: >
2379 :let xf86conf_xfree86_version=3
2380When using a mix of versions, set the b:xf86conf_xfree86_version variable.
2381
2382Note that spaces and underscores in option names are not supported. Use
2383"SyncOnGreen" instead of "__s yn con gr_e_e_n" if you want the option name
2384highlighted.
2385
2386
2387XML *xml.vim* *xml-syntax*
2388
2389Xml namespaces are highlighted by default. This can be inhibited by
2390setting a global variable: >
2391
2392 :let g:xml_namespace_transparent=1
2393<
2394 *xml-folding*
2395The xml syntax file provides syntax |folding| (see |:syn-fold|) between
2396start and end tags. This can be turned on by >
2397
2398 :let g:xml_syntax_folding = 1
2399 :set foldmethod=syntax
2400
2401Note: syntax folding might slow down syntax highlighting significantly,
2402especially for large files.
2403
2404
2405X Pixmaps (XPM) *xpm.vim* *xpm-syntax*
2406
2407xpm.vim creates its syntax items dynamically based upon the contents of the
2408XPM file. Thus if you make changes e.g. in the color specification strings,
2409you have to source it again e.g. with ":set syn=xpm".
2410
2411To copy a pixel with one of the colors, yank a "pixel" with "yl" and insert it
2412somewhere else with "P".
2413
2414Do you want to draw with the mouse? Try the following: >
2415 :function! GetPixel()
2416 : let c = getline(line("."))[col(".") - 1]
2417 : echo c
2418 : exe "noremap <LeftMouse> <LeftMouse>r".c
2419 : exe "noremap <LeftDrag> <LeftMouse>r".c
2420 :endfunction
2421 :noremap <RightMouse> <LeftMouse>:call GetPixel()<CR>
2422 :set guicursor=n:hor20 " to see the color beneath the cursor
2423This turns the right button into a pipette and the left button into a pen.
2424It will work with XPM files that have one character per pixel only and you
2425must not click outside of the pixel strings, but feel free to improve it.
2426
2427It will look much better with a font in a quadratic cell size, e.g. for X: >
2428 :set guifont=-*-clean-medium-r-*-*-8-*-*-*-*-80-*
2429
2430==============================================================================
24315. Defining a syntax *:syn-define* *E410*
2432
2433Vim understands three types of syntax items:
2434
24351. Keyword.
2436 It can only contain keyword characters, according to the 'iskeyword'
2437 option. It cannot contain other syntax items. It will only match with a
2438 complete word (there are no keyword characters before or after the match).
2439 The keyword "if" would match in "if(a=b)", but not in "ifdef x", because
2440 "(" is not a keyword character and "d" is.
2441
24422. Match.
2443 This is a match with a single regexp pattern.
2444
24453. Region.
2446 This starts at a match of the "start" regexp pattern and ends with a match
2447 with the "end" regexp pattern. Any other text can appear in between. A
2448 "skip" regexp pattern can be used to avoid matching the "end" pattern.
2449
2450Several syntax ITEMs can be put into one syntax GROUP. For a syntax group
2451you can give highlighting attributes. For example, you could have an item
2452to define a "/* .. */" comment and another one that defines a "// .." comment,
2453and put them both in the "Comment" group. You can then specify that a
2454"Comment" will be in bold font and have a blue color. You are free to make
2455one highlight group for one syntax item, or put all items into one group.
2456This depends on how you want to specify your highlighting attributes. Putting
2457each item in its own group results in having to specify the highlighting
2458for a lot of groups.
2459
2460Note that a syntax group and a highlight group are similar. For a highlight
2461group you will have given highlight attributes. These attributes will be used
2462for the syntax group with the same name.
2463
2464In case more than one item matches at the same position, the one that was
2465defined LAST wins. Thus you can override previously defined syntax items by
2466using an item that matches the same text. But a keyword always goes before a
2467match or region. And a keyword with matching case always goes before a
2468keyword with ignoring case.
2469
2470
2471PRIORITY *:syn-priority*
2472
2473When several syntax items may match, these rules are used:
2474
24751. When multiple Match or Region items start in the same position, the item
2476 defined last has priority.
24772. A Keyword has priority over Match and Region items.
24783. An item that starts in an earlier position has priority over items that
2479 start in later positions.
2480
2481
2482DEFINING CASE *:syn-case* *E390*
2483
2484:sy[ntax] case [match|ignore]
2485 This defines if the following ":syntax" commands will work with
2486 matching case, when using "match", or with ignoring case, when using
2487 "ignore". Note that any items before this are not affected, and all
2488 items until the next ":syntax case" command are affected.
2489
2490
2491DEFINING KEYWORDS *:syn-keyword*
2492
2493:sy[ntax] keyword {group-name} [{options}] {keyword} .. [{options}]
2494
2495 This defines a number of keywords.
2496
2497 {group-name} Is a syntax group name such as "Comment".
2498 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2499 {keyword} .. Is a list of keywords which are part of this group.
2500
2501 Example: >
2502 :syntax keyword Type int long char
2503<
2504 The {options} can be given anywhere in the line. They will apply to
2505 all keywords given, also for options that come after a keyword.
2506 These examples do exactly the same: >
2507 :syntax keyword Type contained int long char
2508 :syntax keyword Type int long contained char
2509 :syntax keyword Type int long char contained
2510<
2511 When you have a keyword with an optional tail, like Ex commands in
2512 Vim, you can put the optional characters inside [], to define all the
2513 variations at once: >
2514 :syntax keyword vimCommand ab[breviate] n[ext]
2515<
2516 Don't forget that a keyword can only be recognized if all the
2517 characters are included in the 'iskeyword' option. If one character
2518 isn't, the keyword will never be recognized.
2519 Multi-byte characters can also be used. These do not have to be in
2520 'iskeyword'.
2521
2522 A keyword always has higher priority than a match or region, the
2523 keyword is used if more than one item matches. Keywords do not nest
2524 and a keyword can't contain anything else.
2525
2526 Note that when you have a keyword that is the same as an option (even
2527 one that isn't allowed here), you can not use it. Use a match
2528 instead.
2529
2530 The maximum length of a keyword is 80 characters.
2531
2532 The same keyword can be defined multiple times, when its containment
2533 differs. For example, you can define the keyword once not contained
2534 and use one highlight group, and once contained, and use a different
2535 highlight group. Example: >
2536 :syn keyword vimCommand tag
2537 :syn keyword vimSetting contained tag
2538< When finding "tag" outside of any syntax item, the "vimCommand"
2539 highlight group is used. When finding "tag" in a syntax item that
2540 contains "vimSetting", the "vimSetting" group is used.
2541
2542
2543DEFINING MATCHES *:syn-match*
2544
2545:sy[ntax] match {group-name} [{options}] [excludenl] {pattern} [{options}]
2546
2547 This defines one match.
2548
2549 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment".
2550 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2551 [excludenl] Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
2552 extend a containing match or region. Must be
2553 given before the pattern. |:syn-excludenl|
2554 {pattern} The search pattern that defines the match.
2555 See |:syn-pattern| below.
2556 Note that the pattern may match more than one
2557 line, which makes the match depend on where
2558 Vim starts searching for the pattern. You
2559 need to make sure syncing takes care of this.
2560
2561 Example (match a character constant): >
2562 :syntax match Character /'.'/hs=s+1,he=e-1
2563<
2564
2565DEFINING REGIONS *:syn-region* *:syn-start* *:syn-skip* *:syn-end*
2566 *E398* *E399*
2567:sy[ntax] region {group-name} [{options}]
2568 [matchgroup={group-name}]
2569 [keepend]
2570 [extend]
2571 [excludenl]
2572 start={start_pattern} ..
2573 [skip={skip_pattern}]
2574 end={end_pattern} ..
2575 [{options}]
2576
2577 This defines one region. It may span several lines.
2578
2579 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment".
2580 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2581 [matchgroup={group-name}] The syntax group to use for the following
2582 start or end pattern matches only. Not used
2583 for the text in between the matched start and
2584 end patterns. Use NONE to reset to not using
2585 a different group for the start or end match.
2586 See |:syn-matchgroup|.
2587 keepend Don't allow contained matches to go past a
2588 match with the end pattern. See
2589 |:syn-keepend|.
2590 extend Override a "keepend" for an item this region
2591 is contained in. See |:syn-extend|.
2592 excludenl Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
2593 extend a containing match or item. Only
2594 useful for end patterns. Must be given before
2595 the patterns it applies to. |:syn-excludenl|
2596 start={start_pattern} The search pattern that defines the start of
2597 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2598 skip={skip_pattern} The search pattern that defines text inside
2599 the region where not to look for the end
2600 pattern. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2601 end={end_pattern} The search pattern that defines the end of
2602 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2603
2604 Example: >
2605 :syntax region String start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+
2606<
2607 The start/skip/end patterns and the options can be given in any order.
2608 There can be zero or one skip pattern. There must be one or more
2609 start and end patterns. This means that you can omit the skip
2610 pattern, but you must give at least one start and one end pattern. It
2611 is allowed to have white space before and after the equal sign
2612 (although it mostly looks better without white space).
2613
2614 When more than one start pattern is given, a match with one of these
2615 is sufficient. This means there is an OR relation between the start
2616 patterns. The last one that matches is used. The same is true for
2617 the end patterns.
2618
2619 The search for the end pattern starts right after the start pattern.
2620 Offsets are not used for this. This implies that the match for the
2621 end pattern will never overlap with the start pattern.
2622
2623 The skip and end pattern can match across line breaks, but since the
2624 search for the pattern can start in any line it often does not do what
2625 you want. The skip pattern doesn't avoid a match of an end pattern in
2626 the next line. Use single-line patterns to avoid trouble.
2627
2628 Note: The decision to start a region is only based on a matching start
2629 pattern. There is no check for a matching end pattern. This does NOT
2630 work: >
2631 :syn region First start="(" end=":"
2632 :syn region Second start="(" end=";"
2633< The Second always matches before the First (last defined pattern has
2634 higher priority). The Second region then continues until the next
2635 ';', no matter if there is a ':' before it. Using a match does work: >
2636 :syn match First "(\_.\{-}:"
2637 :syn match Second "(\_.\{-};"
2638< This pattern matches any character or line break with "\_." and
2639 repeats that with "\{-}" (repeat as few as possible).
2640
2641 *:syn-keepend*
2642 By default, a contained match can obscure a match for the end pattern.
2643 This is useful for nesting. For example, a region that starts with
2644 "{" and ends with "}", can contain another region. An encountered "}"
2645 will then end the contained region, but not the outer region:
2646 { starts outer "{}" region
2647 { starts contained "{}" region
2648 } ends contained "{}" region
2649 } ends outer "{} region
2650 If you don't want this, the "keepend" argument will make the matching
2651 of an end pattern of the outer region also end any contained item.
2652 This makes it impossible to nest the same region, but allows for
2653 contained items to highlight parts of the end pattern, without causing
2654 that to skip the match with the end pattern. Example: >
2655 :syn match vimComment +"[^"]\+$+
2656 :syn region vimCommand start="set" end="$" contains=vimComment keepend
2657< The "keepend" makes the vimCommand always end at the end of the line,
2658 even though the contained vimComment includes a match with the <EOL>.
2659
2660 When "keepend" is not used, a match with an end pattern is retried
2661 after each contained match. When "keepend" is included, the first
2662 encountered match with an end pattern is used, truncating any
2663 contained matches.
2664 *:syn-extend*
2665 The "keepend" behavior can be changed by using the "extend" argument.
2666 When an item with "extend" is contained in an item that uses
2667 "keepend", the "keepend" is ignored and the containing region will be
2668 extended.
2669 This can be used to have some contained items extend a region while
2670 others don't. Example: >
2671
2672 :syn region htmlRef start=+<a>+ end=+</a>+ keepend contains=htmlItem,htmlScript
2673 :syn match htmlItem +<[^>]*>+ contained
2674 :syn region htmlScript start=+<script+ end=+</script[^>]*>+ contained extend
2675
2676< Here the htmlItem item does not make the htmlRef item continue
2677 further, it is only used to highlight the <> items. The htmlScript
2678 item does extend the htmlRef item.
2679
2680 Another example: >
2681 :syn region xmlFold start="<a>" end="</a>" fold transparent keepend extend
2682< This defines a region with "keepend", so that its end cannot be
2683 changed by contained items, like when the "</a>" is matched to
2684 highlight it differently. But when the xmlFold region is nested (it
2685 includes itself), the "extend" applies, so that the "</a>" of a nested
2686 region only ends that region, and not the one it is contained in.
2687
2688 *:syn-excludenl*
2689 When a pattern for a match or end pattern of a region includes a '$'
2690 to match the end-of-line, it will make a region item that it is
2691 contained in continue on the next line. For example, a match with
2692 "\\$" (backslash at the end of the line) can make a region continue
2693 that would normally stop at the end of the line. This is the default
2694 behavior. If this is not wanted, there are two ways to avoid it:
2695 1. Use "keepend" for the containing item. This will keep all
2696 contained matches from extending the match or region. It can be
2697 used when all contained items must not extend the containing item.
2698 2. Use "excludenl" in the contained item. This will keep that match
2699 from extending the containing match or region. It can be used if
2700 only some contained items must not extend the containing item.
2701 "excludenl" must be given before the pattern it applies to.
2702
2703 *:syn-matchgroup*
2704 "matchgroup" can be used to highlight the start and/or end pattern
2705 differently than the body of the region. Example: >
2706 :syntax region String matchgroup=Quote start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+
2707< This will highlight the quotes with the "Quote" group, and the text in
2708 between with the "String" group.
2709 The "matchgroup" is used for all start and end patterns that follow,
2710 until the next "matchgroup". Use "matchgroup=NONE" to go back to not
2711 using a matchgroup.
2712
2713 In a start or end pattern that is highlighted with "matchgroup" the
2714 contained items of the region are not used. This can be used to avoid
2715 that a contained item matches in the start or end pattern match. When
2716 using "transparent", this does not apply to a start or end pattern
2717 match that is highlighted with "matchgroup".
2718
2719 Here is an example, which highlights three levels of parentheses in
2720 different colors: >
2721 :sy region par1 matchgroup=par1 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par2
2722 :sy region par2 matchgroup=par2 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par3 contained
2723 :sy region par3 matchgroup=par3 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par1 contained
2724 :hi par1 ctermfg=red guifg=red
2725 :hi par2 ctermfg=blue guifg=blue
2726 :hi par3 ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
2727
2728==============================================================================
27296. :syntax arguments *:syn-arguments*
2730
2731The :syntax commands that define syntax items take a number of arguments.
2732The common ones are explained here. The arguments may be given in any order
2733and may be mixed with patterns.
2734
2735Not all commands accept all arguments. This table shows which arguments
2736can not be used for all commands:
2737 *E395* *E396*
2738 contains oneline fold display extend ~
2739:syntax keyword - - - - -
2740:syntax match yes - yes yes yes
2741:syntax region yes yes yes yes yes
2742
2743These arguments can be used for all three commands:
2744 contained
2745 containedin
2746 nextgroup
2747 transparent
2748 skipwhite
2749 skipnl
2750 skipempty
2751
2752
2753contained *:syn-contained*
2754
2755When the "contained" argument is given, this item will not be recognized at
2756the top level, but only when it is mentioned in the "contains" field of
2757another match. Example: >
2758 :syntax keyword Todo TODO contained
2759 :syntax match Comment "//.*" contains=Todo
2760
2761
2762display *:syn-display*
2763
2764If the "display" argument is given, this item will be skipped when the
2765detected highlighting will not be displayed. This will speed up highlighting,
2766by skipping this item when only finding the syntax state for the text that is
2767to be displayed.
2768
2769Generally, you can use "display" for match and region items that meet these
2770conditions:
2771- The item does not continue past the end of a line. Example for C: A region
2772 for a "/*" comment can't contain "display", because it continues on the next
2773 line.
2774- The item does not contain items that continue past the end of the line or
2775 make it continue on the next line.
2776- The item does not change the size of any item it is contained in. Example
2777 for C: A match with "\\$" in a preprocessor match can't have "display",
2778 because it may make that preprocessor match shorter.
2779- The item does not allow other items to match that didn't match otherwise,
2780 and that item may extend the match too far. Example for C: A match for a
2781 "//" comment can't use "display", because a "/*" inside that comment would
2782 match then and start a comment which extends past the end of the line.
2783
2784Examples, for the C language, where "display" can be used:
2785- match with a number
2786- match with a label
2787
2788
2789transparent *:syn-transparent*
2790
2791If the "transparent" argument is given, this item will not be highlighted
2792itself, but will take the highlighting of the item it is contained in. This
2793is useful for syntax items that don't need any highlighting but are used
2794only to skip over a part of the text.
2795
2796The "contains=" argument is also inherited from the item it is contained in,
2797unless a "contains" argument is given for the transparent item itself. To
2798avoid that unwanted items are contained, use "contains=NONE". Example, which
2799highlights words in strings, but makes an exception for "vim": >
2800 :syn match myString /'[^']*'/ contains=myWord,myVim
2801 :syn match myWord /\<[a-z]*\>/ contained
2802 :syn match myVim /\<vim\>/ transparent contained contains=NONE
2803 :hi link myString String
2804 :hi link myWord Comment
2805Since the "myVim" match comes after "myWord" it is the preferred match (last
2806match in the same position overrules an earlier one). The "transparent"
2807argument makes the "myVim" match use the same highlighting as "myString". But
2808it does not contain anything. If the "contains=NONE" argument would be left
2809out, then "myVim" would use the contains argument from myString and allow
2810"myWord" to be contained, which will be highlighted as a Constant. This
2811happens because a contained match doesn't match inside itself in the same
2812position, thus the "myVim" match doesn't overrule the "myWord" match here.
2813
2814When you look at the colored text, it is like looking at layers of contained
2815items. The contained item is on top of the item it is contained in, thus you
2816see the contained item. When a contained item is transparent, you can look
2817through, thus you see the item it is contained in. In a picture:
2818
2819 look from here
2820
2821 | | | | | |
2822 V V V V V V
2823
2824 xxxx yyy more contained items
2825 .................... contained item (transparent)
2826 ============================= first item
2827
2828The 'x', 'y' and '=' represent a highlighted syntax item. The '.' represent a
2829transparent group.
2830
2831What you see is:
2832
2833 =======xxxx=======yyy========
2834
2835Thus you look through the transparent "....".
2836
2837
2838oneline *:syn-oneline*
2839
2840The "oneline" argument indicates that the region does not cross a line
2841boundary. It must match completely in the current line. However, when the
2842region has a contained item that does cross a line boundary, it continues on
2843the next line anyway. A contained item can be used to recognize a line
2844continuation pattern. But the "end" pattern must still match in the first
2845line, otherwise the region doesn't even start.
2846
2847When the start pattern includes a "\n" to match an end-of-line, the end
2848pattern must be found in the same line as where the start pattern ends. The
2849end pattern may also include an end-of-line. Thus the "oneline" argument
2850means that the end of the start pattern and the start of the end pattern must
2851be within one line. This can't be changed by a skip pattern that matches a
2852line break.
2853
2854
2855fold *:syn-fold*
2856
2857The "fold" argument makes the fold level increased by one for this item.
2858Example: >
2859 :syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
2860 :syn sync fromstart
2861 :set foldmethod=syntax
2862This will make each {} block form one fold.
2863
2864The fold will start on the line where the item starts, and end where the item
2865ends. If the start and end are within the same line, there is no fold.
2866The 'foldnestmax' option limits the nesting of syntax folds.
2867{not available when Vim was compiled without |+folding| feature}
2868
2869
2870 *:syn-contains* *E405* *E406* *E407* *E408* *E409*
2871contains={groupname},..
2872
2873The "contains" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. These
2874groups will be allowed to begin inside the item (they may extend past the
2875containing group's end). This allows for recursive nesting of matches and
2876regions. If there is no "contains" argument, no groups will be contained in
2877this item. The group names do not need to be defined before they can be used
2878here.
2879
2880contains=ALL
2881 If the only item in the contains list is "ALL", then all
2882 groups will be accepted inside the item.
2883
2884contains=ALLBUT,{group-name},..
2885 If the first item in the contains list is "ALLBUT", then all
2886 groups will be accepted inside the item, except the ones that
2887 are listed. Example: >
2888 :syntax region Block start="{" end="}" ... contains=ALLBUT,Function
2889
2890contains=TOP
2891 If the first item in the contains list is "TOP", then all
2892 groups will be accepted that don't have the "contained"
2893 argument.
2894contains=TOP,{group-name},..
2895 Like "TOP", but excluding the groups that are listed.
2896
2897contains=CONTAINED
2898 If the first item in the contains list is "CONTAINED", then
2899 all groups will be accepted that have the "contained"
2900 argument.
2901contains=CONTAINED,{group-name},..
2902 Like "CONTAINED", but excluding the groups that are
2903 listed.
2904
2905
2906The {group-name} in the "contains" list can be a pattern. All group names
2907that match the pattern will be included (or excluded, if "ALLBUT" is used).
2908The pattern cannot contain white space or a ','. Example: >
2909 ... contains=Comment.*,Keyw[0-3]
2910The matching will be done at moment the syntax command is executed. Groups
2911that are defined later will not be matched. Also, if the current syntax
2912command defines a new group, it is not matched. Be careful: When putting
2913syntax commands in a file you can't rely on groups NOT being defined, because
2914the file may have been sourced before, and ":syn clear" doesn't remove the
2915group names.
2916
2917The contained groups will also match in the start and end patterns of a
2918region. If this is not wanted, the "matchgroup" argument can be used
2919|:syn-matchgroup|. The "ms=" and "me=" offsets can be used to change the
2920region where contained items do match. Note that this may also limit the
2921area that is highlighted
2922
2923
2924containedin={groupname}... *:syn-containedin*
2925
2926The "containedin" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. The
2927item will be allowed to begin inside these groups. This works as if the
2928containing item has a "contains=" argument that includes this item.
2929
2930The {groupname}... can be used just like for "contains", as explained above.
2931
2932This is useful when adding a syntax item afterwards. An item can be told to
2933be included inside an already existing item, without changing the definition
2934of that item. For example, to highlight a word in a C comment after loading
2935the C syntax: >
2936 :syn keyword myword HELP containedin=cComment contained
2937Note that "contained" is also used, to avoid that the item matches at the top
2938level.
2939
2940Matches for "containedin" are added to the other places where the item can
2941appear. A "contains" argument may also be added as usual. Don't forget that
2942keywords never contain another item, thus adding them to "containedin" won't
2943work.
2944
2945
2946nextgroup={groupname},.. *:syn-nextgroup*
2947
2948The "nextgroup" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names,
2949separated by commas (just like with "contains", so you can also use patterns).
2950
2951If the "nextgroup" argument is given, the mentioned syntax groups will be
2952tried for a match, after the match or region ends. If none of the groups have
2953a match, highlighting continues normally. If there is a match, this group
2954will be used, even when it is not mentioned in the "contains" field of the
2955current group. This is like giving the mentioned group priority over all
2956other groups. Example: >
2957 :syntax match ccFoobar "Foo.\{-}Bar" contains=ccFoo
2958 :syntax match ccFoo "Foo" contained nextgroup=ccFiller
2959 :syntax region ccFiller start="." matchgroup=ccBar end="Bar" contained
2960
2961This will highlight "Foo" and "Bar" differently, and only when there is a
2962"Bar" after "Foo". In the text line below, "f" shows where ccFoo is used for
2963highlighting, and "bbb" where ccBar is used. >
2964
2965 Foo asdfasd Bar asdf Foo asdf Bar asdf
2966 fff bbb fff bbb
2967
2968Note the use of ".\{-}" to skip as little as possible until the next Bar.
2969when ".*" would be used, the "asdf" in between "Bar" and "Foo" would be
2970highlighted according to the "ccFoobar" group, because the ccFooBar match
2971would include the first "Foo" and the last "Bar" in the line (see |pattern|).
2972
2973
2974skipwhite *:syn-skipwhite*
2975skipnl *:syn-skipnl*
2976skipempty *:syn-skipempty*
2977
2978These arguments are only used in combination with "nextgroup". They can be
2979used to allow the next group to match after skipping some text:
2980 skipwhite skip over space and Tab characters
2981 skipnl skip over the end of a line
2982 skipempty skip over empty lines (implies a "skipnl")
2983
2984When "skipwhite" is present, the white space is only skipped if there is no
2985next group that matches the white space.
2986
2987When "skipnl" is present, the match with nextgroup may be found in the next
2988line. This only happens when the current item ends at the end of the current
2989line! When "skipnl" is not present, the nextgroup will only be found after
2990the current item in the same line.
2991
2992When skipping text while looking for a next group, the matches for other
2993groups are ignored. Only when no next group matches, other items are tried
2994for a match again. This means that matching a next group and skipping white
2995space and <EOL>s has a higher priority than other items.
2996
2997Example: >
2998 :syn match ifstart "\<if.*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty
2999 :syn match ifline "[^ \t].*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty contained
3000 :syn match ifline "endif" contained
3001Note that the "[^ \t].*" match matches all non-white text. Thus it would also
3002match "endif". Therefore the "endif" match is put last, so that it takes
3003precedence.
3004Note that this example doesn't work for nested "if"s. You need to add
3005"contains" arguments to make that work (omitted for simplicity of the
3006example).
3007
3008==============================================================================
30097. Syntax patterns *:syn-pattern* *E401* *E402*
3010
3011In the syntax commands, a pattern must be surrounded by two identical
3012characters. This is like it works for the ":s" command. The most common to
3013use is the double quote. But if the pattern contains a double quote, you can
3014use another character that is not used in the pattern. Examples: >
3015 :syntax region Comment start="/\*" end="\*/"
3016 :syntax region String start=+"+ end=+"+ skip=+\\"+
3017
3018See |pattern| for the explanation of what a pattern is. Syntax patterns are
3019always interpreted like the 'magic' options is set, no matter what the actual
3020value of 'magic' is. And the patterns are interpreted like the 'l' flag is
3021not included in 'cpoptions'. This was done to make syntax files portable and
3022independent of 'compatible' and 'magic' settings.
3023
3024Try to avoid patterns that can match an empty string, such as "[a-z]*".
3025This slows down the highlighting a lot, because it matches everywhere.
3026
3027 *:syn-pattern-offset*
3028The pattern can be followed by a character offset. This can be used to
3029change the highlighted part, and to change the text area included in the
3030match or region (which only matters when trying to match other items). Both
3031are relative to the matched pattern. The character offset for a skip
3032pattern can be used to tell where to continue looking for an end pattern.
3033
3034The offset takes the form of "{what}={offset}"
3035The {what} can be one of seven strings:
3036
3037ms Match Start offset for the start of the matched text
3038me Match End offset for the end of the matched text
3039hs Highlight Start offset for where the highlighting starts
3040he Highlight End offset for where the highlighting ends
3041rs Region Start offset for where the body of a region starts
3042re Region End offset for where the body of a region ends
3043lc Leading Context offset past "leading context" of pattern
3044
3045The {offset} can be:
3046
3047s start of the matched pattern
3048s+{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3049s-{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3050e end of the matched pattern
3051e+{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3052e-{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3053{nr} (for "lc" only): start matching {nr} chars to the left
3054
3055Examples: "ms=s+1", "hs=e-2", "lc=3".
3056
3057Although all offsets are accepted after any pattern, they are not always
3058meaningful. This table shows which offsets are actually used:
3059
3060 ms me hs he rs re lc ~
3061match item yes yes yes yes - - yes
3062region item start yes - yes - yes - yes
3063region item skip - yes - - - - yes
3064region item end - yes - yes - yes yes
3065
3066Offsets can be concatenated, with a ',' in between. Example: >
3067 :syn match String /"[^"]*"/hs=s+1,he=e-1
3068<
3069 some "string" text
3070 ^^^^^^ highlighted
3071
3072Notes:
3073- There must be no white space between the pattern and the character
3074 offset(s).
3075- The highlighted area will never be outside of the matched text.
3076- A negative offset for an end pattern may not always work, because the end
3077 pattern may be detected when the highlighting should already have stopped.
3078- The start of a match cannot be in a line other than where the pattern
3079 matched. This doesn't work: "a\nb"ms=e. You can make the highlighting
3080 start in another line, this does work: "a\nb"hs=e.
3081
3082Example (match a comment but don't highlight the /* and */): >
3083 :syntax region Comment start="/\*"hs=e+1 end="\*/"he=s-1
3084<
3085 /* this is a comment */
3086 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ highlighted
3087
3088A more complicated Example: >
3089 :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
3090<
3091 abcfoostringbarabc
3092 mmmmmmmmmmm match
3093 ssrrrreee highlight start/region/end ("Foo", "Exa" and "Bar")
3094
3095Leading context *:syn-lc* *:syn-leading* *:syn-context*
3096
3097Note: This is an obsolete feature, only included for backwards compatibility
3098with previous Vim versions. It's now recommended to use the |/\@<=| construct
3099in the pattern.
3100
3101The "lc" offset specifies leading context -- a part of the pattern that must
3102be present, but is not considered part of the match. An offset of "lc=n" will
3103cause Vim to step back n columns before attempting the pattern match, allowing
3104characters which have already been matched in previous patterns to also be
3105used as leading context for this match. This can be used, for instance, to
3106specify that an "escaping" character must not precede the match: >
3107
3108 :syn match ZNoBackslash "[^\\]z"ms=s+1
3109 :syn match WNoBackslash "[^\\]w"lc=1
3110 :syn match Underline "_\+"
3111<
3112 ___zzzz ___wwww
3113 ^^^ ^^^ matches Underline
3114 ^ ^ matches ZNoBackslash
3115 ^^^^ matches WNoBackslash
3116
3117The "ms" offset is automatically set to the same value as the "lc" offset,
3118unless you set "ms" explicitly.
3119
3120
3121Multi-line patterns *:syn-multi-line*
3122
3123The patterns can include "\n" to match an end-of-line. Mostly this works as
3124expected, but there are a few exceptions.
3125
3126When using a start pattern with an offset, the start of the match is not
3127allowed to start in a following line. The highlighting can start in a
3128following line though.
3129
3130The skip pattern can include the "\n", but the search for an end pattern will
3131continue in the first character of the next line, also when that character is
3132matched by the skip pattern. This is because redrawing may start in any line
3133halfway a region and there is no check if the skip pattern started in a
3134previous line. For example, if the skip pattern is "a\nb" and an end pattern
3135is "b", the end pattern does match in the second line of this: >
3136 x x a
3137 b x x
3138Generally this means that the skip pattern should not match any characters
3139after the "\n".
3140
3141
3142External matches *:syn-ext-match*
3143
3144These extra regular expression items are available in region patterns:
3145
3146 */\z(* */\z(\)* *E50* *E52*
3147 \z(\) Marks the sub-expression as "external", meaning that it is can
3148 be accessed from another pattern match. Currently only usable
3149 in defining a syntax region start pattern.
3150
3151 */\z1* */\z2* */\z3* */\z4* */\z5*
3152 \z1 ... \z9 */\z6* */\z7* */\z8* */\z9* *E66* *E67*
3153 Matches the same string that was matched by the corresponding
3154 sub-expression in a previous start pattern match.
3155
3156Sometimes the start and end patterns of a region need to share a common
3157sub-expression. A common example is the "here" document in Perl and many Unix
3158shells. This effect can be achieved with the "\z" special regular expression
3159items, which marks a sub-expression as "external", in the sense that it can be
3160referenced from outside the pattern in which it is defined. The here-document
3161example, for instance, can be done like this: >
3162 :syn region hereDoc start="<<\z(\I\i*\)" end="^\z1$"
3163
3164As can be seen here, the \z actually does double duty. In the start pattern,
3165it marks the "\(\I\i*\)" sub-expression as external; in the end pattern, it
3166changes the \1 back-reference into an external reference referring to the
3167first external sub-expression in the start pattern. External references can
3168also be used in skip patterns: >
3169 :syn region foo start="start \(\I\i*\)" skip="not end \z1" end="end \z1"
3170
3171Note that normal and external sub-expressions are completely orthogonal and
3172indexed separately; for instance, if the pattern "\z(..\)\(..\)" is applied
3173to the string "aabb", then \1 will refer to "bb" and \z1 will refer to "aa".
3174Note also that external sub-expressions cannot be accessed as back-references
3175within the same pattern like normal sub-expressions. If you want to use one
3176sub-expression as both a normal and an external sub-expression, you can nest
3177the two, as in "\(\z(...\)\)".
3178
3179Note that only matches within a single line can be used. Multi-line matches
3180cannot be referred to.
3181
3182==============================================================================
31838. Syntax clusters *:syn-cluster* *E400*
3184
3185:sy[ntax] cluster {cluster-name} [contains={group-name}..]
3186 [add={group-name}..]
3187 [remove={group-name}..]
3188
3189This command allows you to cluster a list of syntax groups together under a
3190single name.
3191
3192 contains={group-name}..
3193 The cluster is set to the specified list of groups.
3194 add={group-name}..
3195 The specified groups are added to the cluster.
3196 remove={group-name}..
3197 The specified groups are removed from the cluster.
3198
3199A cluster so defined may be referred to in a contains=.., nextgroup=.., add=..
3200or remove=.. list with a "@" prefix. You can also use this notation to
3201implicitly declare a cluster before specifying its contents.
3202
3203Example: >
3204 :syntax match Thing "# [^#]\+ #" contains=@ThingMembers
3205 :syntax cluster ThingMembers contains=ThingMember1,ThingMember2
3206
3207As the previous example suggests, modifications to a cluster are effectively
3208retroactive; the membership of the cluster is checked at the last minute, so
3209to speak: >
3210 :syntax keyword A aaa
3211 :syntax keyword B bbb
3212 :syntax cluster AandB contains=A
3213 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@AandB
3214 :syntax cluster AandB add=B " now both keywords are matched in Stuff
3215
3216This also has implications for nested clusters: >
3217 :syntax keyword A aaa
3218 :syntax keyword B bbb
3219 :syntax cluster SmallGroup contains=B
3220 :syntax cluster BigGroup contains=A,@SmallGroup
3221 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@BigGroup
3222 :syntax cluster BigGroup remove=B " no effect, since B isn't in BigGroup
3223 :syntax cluster SmallGroup remove=B " now bbb isn't matched within Stuff
3224
3225==============================================================================
32269. Including syntax files *:syn-include* *E397*
3227
3228It is often useful for one language's syntax file to include a syntax file for
3229a related language. Depending on the exact relationship, this can be done in
3230two different ways:
3231
3232 - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3233 allowed at the top level in the including syntax, you can simply use
3234 the |:runtime| command: >
3235
3236 " In cpp.vim:
3237 :runtime! syntax/c.vim
3238 :unlet b:current_syntax
3239
3240< - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3241 contained within a region in the including syntax, you can use the
3242 ":syntax include" command:
3243
3244:sy[ntax] include [@{grouplist-name}] {file-name}
3245
3246 All syntax items declared in the included file will have the
3247 "contained" flag added. In addition, if a group list is specified,
3248 all top-level syntax items in the included file will be added to
3249 that list. >
3250
3251 " In perl.vim:
3252 :syntax include @Pod <sfile>:p:h/pod.vim
3253 :syntax region perlPOD start="^=head" end="^=cut" contains=@Pod
3254<
3255 When {file-name} is an absolute path (starts with "/", "c:", "$VAR"
3256 or "<sfile>") that file is sourced. When it is a relative path
3257 (e.g., "syntax/pod.vim") the file is searched for in 'runtimepath'.
3258 All matching files are loaded. Using a relative path is
3259 recommended, because it allows a user to replace the included file
3260 with his own version, without replacing the file that does the ":syn
3261 include".
3262
3263==============================================================================
326410. Synchronizing *:syn-sync* *E403* *E404*
3265
3266Vim wants to be able to start redrawing in any position in the document. To
3267make this possible it needs to know the syntax state at the position where
3268redrawing starts.
3269
3270:sy[ntax] sync [ccomment [group-name] | minlines={N} | ...]
3271
3272There are four ways to synchronize:
32731. Always parse from the start of the file.
3274 |:syn-sync-first|
32752. Based on C-style comments. Vim understands how C-comments work and can
3276 figure out if the current line starts inside or outside a comment.
3277 |:syn-sync-second|
32783. Jumping back a certain number of lines and start parsing there.
3279 |:syn-sync-third|
32804. Searching backwards in the text for a pattern to sync on.
3281 |:syn-sync-fourth|
3282
3283 *:syn-sync-maxlines* *:syn-sync-minlines*
3284For the last three methods, the line range where the parsing can start is
3285limited by "minlines" and "maxlines".
3286
3287If the "minlines={N}" argument is given, the parsing always starts at least
3288that many lines backwards. This can be used if the parsing may take a few
3289lines before it's correct, or when it's not possible to use syncing.
3290
3291If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given, the number of lines that are searched
3292for a comment or syncing pattern is restricted to N lines backwards (after
3293adding "minlines"). This is useful if you have few things to sync on and a
3294slow machine. Example: >
3295 :syntax sync ccomment maxlines=500
3296<
3297 *:syn-sync-linebreaks*
3298When using a pattern that matches multiple lines, a change in one line may
3299cause a pattern to no longer match in a previous line. This means has to
3300start above where the change was made. How many lines can be specified with
3301the "linebreaks" argument. For example, when a pattern may include one line
3302break use this: >
3303 :syntax sync linebreaks=1
3304The result is that redrawing always starts at least one line before where a
3305change was made. The default value for "linebreaks" is zero. Usually the
3306value for "minlines" is bigger than "linebreaks".
3307
3308
3309First syncing method: *:syn-sync-first*
3310>
3311 :syntax sync fromstart
3312
3313The file will be parsed from the start. This makes syntax highlighting
3314accurate, but can be slow for long files. Vim caches previously parsed text,
3315so that it's only slow when parsing the text for the first time. However,
3316when making changes some part of the next needs to be parsed again (worst
3317case: to the end of the file).
3318
3319Using "fromstart" is equivalent to using "minlines" with a very large number.
3320
3321
3322Second syncing method: *:syn-sync-second* *:syn-sync-ccomment*
3323
3324For the second method, only the "ccomment" argument needs to be given.
3325Example: >
3326 :syntax sync ccomment
3327
3328When Vim finds that the line where displaying starts is inside a C-style
3329comment, the last region syntax item with the group-name "Comment" will be
3330used. This requires that there is a region with the group-name "Comment"!
3331An alternate group name can be specified, for example: >
3332 :syntax sync ccomment javaComment
3333This means that the last item specified with "syn region javaComment" will be
3334used for the detected C comment region. This only works properly if that
3335region does have a start pattern "\/*" and an end pattern "*\/".
3336
3337The "maxlines" argument can be used to restrict the search to a number of
3338lines. The "minlines" argument can be used to at least start a number of
3339lines back (e.g., for when there is some construct that only takes a few
3340lines, but it hard to sync on).
3341
3342Note: Syncing on a C comment doesn't work properly when strings are used
3343that cross a line and contain a "*/". Since letting strings cross a line
3344is a bad programming habit (many compilers give a warning message), and the
3345chance of a "*/" appearing inside a comment is very small, this restriction
3346is hardly ever noticed.
3347
3348
3349Third syncing method: *:syn-sync-third*
3350
3351For the third method, only the "minlines={N}" argument needs to be given.
3352Vim will subtract {N} from the line number and start parsing there. This
3353means {N} extra lines need to be parsed, which makes this method a bit slower.
3354Example: >
3355 :syntax sync minlines=50
3356
3357"lines" is equivalent to "minlines" (used by older versions).
3358
3359
3360Fourth syncing method: *:syn-sync-fourth*
3361
3362The idea is to synchronize on the end of a few specific regions, called a
3363sync pattern. Only regions can cross lines, so when we find the end of some
3364region, we might be able to know in which syntax item we are. The search
3365starts in the line just above the one where redrawing starts. From there
3366the search continues backwards in the file.
3367
3368This works just like the non-syncing syntax items. You can use contained
3369matches, nextgroup, etc. But there are a few differences:
3370- Keywords cannot be used.
3371- The syntax items with the "sync" keyword form a completely separated group
3372 of syntax items. You can't mix syncing groups and non-syncing groups.
3373- The matching works backwards in the buffer (line by line), instead of
3374 forwards.
3375- A line continuation pattern can be given. It is used to decide which group
3376 of lines need to be searched like they were one line. This means that the
3377 search for a match with the specified items starts in the first of the
3378 consecutive that contain the continuation pattern.
3379- When using "nextgroup" or "contains", this only works within one line (or
3380 group of continued lines).
3381- When using a region, it must start and end in the same line (or group of
3382 continued lines). Otherwise the end is assumed to be at the end of the
3383 line (or group of continued lines).
3384- When a match with a sync pattern is found, the rest of the line (or group of
3385 continued lines) is searched for another match. The last match is used.
3386 This is used when a line can contain both the start end the end of a region
3387 (e.g., in a C-comment like /* this */, the last "*/" is used).
3388
3389There are two ways how a match with a sync pattern can be used:
33901. Parsing for highlighting starts where redrawing starts (and where the
3391 search for the sync pattern started). The syntax group that is expected
3392 to be valid there must be specified. This works well when the regions
3393 that cross lines cannot contain other regions.
33942. Parsing for highlighting continues just after the match. The syntax group
3395 that is expected to be present just after the match must be specified.
3396 This can be used when the previous method doesn't work well. It's much
3397 slower, because more text needs to be parsed.
3398Both types of sync patterns can be used at the same time.
3399
3400Besides the sync patterns, other matches and regions can be specified, to
3401avoid finding unwanted matches.
3402
3403[The reason that the sync patterns are given separately, is that mostly the
3404search for the sync point can be much simpler than figuring out the
3405highlighting. The reduced number of patterns means it will go (much)
3406faster.]
3407
3408 *syn-sync-grouphere* *E393* *E394*
3409 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} grouphere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3410
3411 Define a match that is used for syncing. {group-name} is the
3412 name of a syntax group that follows just after the match. Parsing
3413 of the text for highlighting starts just after the match. A region
3414 must exist for this {group-name}. The first one defined will be used.
3415 "NONE" can be used for when there is no syntax group after the match.
3416
3417 *syn-sync-groupthere*
3418 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} groupthere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3419
3420 Like "grouphere", but {group-name} is the name of a syntax group that
3421 is to be used at the start of the line where searching for the sync
3422 point started. The text between the match and the start of the sync
3423 pattern searching is assumed not to change the syntax highlighting.
3424 For example, in C you could search backwards for "/*" and "*/". If
3425 "/*" is found first, you know that you are inside a comment, so the
3426 "groupthere" is "cComment". If "*/" is found first, you know that you
3427 are not in a comment, so the "groupthere" is "NONE". (in practice
3428 it's a bit more complicated, because the "/*" and "*/" could appear
3429 inside a string. That's left as an exercise to the reader...).
3430
3431 :syntax sync match ..
3432 :syntax sync region ..
3433
3434 Without a "groupthere" argument. Define a region or match that is
3435 skipped while searching for a sync point.
3436
3437 :syntax sync linecont {pattern}
3438
3439 When {pattern} matches in a line, it is considered to continue in
3440 the next line. This means that the search for a sync point will
3441 consider the lines to be concatenated.
3442
3443If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given too, the number of lines that are
3444searched for a match is restricted to N. This is useful if you have very
3445few things to sync on and a slow machine. Example: >
3446 :syntax sync maxlines=100
3447
3448You can clear all sync settings with: >
3449 :syntax sync clear
3450
3451You can clear specific sync patterns with: >
3452 :syntax sync clear {sync-group-name} ..
3453
3454==============================================================================
345511. Listing syntax items *:syntax* *:sy* *:syn* *:syn-list*
3456
3457This commands lists all the syntax items: >
3458
3459 :sy[ntax] [list]
3460
3461To show the syntax items for one syntax group: >
3462
3463 :sy[ntax] list {group-name}
3464
3465To list the syntax groups in one cluster: *E392* >
3466
3467 :sy[ntax] list @{cluster-name}
3468
3469See above for other arguments for the ":syntax" command.
3470
3471Note that the ":syntax" command can be abbreviated to ":sy", although ":syn"
3472is mostly used, because it looks better.
3473
3474==============================================================================
347512. Highlight command *:highlight* *:hi* *E28* *E411* *E415*
3476
3477There are three types of highlight groups:
3478- The ones used for specific languages. For these the name starts with the
3479 name of the language. Many of these don't have any attributes, but are
3480 linked to a group of the second type.
3481- The ones used for all syntax languages.
3482- The ones used for the 'highlight' option.
3483 *hitest.vim*
3484You can see all the groups currently active with this command: >
3485 :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/hitest.vim
3486This will open a new window containing all highlight group names, displayed
3487in their own color.
3488
3489 *:colo* *:colorscheme* *E185*
3490:colo[rscheme] {name} Load color scheme {name}. This searches 'runtimepath'
3491 for the file "colors/{name}.vim. The first one that
3492 is found is loaded.
3493 To see the name of the currently active color scheme
3494 (if there is one): >
3495 :echo g:colors_name
3496< Doesn't work recursively, thus you can't use
3497 ":colorscheme" in a color scheme script.
Bram Moolenaarcfbc5ee2004-07-02 15:38:35 +00003498 After the color scheme has been loaded the
3499 |ColorScheme| autocommand event is triggered.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003500
3501:hi[ghlight] List all the current highlight groups that have
3502 attributes set.
3503
3504:hi[ghlight] {group-name}
3505 List one highlight group.
3506
3507:hi[ghlight] clear Reset all highlighting to the defaults. Removes all
3508 highlighting for groups added by the user!
3509 Uses the current value of 'background' to decide which
3510 default colors to use.
3511
3512:hi[ghlight] clear {group-name}
3513:hi[ghlight] {group-name} NONE
3514 Disable the highlighting for one highlight group. It
3515 is _not_ set back to the default colors.
3516
3517:hi[ghlight] [default] {group-name} {key}={arg} ..
3518 Add a highlight group, or change the highlighting for
3519 an existing group.
3520 See |highlight-args| for the {key}={arg} arguments.
3521 See |:highlight-default| for the optional [default]
3522 argument.
3523
3524Normally a highlight group is added once when starting up. This sets the
3525default values for the highlighting. After that, you can use additional
3526highlight commands to change the arguments that you want to set to non-default
3527values. The value "NONE" can be used to switch the value off or go back to
3528the default value.
3529
3530A simple way to change colors is with the |:colorscheme| command. This loads
3531a file with ":highlight" commands such as this: >
3532
3533 :hi Comment gui=bold
3534
3535Note that all settings that are not included remain the same, only the
3536specified field is used, and settings are merged with previous ones. So, the
3537result is like this single command has been used: >
3538 :hi Comment term=bold ctermfg=Cyan guifg=#80a0ff gui=bold
3539<
3540 *highlight-args* *E416* *E417* *E423*
3541There are three types of terminals for highlighting:
3542term a normal terminal (vt100, xterm)
3543cterm a color terminal (MS-DOS console, color-xterm, these have the "Co"
3544 termcap entry)
3545gui the GUI
3546
3547For each type the highlighting can be given. This makes it possible to use
3548the same syntax file on all terminals, and use the optimal highlighting.
3549
35501. highlight arguments for normal terminals
3551
3552term={attr-list} *attr-list* *highlight-term* *E418*
3553 attr-list is a comma separated list (without spaces) of the
3554 following items (in any order):
3555 bold
3556 underline
3557 reverse
3558 inverse same as reverse
3559 italic
3560 standout
3561 NONE no attributes used (used to reset it)
3562
3563 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They
3564 have the same effect.
3565
3566start={term-list} *highlight-start* *E422*
3567stop={term-list} *term-list* *highlight-stop*
3568 These lists of terminal codes can be used to get
3569 non-standard attributes on a terminal.
3570
3571 The escape sequence specified with the "start" argument
3572 is written before the characters in the highlighted
3573 area. It can be anything that you want to send to the
3574 terminal to highlight this area. The escape sequence
3575 specified with the "stop" argument is written after the
3576 highlighted area. This should undo the "start" argument.
3577 Otherwise the screen will look messed up.
3578
3579 The {term-list} can have two forms:
3580
3581 1. A string with escape sequences.
3582 This is any string of characters, except that it can't start with
3583 "t_" and blanks are not allowed. The <> notation is recognized
3584 here, so you can use things like "<Esc>" and "<Space>". Example:
3585 start=<Esc>[27h;<Esc>[<Space>r;
3586
3587 2. A list of terminal codes.
3588 Each terminal code has the form "t_xx", where "xx" is the name of
3589 the termcap entry. The codes have to be separated with commas.
3590 White space is not allowed. Example:
3591 start=t_C1,t_BL
3592 The terminal codes must exist for this to work.
3593
3594
35952. highlight arguments for color terminals
3596
3597cterm={attr-list} *highlight-cterm*
3598 See above for the description of {attr-list} |attr-list|.
3599 The "cterm" argument is likely to be different from "term", when
3600 colors are used. For example, in a normal terminal comments could
3601 be underlined, in a color terminal they can be made Blue.
3602 Note: Many terminals (e.g., DOS console) can't mix these attributes
3603 with coloring. Use only one of "cterm=" OR "ctermfg=" OR "ctermbg=".
3604
3605ctermfg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermfg* *E421*
3606ctermbg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermbg*
3607 The {color-nr} argument is a color number. Its range is zero to
3608 (not including) the number given by the termcap entry "Co".
3609 The actual color with this number depends on the type of terminal
3610 and its settings. Sometimes the color also depends on the settings of
3611 "cterm". For example, on some systems "cterm=bold ctermfg=3" gives
3612 another color, on others you just get color 3.
3613
3614 For an xterm this depends on your resources, and is a bit
3615 unpredictable. See your xterm documentation for the defaults. The
3616 colors for a color-xterm can be changed from the .Xdefaults file.
3617 Unfortunately this means that it's not possible to get the same colors
3618 for each user. See |xterm-color| for info about color xterms.
3619
3620 The MSDOS standard colors are fixed (in a console window), so these
3621 have been used for the names. But the meaning of color names in X11
3622 are fixed, so these color settings have been used, to make the
3623 highlighting settings portable (complicated, isn't it?). The
3624 following names are recognized, with the color number used:
3625
3626 *cterm-colors*
3627 NR-16 NR-8 COLOR NAME ~
3628 0 0 Black
3629 1 4 DarkBlue
3630 2 2 DarkGreen
3631 3 6 DarkCyan
3632 4 1 DarkRed
3633 5 5 DarkMagenta
3634 6 3 Brown, DarkYellow
3635 7 7 LightGray, LightGrey, Gray, Grey
3636 8 0* DarkGray, DarkGrey
3637 9 4* Blue, LightBlue
3638 10 2* Green, LightGreen
3639 11 6* Cyan, LightCyan
3640 12 1* Red, LightRed
3641 13 5* Magenta, LightMagenta
3642 14 3* Yellow, LightYellow
3643 15 7* White
3644
3645 The number under "NR-16" is used for 16-color terminals ('t_Co'
3646 greater than or equal to 16). The number under "NR-8" is used for
3647 8-color terminals ('t_Co' less than 16). The '*' indicates that the
3648 bold attribute is set for ctermfg. In many 8-color terminals (e.g.,
3649 "linux"), this causes the bright colors to appear. This doesn't work
3650 for background colors! Without the '*' the bold attribute is removed.
3651 If you want to set the bold attribute in a different way, put a
3652 "cterm=" argument AFTER the "ctermfg=" or "ctermbg=" argument. Or use
3653 a number instead of a color name.
3654
3655 The case of the color names is ignored.
3656 Note that for 16 color ansi style terminals (including xterms), the
3657 numbers in the NR-8 column is used. Here '*' means 'add 8' so that Blue
3658 is 12, DarkGray is 8 etc.
3659
3660 Note that for some color terminals these names may result in the wrong
3661 colors!
3662
3663 *:hi-normal-cterm*
3664 When setting the "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" colors for the Normal group,
3665 these will become the colors used for the non-highlighted text.
3666 Example: >
3667 :highlight Normal ctermfg=grey ctermbg=darkblue
3668< When setting the "ctermbg" color for the Normal group, the
3669 'background' option will be adjusted automatically. This causes the
3670 highlight groups that depend on 'background' to change! This means
3671 you should set the colors for Normal first, before setting other
3672 colors.
3673 When a colorscheme is being used, changing 'background' causes it to
3674 be reloaded, which may reset all colors (including Normal). First
3675 delete the "colors_name" variable when you don't want this.
3676
3677 When you have set "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" for the Normal group, Vim
3678 needs to reset the color when exiting. This is done with the "op"
3679 termcap entry |t_op|. If this doesn't work correctly, try setting the
3680 't_op' option in your .vimrc.
3681 *E419* *E420*
3682 When Vim knows the normal foreground and background colors, "fg" and
3683 "bg" can be used as color names. This only works after setting the
3684 colors for the Normal group and for the MS-DOS console. Example, for
3685 reverse video: >
3686 :highlight Visual ctermfg=bg ctermbg=fg
3687< Note that the colors are used that are valid at the moment this
3688 command are given. If the Normal group colors are changed later, the
3689 "fg" and "bg" colors will not be adjusted.
3690
3691
36923. highlight arguments for the GUI
3693
3694gui={attr-list} *highlight-gui*
3695 These give the attributes to use in the GUI mode.
3696 See |attr-list| for a description.
3697 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They
3698 have the same effect.
3699 Note that the attributes are ignored for the "Normal" group.
3700
3701font={font-name} *highlight-font*
3702 font-name is the name of a font, as it is used on the system Vim
3703 runs on. For X11 this is a complicated name, for example: >
3704 font=-misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-1
3705<
3706 The font-name "NONE" can be used to revert to the default font.
3707 When setting the font for the "Normal" group, this becomes the default
3708 font (until the 'guifont' option is changed; the last one set is
3709 used).
3710 The following only works with Motif and Athena, not with other GUIs:
3711 When setting the font for the "Menu" group, the menus will be changed.
3712 When setting the font for the "Tooltip" group, the tooltips will be
3713 changed.
3714 All fonts used, except for Menu and Tooltip, should be of the same
3715 character size as the default font! Otherwise redrawing problems will
3716 occur.
3717
3718guifg={color-name} *highlight-guifg*
3719guibg={color-name} *highlight-guibg*
3720 These give the foreground (guifg) and background (guibg) color to
3721 use in the GUI. There are a few special names:
3722 NONE no color (transparent)
3723 bg use normal background color
3724 background use normal background color
3725 fg use normal foreground color
3726 foreground use normal foreground color
3727 To use a color name with an embedded space or other special character,
3728 put it in single quotes. The single quote cannot be used then.
3729 Example: >
3730 :hi comment guifg='salmon pink'
3731<
3732 *gui-colors*
3733 Suggested color names (these are available on most systems):
3734 Red LightRed DarkRed
3735 Green LightGreen DarkGreen SeaGreen
3736 Blue LightBlue DarkBlue SlateBlue
3737 Cyan LightCyan DarkCyan
3738 Magenta LightMagenta DarkMagenta
3739 Yellow LightYellow Brown DarkYellow
3740 Gray LightGray DarkGray
3741 Black White
3742 Orange Purple Violet
3743
3744 In the Win32 GUI version, additional system colors are available. See
3745 |win32-colors|.
3746
3747 You can also specify a color by its Red, Green and Blue values.
3748 The format is "#rrggbb", where
3749 "rr" is the Red value
3750 "bb" is the Blue value
3751 "gg" is the Green value
3752 All values are hexadecimal, range from "00" to "ff". Examples: >
3753 :highlight Comment guifg=#11f0c3 guibg=#ff00ff
3754<
3755 *highlight-groups* *highlight-default*
3756These are the default highlighting groups. These groups are used by the
3757'highlight' option default. Note that the highlighting depends on the value
3758of 'background'. You can see the current settings with the ":highlight"
3759command.
3760 *hl-Cursor*
3761Cursor the character under the cursor
3762 *hl-CursorIM*
3763CursorIM like Cursor, but used when in IME mode |CursorIM|
3764 *hl-Directory*
3765Directory directory names (and other special names in listings)
3766 *hl-DiffAdd*
3767DiffAdd diff mode: Added line |diff.txt|
3768 *hl-DiffChange*
3769DiffChange diff mode: Changed line |diff.txt|
3770 *hl-DiffDelete*
3771DiffDelete diff mode: Deleted line |diff.txt|
3772 *hl-DiffText*
3773DiffText diff mode: Changed text within a changed line |diff.txt|
3774 *hl-ErrorMsg*
3775ErrorMsg error messages on the command line
3776 *hl-VertSplit*
3777VertSplit the column separating vertically split windows
3778 *hl-Folded*
3779Folded line used for closed folds
3780 *hl-FoldColumn*
3781FoldColumn 'foldcolumn'
3782 *hl-SignColumn*
3783SignColumn column where |signs| are displayed
3784 *hl-IncSearch*
3785IncSearch 'incsearch' highlighting; also used for the text replaced with
3786 ":s///c"
3787 *hl-LineNr*
3788LineNr line number for ":number" and ":#" commands, and when 'number'
3789 option is set.
3790 *hl-ModeMsg*
3791ModeMsg 'showmode' message (e.g., "-- INSERT --")
3792 *hl-MoreMsg*
3793MoreMsg |more-prompt|
3794 *hl-NonText*
3795NonText '~' and '@' at the end of the window, characters from
3796 'showbreak' and other characters that do not really exist in
3797 the text (e.g., ">" displayed when a double-wide character
3798 doesn't fit at the end of the line).
3799 *hl-Normal*
3800Normal normal text
3801 *hl-Question*
3802Question |hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions
3803 *hl-Search*
3804Search Last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch').
3805 Also used for highlighting the current line in the quickfix
3806 window and similar items that need to stand out.
3807 *hl-SpecialKey*
3808SpecialKey Meta and special keys listed with ":map", also for text used
3809 to show unprintable characters in the text, 'listchars'.
3810 Generally: text that is displayed differently from what it
3811 really is.
3812 *hl-StatusLine*
3813StatusLine status line of current window
3814 *hl-StatusLineNC*
3815StatusLineNC status lines of not-current windows
3816 Note: if this is equal to "StatusLine" Vim will use "^^^" in
3817 the status line of the current window.
3818 *hl-Title*
3819Title titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc.
3820 *hl-Visual*
3821Visual Visual mode selection
3822 *hl-VisualNOS*
3823VisualNOS Visual mode selection when vim is "Not Owning the Selection".
3824 Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and |xterm-clipboard| supports this.
3825 *hl-WarningMsg*
3826WarningMsg warning messages
3827 *hl-WildMenu*
3828WildMenu current match in 'wildmenu' completion
3829
3830 *hl-User1* *hl-User1..9*
3831The 'statusline' syntax allows the use of 9 different highlights in the
3832statusline and ruler (via 'rulerformat'). The names are User1 to User9.
3833
3834For the GUI you can use these groups to set the colors for the menu,
3835scrollbars and tooltips. They don't have defaults. This doesn't work for the
3836Win32 GUI. Only three highlight arguments have any effect here: font, guibg,
3837and guifg.
3838
3839 *hl-Menu*
3840Menu Current font, background and foreground colors of the menus.
3841 Also used for the toolbar.
3842 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
3843
3844 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
3845 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
3846 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
3847 set.
3848
3849 *hl-Scrollbar*
3850Scrollbar Current background and foreground of the main window's
3851 scrollbars.
3852 Applicable highlight arguments: guibg, guifg.
3853
3854 *hl-Tooltip*
3855Tooltip Current font, background and foreground of the tooltips.
3856 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
3857
3858 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
3859 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
3860 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
3861 set.
3862
3863==============================================================================
386413. Linking groups *:hi-link* *:highlight-link* *E412* *E413*
3865
3866When you want to use the same highlighting for several syntax groups, you
3867can do this more easily by linking the groups into one common highlight
3868group, and give the color attributes only for that group.
3869
3870To set a link:
3871
3872 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} {to-group}
3873
3874To remove a link:
3875
3876 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} NONE
3877
3878Notes: *E414*
3879- If the {from-group} and/or {to-group} doesn't exist, it is created. You
3880 don't get an error message for a non-existing group.
3881- As soon as you use a ":highlight" command for a linked group, the link is
3882 removed.
3883- If there are already highlight settings for the {from-group}, the link is
3884 not made, unless the '!' is given. For a ":highlight link" command in a
3885 sourced file, you don't get an error message. This can be used to skip
3886 links for groups that already have settings.
3887
3888 *:hi-default* *:highlight-default*
3889The [default] argument is used for setting the default highlighting for a
3890group. If highlighting has already been specified for the group the command
3891will be ignored. Also when there is an existing link.
3892
3893Using [default] is especially useful to overrule the highlighting of a
3894specific syntax file. For example, the C syntax file contains: >
3895 :highlight default link cComment Comment
3896If you like Question highlighting for C comments, put this in your vimrc file: >
3897 :highlight link cComment Question
3898Without the "default" in the C syntax file, the highlighting would be
3899overruled when the syntax file is loaded.
3900
3901==============================================================================
390214. Cleaning up *:syn-clear* *E391*
3903
3904If you want to clear the syntax stuff for the current buffer, you can use this
3905command: >
3906 :syntax clear
3907
3908This command should be used when you want to switch off syntax highlighting,
3909or when you want to switch to using another syntax. It's normally not needed
3910in a syntax file itself, because syntax is cleared by the autocommands that
3911load the syntax file.
3912The command also deletes the "b:current_syntax" variable, since no syntax is
3913loaded after this command.
3914
3915If you want to disable syntax highlighting for all buffers, you need to remove
3916the autocommands that load the syntax files: >
3917 :syntax off
3918
3919What this command actually does, is executing the command >
3920 :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
3921See the "nosyntax.vim" file for details. Note that for this to work
3922$VIMRUNTIME must be valid. See |$VIMRUNTIME|.
3923
3924To clean up specific syntax groups for the current buffer: >
3925 :syntax clear {group-name} ..
3926This removes all patterns and keywords for {group-name}.
3927
3928To clean up specific syntax group lists for the current buffer: >
3929 :syntax clear @{grouplist-name} ..
3930This sets {grouplist-name}'s contents to an empty list.
3931
3932 *:syntax-reset* *:syn-reset*
3933If you have changed the colors and messed them up, use this command to get the
3934defaults back: >
3935
3936 :syntax reset
3937
3938This doesn't change the colors for the 'highlight' option.
3939
3940Note that the syntax colors that you set in your vimrc file will also be reset
3941back to their Vim default.
3942Note that if you are using a color scheme, the colors defined by the color
3943scheme for syntax highlighting will be lost.
3944
3945What this actually does is: >
3946
3947 let g:syntax_cmd = "reset"
3948 runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim
3949
3950Note that this uses the 'runtimepath' option.
3951
3952 *syncolor*
3953If you want to use different colors for syntax highlighting, you can add a Vim
3954script file to set these colors. Put this file in a directory in
3955'runtimepath' which comes after $VIMRUNTIME, so that your settings overrule
3956the default colors. This way these colors will be used after the ":syntax
3957reset" command.
3958
3959For Unix you can use the file ~/.vim/after/syntax/syncolor.vim. Example: >
3960
3961 if &background == "light"
3962 highlight comment ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
3963 else
3964 highlight comment ctermfg=green guifg=green
3965 endif
3966
3967Note that when a color scheme is used, there might be some confusion whether
3968your defined colors are to be used or the colors from the scheme. This
3969depends on the color scheme file. See |:colorscheme|.
3970
3971 *syntax_cmd*
3972The "syntax_cmd" variable is set to one of these values when the
3973syntax/syncolor.vim files are loaded:
3974 "on" ":syntax on" command. Highlight colors are overruled but
3975 links are kept
3976 "enable" ":syntax enable" command. Only define colors for groups that
3977 don't have highlighting yet. Use ":syntax default".
3978 "reset" ":syntax reset" command or loading a color scheme. Define all
3979 the colors.
3980 "skip" Don't define colors. Used to skip the default settings when a
3981 syncolor.vim file earlier in 'runtimepath' has already set
3982 them.
3983
3984==============================================================================
398515. Highlighting tags *tag-highlight*
3986
3987If you want to highlight all the tags in your file, you can use the following
3988mappings.
3989
3990 <F11> -- Generate tags.vim file, and highlight tags.
3991 <F12> -- Just highlight tags based on existing tags.vim file.
3992>
3993 :map <F11> :sp tags<CR>:%s/^\([^ :]*:\)\=\([^ ]*\).*/syntax keyword Tag \2/<CR>:wq! tags.vim<CR>/^<CR><F12>
3994 :map <F12> :so tags.vim<CR>
3995
3996WARNING: The longer the tags file, the slower this will be, and the more
3997memory Vim will consume.
3998
3999Only highlighting typedefs, unions and structs can be done too. For this you
4000must use Exuberant ctags (found at http://ctags.sf.net).
4001
4002Put these lines in your Makefile:
4003
4004# Make a highlight file for types. Requires Exuberant ctags and awk
4005types: types.vim
4006types.vim: *.[ch]
4007 ctags -i=gstuS -o- *.[ch] |\
4008 awk 'BEGIN{printf("syntax keyword Type\t")}\
4009 {printf("%s ", $$1)}END{print ""}' > $@
4010
4011And put these lines in your .vimrc: >
4012
4013 " load the types.vim highlighting file, if it exists
4014 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] let fname = expand('<afile>:p:h') . '/types.vim'
4015 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] if filereadable(fname)
4016 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] exe 'so ' . fname
4017 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] endif
4018
4019==============================================================================
402016. Color xterms *xterm-color* *color-xterm*
4021
4022Most color xterms have only eight colors. If you don't get colors with the
4023default setup, it should work with these lines in your .vimrc: >
4024 :if &term =~ "xterm"
4025 : if has("terminfo")
4026 : set t_Co=8
4027 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%p1%dm
4028 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%p1%dm
4029 : else
4030 : set t_Co=8
4031 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4032 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4033 : endif
4034 :endif
4035< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4036
4037You might want to change the first "if" to match the name of your terminal,
4038e.g. "dtterm" instead of "xterm".
4039
4040Note: Do these settings BEFORE doing ":syntax on". Otherwise the colors may
4041be wrong.
4042 *xiterm* *rxvt*
4043The above settings have been mentioned to work for xiterm and rxvt too.
4044But for using 16 colors in an rxvt these should work with terminfo: >
4045 :set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t25;%p1%{40}%+%e5;%p1%{32}%+%;%dm
4046 :set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t22;%p1%{30}%+%e1;%p1%{22}%+%;%dm
4047<
4048 *colortest.vim*
4049To test your color setup, a file has been included in the Vim distribution.
4050To use it, execute these commands: >
4051 :e $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/colortest.vim
4052 :so %
4053
4054Some versions of xterm (and other terminals, like the linux console) can
4055output lighter foreground colors, even though the number of colors is defined
4056at 8. Therefore Vim sets the "cterm=bold" attribute for light foreground
4057colors, when 't_Co' is 8.
4058
4059 *xfree-xterm*
4060To get 16 colors or more, get the newest xterm version (which should be
4061included with Xfree86 3.3 and later). You can also find the latest version
4062at: >
4063 http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html
4064Here is a good way to configure it. This uses 88 colors and enables the
4065termcap-query feature, which allows Vim to ask the xterm how many colors it
4066supports. >
4067 ./configure --disable-bold-color --enable-88-color --enable-tcap-query
4068If you only get 8 colors, check the xterm compilation settings.
4069(Also see |UTF8-xterm| for using this xterm with UTF-8 character encoding).
4070
4071This xterm should work with these lines in your .vimrc (for 16 colors): >
4072 :if has("terminfo")
4073 : set t_Co=16
4074 : set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{92}%+%;%dm
4075 : set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{82}%+%;%dm
4076 :else
4077 : set t_Co=16
4078 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4079 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4080 :endif
4081< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4082
4083Without |+terminfo|, Vim will recognize these settings, and automatically
4084translate cterm colors of 8 and above to "<Esc>[9%dm" and "<Esc>[10%dm".
4085Colors above 16 are also translated automatically.
4086
4087For 256 colors this has been reported to work: >
4088
4089 :set t_AB=<Esc>[48;5;%dm
4090 :set t_AF=<Esc>[38;5;%dm
4091
4092Or just set the TERM environment variable to "xterm-color" or "xterm-16color"
4093and try if that works.
4094
4095You probably want to use these X resources (in your ~/.Xdefaults file):
4096 XTerm*color0: #000000
4097 XTerm*color1: #c00000
4098 XTerm*color2: #008000
4099 XTerm*color3: #808000
4100 XTerm*color4: #0000c0
4101 XTerm*color5: #c000c0
4102 XTerm*color6: #008080
4103 XTerm*color7: #c0c0c0
4104 XTerm*color8: #808080
4105 XTerm*color9: #ff6060
4106 XTerm*color10: #00ff00
4107 XTerm*color11: #ffff00
4108 XTerm*color12: #8080ff
4109 XTerm*color13: #ff40ff
4110 XTerm*color14: #00ffff
4111 XTerm*color15: #ffffff
4112 Xterm*cursorColor: Black
4113
4114[Note: The cursorColor is required to work around a bug, which changes the
4115cursor color to the color of the last drawn text. This has been fixed by a
4116newer version of xterm, but not everybody is it using yet.]
4117
4118To get these right away, reload the .Xdefaults file to the X Option database
4119Manager (you only need to do this when you just changed the .Xdefaults file): >
4120 xrdb -merge ~/.Xdefaults
4121<
4122 *xterm-blink* *xterm-blinking-cursor*
4123To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see tools/blink.c. Or use Thomas
4124Dickey's xterm above patchlevel 107 (see above for where to get it), with
4125these resources:
4126 XTerm*cursorBlink: on
4127 XTerm*cursorOnTime: 400
4128 XTerm*cursorOffTime: 250
4129 XTerm*cursorColor: White
4130
4131 *hpterm-color*
4132These settings work (more or less) for a hpterm, which only supports 8
4133foreground colors: >
4134 :if has("terminfo")
4135 : set t_Co=8
4136 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%p1%dS
4137 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4138 :else
4139 : set t_Co=8
4140 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%dS
4141 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4142 :endif
4143< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4144
4145 *Eterm* *enlightened-terminal*
4146These settings have been reported to work for the Enlightened terminal
4147emulator, or Eterm. They might work for all xterm-like terminals that use the
4148bold attribute to get bright colors. Add an ":if" like above when needed. >
4149 :set t_Co=16
4150 :set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t3%p1%d%e%p1%{22}%+%d;1%;m
4151 :set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t4%p1%d%e%p1%{32}%+%d;1%;m
4152<
4153 *TTpro-telnet*
4154These settings should work for TTpro telnet. Tera Term Pro is a freeware /
4155open-source program for MS-Windows. >
4156 set t_Co=16
4157 set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{32}%+5;%;%dm
4158 set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{22}%+1;%;%dm
4159Also make sure TTpro's Setup / Window / Full Color is enabled, and make sure
4160that Setup / Font / Enable Bold is NOT enabled.
4161(info provided by John Love-Jensen <eljay@Adobe.COM>)
4162
4163 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl: