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Bram Moolenaar1423b9d2006-05-07 15:16:06 +00001*syntax.txt* For Vim version 7.0. Last change: 2006 Apr 30
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
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +000084reading the |gvimrc|. This will cause the wrong default highlighting to be
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000085used. To set the default value of 'background' before switching on
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +000086highlighting, include the ":gui" command in the |gvimrc|: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000087
88 :gui " open window and set default for 'background'
89 :syntax on " start highlighting, use 'background' to set colors
90
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +000091NOTE: Using ":gui" in the |gvimrc| means that "gvim -f" won't start in the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000092foreground! 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
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +0000187If you have multiple files, you can use the filetype as the directory name.
188All the "*.vim" files in this directory will be used, for example:
189 ~/.vim/after/syntax/c/one.vim
190 ~/.vim/after/syntax/c/two.vim
191
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000192
193REPLACING AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE *mysyntaxfile-replace*
194
195If you don't like a distributed syntax file, or you have downloaded a new
196version, follow the same steps as for |mysyntaxfile| above. Just make sure
197that you write the syntax file in a directory that is early in 'runtimepath'.
198Vim will only load the first syntax file found.
199
200
201NAMING CONVENTIONS
202 *group-name* *{group-name}* *E669* *W18*
203The name for a highlight or syntax group must consist of ASCII letters, digits
204and the underscore. As a regexp: "[a-zA-Z0-9_]*"
205
206To be able to allow each user to pick his favorite set of colors, there must
207be preferred names for highlight groups that are common for many languages.
208These are the suggested group names (if syntax highlighting works properly
209you can see the actual color, except for "Ignore"):
210
211 *Comment any comment
212
213 *Constant any constant
214 String a string constant: "this is a string"
215 Character a character constant: 'c', '\n'
216 Number a number constant: 234, 0xff
217 Boolean a boolean constant: TRUE, false
218 Float a floating point constant: 2.3e10
219
220 *Identifier any variable name
221 Function function name (also: methods for classes)
222
223 *Statement any statement
224 Conditional if, then, else, endif, switch, etc.
225 Repeat for, do, while, etc.
226 Label case, default, etc.
227 Operator "sizeof", "+", "*", etc.
228 Keyword any other keyword
229 Exception try, catch, throw
230
231 *PreProc generic Preprocessor
232 Include preprocessor #include
233 Define preprocessor #define
234 Macro same as Define
235 PreCondit preprocessor #if, #else, #endif, etc.
236
237 *Type int, long, char, etc.
238 StorageClass static, register, volatile, etc.
239 Structure struct, union, enum, etc.
240 Typedef A typedef
241
242 *Special any special symbol
243 SpecialChar special character in a constant
244 Tag you can use CTRL-] on this
245 Delimiter character that needs attention
246 SpecialComment special things inside a comment
247 Debug debugging statements
248
249 *Underlined text that stands out, HTML links
250
251 *Ignore left blank, hidden
252
253 *Error any erroneous construct
254
255 *Todo anything that needs extra attention; mostly the
256 keywords TODO FIXME and XXX
257
258The names marked with * are the preferred groups; the others are minor groups.
259For the preferred groups, the "syntax.vim" file contains default highlighting.
260The minor groups are linked to the preferred groups, so they get the same
261highlighting. You can override these defaults by using ":highlight" commands
262after sourcing the "syntax.vim" file.
263
264Note that highlight group names are not case sensitive. "String" and "string"
265can be used for the same group.
266
267The following names are reserved and cannot be used as a group name:
268 NONE ALL ALLBUT contains contained
269
270==============================================================================
2713. Syntax loading procedure *syntax-loading*
272
273This explains the details that happen when the command ":syntax enable" is
274issued. When Vim initializes itself, it finds out where the runtime files are
275located. This is used here as the variable |$VIMRUNTIME|.
276
277":syntax enable" and ":syntax on" do the following:
278
279 Source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
280 |
281 +- Clear out any old syntax by sourcing $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
282 |
283 +- Source first syntax/synload.vim in 'runtimepath'
284 | |
285 | +- Setup the colors for syntax highlighting. If a color scheme is
286 | | defined it is loaded again with ":colors {name}". Otherwise
287 | | ":runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim" is used. ":syntax on" overrules
288 | | existing colors, ":syntax enable" only sets groups that weren't
289 | | set yet.
290 | |
291 | +- Set up syntax autocmds to load the appropriate syntax file when
292 | | the 'syntax' option is set. *synload-1*
293 | |
294 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the |mysyntaxfile| variable.
295 | This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only. *synload-2*
296 |
297 +- Do ":filetype on", which does ":runtime! filetype.vim". It loads any
298 | filetype.vim files found. It should always Source
299 | $VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim, which does the following.
300 | |
301 | +- Install autocmds based on suffix to set the 'filetype' option
302 | | This is where the connection between file name and file type is
303 | | made for known file types. *synload-3*
304 | |
305 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the *myfiletypefile*
306 | | variable. This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
307 | | *synload-4*
308 | |
309 | +- Install one autocommand which sources scripts.vim when no file
310 | | type was detected yet. *synload-5*
311 | |
312 | +- Source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim, to setup the Syntax menu. |menu.vim|
313 |
314 +- Install a FileType autocommand to set the 'syntax' option when a file
315 | type has been detected. *synload-6*
316 |
317 +- Execute syntax autocommands to start syntax highlighting for each
318 already loaded buffer.
319
320
321Upon loading a file, Vim finds the relevant syntax file as follows:
322
323 Loading the file triggers the BufReadPost autocommands.
324 |
325 +- If there is a match with one of the autocommands from |synload-3|
326 | (known file types) or |synload-4| (user's file types), the 'filetype'
327 | option is set to the file type.
328 |
329 +- The autocommand at |synload-5| is triggered. If the file type was not
330 | found yet, then scripts.vim is searched for in 'runtimepath'. This
331 | should always load $VIMRUNTIME/scripts.vim, which does the following.
332 | |
333 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the *myscriptsfile*
334 | | variable. This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
335 | |
336 | +- If the file type is still unknown, check the contents of the file,
337 | again with checks like "getline(1) =~ pattern" as to whether the
338 | file type can be recognized, and set 'filetype'.
339 |
340 +- When the file type was determined and 'filetype' was set, this
341 | triggers the FileType autocommand |synload-6| above. It sets
342 | 'syntax' to the determined file type.
343 |
344 +- When the 'syntax' option was set above, this triggers an autocommand
345 | from |synload-1| (and |synload-2|). This find the main syntax file in
346 | 'runtimepath', with this command:
347 | runtime! syntax/<name>.vim
348 |
349 +- Any other user installed FileType or Syntax autocommands are
350 triggered. This can be used to change the highlighting for a specific
351 syntax.
352
353==============================================================================
3544. Syntax file remarks *:syn-file-remarks*
355
356 *b:current_syntax-variable*
357Vim stores the name of the syntax that has been loaded in the
358"b:current_syntax" variable. You can use this if you want to load other
359settings, depending on which syntax is active. Example: >
360 :au BufReadPost * if b:current_syntax == "csh"
361 :au BufReadPost * do-some-things
362 :au BufReadPost * endif
363
364
3652HTML *2html.vim* *convert-to-HTML*
366
367This is not a syntax file itself, but a script that converts the current
368window into HTML. Vim opens a new window in which it builds the HTML file.
369
370You are not supposed to set the 'filetype' or 'syntax' option to "2html"!
371Source the script to convert the current file: >
372
373 :runtime! syntax/2html.vim
374<
375Warning: This is slow!
376 *:TOhtml*
377Or use the ":TOhtml" user command. It is defined in a standard plugin.
378":TOhtml" also works with a range and in a Visual area: >
379
380 :10,40TOhtml
381
382After you save the resulting file, you can view it with any HTML viewer, such
383as Netscape. The colors should be exactly the same as you see them in Vim.
384
385To restrict the conversion to a range of lines set "html_start_line" and
386"html_end_line" to the first and last line to be converted. Example, using
387the last set Visual area: >
388
389 :let html_start_line = line("'<")
390 :let html_end_line = line("'>")
391
392The lines are numbered according to 'number' option and the Number
393highlighting. You can force lines to be numbered in the HTML output by
394setting "html_number_lines" to non-zero value: >
395 :let html_number_lines = 1
396Force to omit the line numbers by using a zero value: >
397 :let html_number_lines = 0
398Go back to the default to use 'number' by deleting the variable: >
399 :unlet html_number_lines
400
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +0000401Closed folds are put in the HTML as they are displayed. If you don't want
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +0000402this, use the |zR| command before invoking 2html, or use: >
Bram Moolenaarf4630b62005-05-20 21:31:17 +0000403 :let html_ignore_folding = 1
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +0000404
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000405By default, HTML optimized for old browsers is generated. If you prefer using
406cascading style sheets (CSS1) for the attributes (resulting in considerably
407shorter and valid HTML 4 file), use: >
408 :let html_use_css = 1
409
410By default "<pre>" and "</pre>" is used around the text. This makes it show
411up as you see it in Vim, but without wrapping. If you prefer wrapping, at the
412risk of making some things look a bit different, use: >
413 :let html_no_pre = 1
414This will use <br> at the end of each line and use "&nbsp;" for repeated
415spaces.
416
417The current value of 'encoding' is used to specify the charset of the HTML
418file. This only works for those values of 'encoding' that have an equivalent
419HTML charset name. To overrule this set g:html_use_encoding to the name of
420the charset to be used: >
421 :let html_use_encoding = "foobar"
422To omit the line that specifies the charset, set g:html_use_encoding to an
423empty string: >
424 :let html_use_encoding = ""
425To go back to the automatic mechanism, delete the g:html_use_encoding
426variable: >
427 :unlet html_use_encoding
428<
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000429For diff mode a sequence of more than 3 filler lines is displayed as three
430lines with the middle line mentioning the total number of inserted lines. If
431you prefer to see all the inserted lines use: >
432 :let html_whole_filler = 1
433And to go back to displaying up to three lines again: >
434 :unlet html_whole_filler
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +0000435<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000436 *convert-to-XML* *convert-to-XHTML*
437An alternative is to have the script generate XHTML (XML compliant HTML). To
438do this set the "use_xhtml" variable: >
439 :let use_xhtml = 1
440To disable it again delete the variable: >
441 :unlet use_xhtml
442The generated XHTML file can be used in DocBook XML documents. See:
443 http://people.mech.kuleuven.ac.be/~pissaris/howto/src2db.html
444
445Remarks:
446- This only works in a version with GUI support. If the GUI is not actually
447 running (possible for X11) it still works, but not very well (the colors
448 may be wrong).
449- Older browsers will not show the background colors.
450- From most browsers you can also print the file (in color)!
451
452Here is an example how to run the script over all .c and .h files from a
453Unix shell: >
454 for f in *.[ch]; do gvim -f +"syn on" +"run! syntax/2html.vim" +"wq" +"q" $f; done
455<
456
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000457ABEL *abel.vim* *ft-abel-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000458
459ABEL highlighting provides some user-defined options. To enable them, assign
460any value to the respective variable. Example: >
461 :let abel_obsolete_ok=1
462To disable them use ":unlet". Example: >
463 :unlet abel_obsolete_ok
464
465Variable Highlight ~
466abel_obsolete_ok obsolete keywords are statements, not errors
467abel_cpp_comments_illegal do not interpret '//' as inline comment leader
468
469
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000470ADA *ada.vim* *ft-ada-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000471
472This mode is designed for the 1995 edition of Ada ("Ada95"), which
473includes support for objected-programming, protected types, and so on.
474It handles code written for the original Ada language
475("Ada83" or "Ada87") as well, though Ada83 code which uses Ada95-only
476keywords will be wrongly colored (such code should be fixed anyway).
477For more information about Ada, see http://www.adapower.com.
478
479The Ada mode handles a number of situations cleanly.
480For example, it knows that the "-" in "-5" is a number, but the same
481character in "A-5" is an operator. Normally, a "with" or "use" clause
482referencing another compilation unit is colored the same way as C's
483"#include" is colored. If you have "Conditional" or "Repeat"
484groups colored differently, then "end if" and "end loop" will be
485colored as part of those respective groups.
486You can set these to different colors using vim's "highlight" command
487(e.g., to change how loops are displayed, enter the command
488":hi Repeat" followed by the color specification; on simple terminals
489the color specification ctermfg=White often shows well).
490
491There are several options you can select in this Ada mode.
492To enable them, assign a value to the option. For example, to turn one on:
493 let ada_standard_types = 1
494To disable them use ":unlet". Example:
495 unlet ada_standard_types = 1
496You can just use ":" and type these into the command line to set these
497temporarily before loading an Ada file. You can make these option settings
498permanent by adding the "let" command(s), without a colon,
499to your "~/.vimrc" file.
500
501Here are the Ada mode options:
502
503Variable Action ~
504ada_standard_types Highlight types in package Standard (e.g., "Float")
505ada_space_errors Highlight extraneous errors in spaces...
506ada_no_trail_space_error but ignore trailing spaces at the end of a line
507ada_no_tab_space_error but ignore tabs after spaces
508ada_withuse_ordinary Show "with" and "use" as ordinary keywords
509 (when used to reference other compilation units
510 they're normally highlighted specially).
511ada_begin_preproc Show all begin-like keywords using the coloring
512 of C preprocessor commands.
513
514Even on a slow (90Mhz) PC this mode works quickly, but if you find
515the performance unacceptable, turn on ada_withuse_ordinary.
516
517
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000518ANT *ant.vim* *ft-ant-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000519
520The ant syntax file provides syntax highlighting for javascript and python
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000521by default. Syntax highlighting for other script languages can be installed
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000522by the function AntSyntaxScript(), which takes the tag name as first argument
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000523and the script syntax file name as second argument. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000524
525 :call AntSyntaxScript('perl', 'perl.vim')
526
527will install syntax perl highlighting for the following ant code >
528
529 <script language = 'perl'><![CDATA[
530 # everything inside is highlighted as perl
531 ]]></script>
532
533See |mysyntaxfile-add| for installing script languages permanently.
534
535
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000536APACHE *apache.vim* *ft-apache-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000537
538The apache syntax file provides syntax highlighting depending on Apache HTTP
539server version, by default for 1.3.x. Set "apache_version" to Apache version
540(as a string) to get highlighting for another version. Example: >
541
542 :let apache_version = "2.0"
543<
544
545 *asm.vim* *asmh8300.vim* *nasm.vim* *masm.vim* *asm68k*
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000546ASSEMBLY *ft-asm-syntax* *ft-asmh8300-syntax* *ft-nasm-syntax*
547 *ft-masm-syntax* *ft-asm68k-syntax* *fasm.vim*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000548
549Files matching "*.i" could be Progress or Assembly. If the automatic detection
550doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
551startup vimrc: >
552 :let filetype_i = "asm"
553Replace "asm" with the type of assembly you use.
554
555There are many types of assembly languages that all use the same file name
556extensions. Therefore you will have to select the type yourself, or add a
557line in the assembly file that Vim will recognize. Currently these syntax
558files are included:
559 asm GNU assembly (the default)
560 asm68k Motorola 680x0 assembly
561 asmh8300 Hitachi H-8300 version of GNU assembly
562 ia64 Intel Itanium 64
563 fasm Flat assembly (http://flatassembler.net)
564 masm Microsoft assembly (probably works for any 80x86)
565 nasm Netwide assembly
566 tasm Turbo Assembly (with opcodes 80x86 up to Pentium, and
567 MMX)
568 pic PIC assembly (currently for PIC16F84)
569
570The most flexible is to add a line in your assembly file containing: >
571 :asmsyntax=nasm
572Replace "nasm" with the name of the real assembly syntax. This line must be
573one of the first five lines in the file.
574
575The syntax type can always be overruled for a specific buffer by setting the
576b:asmsyntax variable: >
577 :let b:asmsyntax=nasm
578
579If b:asmsyntax is not set, either automatically or by hand, then the value of
580the global variable asmsyntax is used. This can be seen as a default assembly
581language: >
582 :let asmsyntax=nasm
583
584As a last resort, if nothing is defined, the "asm" syntax is used.
585
586
587Netwide assembler (nasm.vim) optional highlighting ~
588
589To enable a feature: >
590 :let {variable}=1|set syntax=nasm
591To disable a feature: >
592 :unlet {variable} |set syntax=nasm
593
594Variable Highlight ~
595nasm_loose_syntax unofficial parser allowed syntax not as Error
596 (parser dependent; not recommended)
597nasm_ctx_outside_macro contexts outside macro not as Error
598nasm_no_warn potentially risky syntax not as ToDo
599
600
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000601ASPPERL and ASPVBS *ft-aspperl-syntax* *ft-aspvbs-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000602
603*.asp and *.asa files could be either Perl or Visual Basic script. Since it's
604hard to detect this you can set two global variables to tell Vim what you are
605using. For Perl script use: >
606 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspperl"
607 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspperl"
608For Visual Basic use: >
609 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspvbs"
610 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspvbs"
611
612
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +0000613BAAN *baan.vim* *baan-syntax*
Bram Moolenaarf193fff2006-04-27 00:02:13 +0000614
615The baan.vim gives syntax support for BaanC of release BaanIV upto SSA ERP LN
616for both 3 GL and 4 GL programming. Large number of standard defines/constants
617are supported.
618
619Some special violation of coding standards will be signalled when one specify
620in ones |.vimrc|: >
621 let baan_code_stds=1
622
623*baan-folding*
624
625Syntax folding can be enabled at various levels through the variables
626mentioned below (Set those in your |.vimrc|). The more complex folding on
627source blocks and SQL can be CPU intensive.
628
629To allow any folding and enable folding at function level use: >
630 let baan_fold=1
631Folding can be enabled at source block level as if, while, for ,... The
632indentation preceding the begin/end keywords has to match (spaces are not
633considered equal to a tab). >
634 let baan_fold_block=1
635Folding can be enabled for embedded SQL blocks as SELECT, SELECTDO,
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +0000636SELECTEMPTY, ... The indentation preceding the begin/end keywords has to
Bram Moolenaarf193fff2006-04-27 00:02:13 +0000637match (spaces are not considered equal to a tab). >
638 let baan_fold_sql=1
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +0000639Note: Block folding can result in many small folds. It is suggested to |:set|
Bram Moolenaarf193fff2006-04-27 00:02:13 +0000640the options 'foldminlines' and 'foldnestmax' in |.vimrc| or use |:setlocal| in
641.../after/syntax/baan.vim (see |after-directory|). Eg: >
642 set foldminlines=5
643 set foldnestmax=6
644
645
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000646BASIC *basic.vim* *vb.vim* *ft-basic-syntax* *ft-vb-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000647
648Both Visual Basic and "normal" basic use the extension ".bas". To detect
649which one should be used, Vim checks for the string "VB_Name" in the first
650five lines of the file. If it is not found, filetype will be "basic",
651otherwise "vb". Files with the ".frm" extension will always be seen as Visual
652Basic.
653
654
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000655C *c.vim* *ft-c-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000656
657A few things in C highlighting are optional. To enable them assign any value
658to the respective variable. Example: >
659 :let c_comment_strings=1
660To disable them use ":unlet". Example: >
661 :unlet c_comment_strings
662
663Variable Highlight ~
664c_gnu GNU gcc specific items
665c_comment_strings strings and numbers inside a comment
666c_space_errors trailing white space and spaces before a <Tab>
667c_no_trail_space_error ... but no trailing spaces
668c_no_tab_space_error ... but no spaces before a <Tab>
669c_no_bracket_error don't highlight {}; inside [] as errors
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +0000670c_no_curly_error don't highlight {}; inside [] and () as errors;
671 except { and } in first column
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000672c_no_ansi don't do standard ANSI types and constants
673c_ansi_typedefs ... but do standard ANSI types
674c_ansi_constants ... but do standard ANSI constants
675c_no_utf don't highlight \u and \U in strings
676c_syntax_for_h use C syntax for *.h files, instead of C++
677c_no_if0 don't highlight "#if 0" blocks as comments
678c_no_cformat don't highlight %-formats in strings
679c_no_c99 don't highlight C99 standard items
680
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000681When 'foldmethod' is set to "syntax" then /* */ comments and { } blocks will
682become a fold. If you don't want comments to become a fold use: >
683 :let c_no_comment_fold = 1
Bram Moolenaarf9393ef2006-04-24 19:47:27 +0000684"#if 0" blocks are also folded, unless: >
685 :let c_no_if0_fold = 1
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000686
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000687If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
688when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "c_minlines" internal variable
689to a larger number: >
690 :let c_minlines = 100
691This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
692displayed line. The default value is 50 (15 when c_no_if0 is set). The
693disadvantage of using a larger number is that redrawing can become slow.
694
695When using the "#if 0" / "#endif" comment highlighting, notice that this only
696works when the "#if 0" is within "c_minlines" from the top of the window. If
697you have a long "#if 0" construct it will not be highlighted correctly.
698
699To match extra items in comments, use the cCommentGroup cluster.
700Example: >
701 :au Syntax c call MyCadd()
702 :function MyCadd()
703 : syn keyword cMyItem contained Ni
704 : syn cluster cCommentGroup add=cMyItem
705 : hi link cMyItem Title
706 :endfun
707
708ANSI constants will be highlighted with the "cConstant" group. This includes
709"NULL", "SIG_IGN" and others. But not "TRUE", for example, because this is
710not in the ANSI standard. If you find this confusing, remove the cConstant
711highlighting: >
712 :hi link cConstant NONE
713
714If you see '{' and '}' highlighted as an error where they are OK, reset the
715highlighting for cErrInParen and cErrInBracket.
716
717If you want to use folding in your C files, you can add these lines in a file
718an the "after" directory in 'runtimepath'. For Unix this would be
719~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim. >
720 syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
721 syn sync fromstart
722 set foldmethod=syntax
723
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000724CH *ch.vim* *ft-ch-syntax*
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +0000725
726C/C++ interpreter. Ch has similar syntax highlighting to C and builds upon
727the C syntax file. See |c.vim| for all the settings that are available for C.
728
729By setting a variable you can tell Vim to use Ch syntax for *.h files, instead
730of C or C++: >
731 :let ch_syntax_for_h = 1
732
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000733
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000734CHILL *chill.vim* *ft-chill-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000735
736Chill syntax highlighting is similar to C. See |c.vim| for all the settings
737that are available. Additionally there is:
738
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000739chill_space_errors like c_space_errors
740chill_comment_string like c_comment_strings
741chill_minlines like c_minlines
742
743
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000744CHANGELOG *changelog.vim* *ft-changelog-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000745
746ChangeLog supports highlighting spaces at the start of a line.
747If you do not like this, add following line to your .vimrc: >
748 let g:changelog_spacing_errors = 0
749This works the next time you edit a changelog file. You can also use
750"b:changelog_spacing_errors" to set this per buffer (before loading the syntax
751file).
752
753You can change the highlighting used, e.g., to flag the spaces as an error: >
754 :hi link ChangelogError Error
755Or to avoid the highlighting: >
756 :hi link ChangelogError NONE
757This works immediately.
758
759
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000760COBOL *cobol.vim* *ft-cobol-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000761
762COBOL highlighting has different needs for legacy code than it does for fresh
763development. This is due to differences in what is being done (maintenance
764versus development) and other factors. To enable legacy code highlighting,
765add this line to your .vimrc: >
766 :let cobol_legacy_code = 1
767To disable it again, use this: >
768 :unlet cobol_legacy_code
769
770
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000771COLD FUSION *coldfusion.vim* *ft-coldfusion-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000772
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000773The ColdFusion has its own version of HTML comments. To turn on ColdFusion
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000774comment highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
775
776 :let html_wrong_comments = 1
777
778The ColdFusion syntax file is based on the HTML syntax file.
779
780
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000781CSH *csh.vim* *ft-csh-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000782
783This covers the shell named "csh". Note that on some systems tcsh is actually
784used.
785
786Detecting whether a file is csh or tcsh is notoriously hard. Some systems
787symlink /bin/csh to /bin/tcsh, making it almost impossible to distinguish
788between csh and tcsh. In case VIM guesses wrong you can set the
789"filetype_csh" variable. For using csh: >
790
791 :let filetype_csh = "csh"
792
793For using tcsh: >
794
795 :let filetype_csh = "tcsh"
796
797Any script with a tcsh extension or a standard tcsh filename (.tcshrc,
798tcsh.tcshrc, tcsh.login) will have filetype tcsh. All other tcsh/csh scripts
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000799will be classified as tcsh, UNLESS the "filetype_csh" variable exists. If the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000800"filetype_csh" variable exists, the filetype will be set to the value of the
801variable.
802
803
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000804CYNLIB *cynlib.vim* *ft-cynlib-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000805
806Cynlib files are C++ files that use the Cynlib class library to enable
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000807hardware modelling and simulation using C++. Typically Cynlib files have a .cc
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000808or a .cpp extension, which makes it very difficult to distinguish them from a
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000809normal C++ file. Thus, to enable Cynlib highlighting for .cc files, add this
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000810line to your .vimrc file: >
811
812 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cc=1
813
814Similarly for cpp files (this extension is only usually used in Windows) >
815
816 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp=1
817
818To disable these again, use this: >
819
820 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cc
821 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp
822<
823
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000824CWEB *cweb.vim* *ft-cweb-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000825
826Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection
827doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
828startup vimrc: >
829 :let filetype_w = "cweb"
830
831
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000832DESKTOP *desktop.vim* *ft-desktop-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000833
834Primary goal of this syntax file is to highlight .desktop and .directory files
835according to freedesktop.org standard: http://pdx.freedesktop.org/Standards/
836But actually almost none implements this standard fully. Thus it will
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000837highlight all Unix ini files. But you can force strict highlighting according
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000838to standard by placing this in your vimrc file: >
839 :let enforce_freedesktop_standard = 1
840
841
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000842DIRCOLORS *dircolors.vim* *ft-dircolors-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000843
844The dircolors utility highlighting definition has one option. It exists to
845provide compatibility with the Slackware GNU/Linux distributions version of
846the command. It adds a few keywords that are generally ignored by most
847versions. On Slackware systems, however, the utility accepts the keywords and
848uses them for processing. To enable the Slackware keywords add the following
849line to your startup file: >
850 let dircolors_is_slackware = 1
851
852
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000853DOCBOOK *docbk.vim* *ft-docbk-syntax* *docbook*
854DOCBOOK XML *docbkxml.vim* *ft-docbkxml-syntax*
855DOCBOOK SGML *docbksgml.vim* *ft-docbksgml-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000856
857There are two types of DocBook files: SGML and XML. To specify what type you
858are using the "b:docbk_type" variable should be set. Vim does this for you
859automatically if it can recognize the type. When Vim can't guess it the type
860defaults to XML.
861You can set the type manually: >
862 :let docbk_type = "sgml"
863or: >
864 :let docbk_type = "xml"
865You need to do this before loading the syntax file, which is complicated.
866Simpler is setting the filetype to "docbkxml" or "docbksgml": >
867 :set filetype=docbksgml
868or: >
869 :set filetype=docbkxml
870
871
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000872DOSBATCH *dosbatch.vim* *ft-dosbatch-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000873
874There is one option with highlighting DOS batch files. This covers new
875extensions to the Command Interpreter introduced with Windows 2000 and
876is controlled by the variable dosbatch_cmdextversion. For Windows NT
877this should have the value 1, and for Windows 2000 it should be 2.
878Select the version you want with the following line: >
879
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +0000880 :let dosbatch_cmdextversion = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000881
882If this variable is not defined it defaults to a value of 2 to support
883Windows 2000.
884
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +0000885A second option covers whether *.btm files should be detected as type
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000886"dosbatch" (MS-DOS batch files) or type "btm" (4DOS batch files). The latter
887is used by default. You may select the former with the following line: >
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +0000888
889 :let g:dosbatch_syntax_for_btm = 1
890
891If this variable is undefined or zero, btm syntax is selected.
892
893
Bram Moolenaar8cacf352006-04-15 20:27:24 +0000894DOXYGEN *doxygen.vim* *doxygen-syntax*
895
896Doxygen generates code documentation using a special documentation format
897(similar to Javadoc). This syntax script adds doxygen highlighting to c, cpp
898and idl files, and should also work with java.
899
900There are a few of ways to turn on doxygen formatting. It can be done explicity
901or in a modeline by appending '.doxygen' to the syntax of the file. Example: >
902 :set syntax=c.doxygen
903or >
904 // vim:syntax=c.doxygen
905
906To use doxygen formatting on top of any filetype, add the following to your
907.vimrc for each filetype, replacing {filetype} with the relevent value. >
908 :let g:syntax_extra_{filetype}='doxygen'
909
910It can also be done automaticly for c, cpp and idl files by setting the global
911or buffer-local variable load_doxygen_syntax. This is done by adding the
912following to your .vimrc. >
913 :let g:load_doxygen_syntax=1
914
915There are a couple of variables that have an affect on syntax highlighting, and
916are to do with non-standard highlighting options.
917
918Variable Default Effect ~
919g:doxygen_enhanced_color
920g:doxygen_enhanced_colour 0 Use non-standard highlighting for
921 doxygen comments.
922
923doxygen_my_rendering 0 Disable rendering of HTML bold, italic
924 and html_my_rendering underline.
925
926doxygen_javadoc_autobrief 1 Set to 0 to disable javadoc autobrief
927 colour highlighting.
928
929doxygen_end_punctuation '[.]' Set to regexp match for the ending
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +0000930 punctuation of brief
Bram Moolenaar8cacf352006-04-15 20:27:24 +0000931
932There are also some hilight groups worth mentioning as they can be useful in
933configuration.
934
935Highlight Effect ~
936doxygenErrorComment The colour of an end-comment when missing
937 punctuation in a code, verbatim or dot section
938doxygenLinkError The colour of an end-comment when missing the
939 \endlink from a \link section.
940
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000941
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000942DTD *dtd.vim* *ft-dtd-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000943
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000944The DTD syntax highlighting is case sensitive by default. To disable
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000945case-sensitive highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
946
947 :let dtd_ignore_case=1
948
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000949The DTD syntax file will highlight unknown tags as errors. If
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000950this is annoying, it can be turned off by setting: >
951
952 :let dtd_no_tag_errors=1
953
954before sourcing the dtd.vim syntax file.
955Parameter entity names are highlighted in the definition using the
956'Type' highlighting group and 'Comment' for punctuation and '%'.
957Parameter entity instances are highlighted using the 'Constant'
958highlighting group and the 'Type' highlighting group for the
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000959delimiters % and ;. This can be turned off by setting: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000960
961 :let dtd_no_param_entities=1
962
963The DTD syntax file is also included by xml.vim to highlight included dtd's.
964
965
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +0000966EIFFEL *eiffel.vim* *ft-eiffel-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000967
968While Eiffel is not case-sensitive, its style guidelines are, and the
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000969syntax highlighting file encourages their use. This also allows to
970highlight class names differently. If you want to disable case-sensitive
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000971highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
972
973 :let eiffel_ignore_case=1
974
975Case still matters for class names and TODO marks in comments.
976
977Conversely, for even stricter checks, add one of the following lines: >
978
979 :let eiffel_strict=1
980 :let eiffel_pedantic=1
981
982Setting eiffel_strict will only catch improper capitalization for the
983five predefined words "Current", "Void", "Result", "Precursor", and
984"NONE", to warn against their accidental use as feature or class names.
985
986Setting eiffel_pedantic will enforce adherence to the Eiffel style
987guidelines fairly rigorously (like arbitrary mixes of upper- and
988lowercase letters as well as outdated ways to capitalize keywords).
989
990If you want to use the lower-case version of "Current", "Void",
991"Result", and "Precursor", you can use >
992
993 :let eiffel_lower_case_predef=1
994
995instead of completely turning case-sensitive highlighting off.
996
997Support for ISE's proposed new creation syntax that is already
998experimentally handled by some compilers can be enabled by: >
999
1000 :let eiffel_ise=1
1001
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001002Finally, some vendors support hexadecimal constants. To handle them, add >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001003
1004 :let eiffel_hex_constants=1
1005
1006to your startup file.
1007
1008
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001009ERLANG *erlang.vim* *ft-erlang-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001010
1011The erlang highlighting supports Erlang (ERicsson LANGuage).
1012Erlang is case sensitive and default extension is ".erl".
1013
1014If you want to disable keywords highlighting, put in your .vimrc: >
1015 :let erlang_keywords = 1
1016If you want to disable built-in-functions highlighting, put in your
1017.vimrc file: >
1018 :let erlang_functions = 1
1019If you want to disable special characters highlighting, put in
1020your .vimrc: >
1021 :let erlang_characters = 1
1022
1023
Bram Moolenaard68071d2006-05-02 22:08:30 +00001024FLEXWIKI *flexwiki.vim* *ft-flexwiki-syntax*
1025
1026FlexWiki is an ASP.NET-based wiki package available at http://www.flexwiki.com
1027
1028Syntax highlighting is available for the most common elements of FlexWiki
1029syntax. The associated ftplugin script sets some buffer-local options to make
1030editing FlexWiki pages more convenient. FlexWiki considers a newline as the
1031start of a new paragraph, so the ftplugin sets 'tw'=0 (unlimited line length),
1032'wrap' (wrap long lines instead of using horizontal scrolling), 'linebreak'
1033(to wrap at a character in 'breakat' instead of at the last char on screen),
1034and so on. It also includes some keymaps that are disabled by default.
1035
1036If you want to enable the keymaps that make "j" and "k" and the cursor keys
1037move up and down by display lines, add this to your .vimrc: >
1038 :let flexwiki_maps = 1
1039
1040
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001041FORM *form.vim* *ft-form-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001042
1043The coloring scheme for syntax elements in the FORM file uses the default
1044modes Conditional, Number, Statement, Comment, PreProc, Type, and String,
1045following the language specifications in 'Symbolic Manipulation with FORM'' by
1046J.A.M. Vermaseren, CAN, Netherlands, 1991.
1047
1048If you want include your own changes to the default colors, you have to
1049redefine the following syntax groups:
1050
1051 - formConditional
1052 - formNumber
1053 - formStatement
1054 - formHeaderStatement
1055 - formComment
1056 - formPreProc
1057 - formDirective
1058 - formType
1059 - formString
1060
1061Note that the form.vim syntax file implements FORM preprocessor commands and
1062directives per default in the same syntax group.
1063
1064A predefined enhanced color mode for FORM is available to distinguish between
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001065header statements and statements in the body of a FORM program. To activate
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001066this mode define the following variable in your vimrc file >
1067
1068 :let form_enhanced_color=1
1069
1070The enhanced mode also takes advantage of additional color features for a dark
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001071gvim display. Here, statements are colored LightYellow instead of Yellow, and
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001072conditionals are LightBlue for better distinction.
1073
1074
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001075FORTRAN *fortran.vim* *ft-fortran-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001076
1077Default highlighting and dialect ~
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001078Highlighting appropriate for f95 (Fortran 95) is used by default. This choice
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001079should be appropriate for most users most of the time because Fortran 95 is a
1080superset of Fortran 90 and almost a superset of Fortran 77.
1081
1082Fortran source code form ~
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001083Fortran 9x code can be in either fixed or free source form. Note that the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001084syntax highlighting will not be correct if the form is incorrectly set.
1085
1086When you create a new fortran file, the syntax script assumes fixed source
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001087form. If you always use free source form, then >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001088 :let fortran_free_source=1
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001089in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command. If you always use fixed source
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001090form, then >
1091 :let fortran_fixed_source=1
1092in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command.
1093
1094If the form of the source code depends upon the file extension, then it is
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001095most convenient to set fortran_free_source in a ftplugin file. For more
1096information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001097fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in free source form and the
1098rest in fixed source form, add the following code to your ftplugin file >
1099 let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
1100 if s:extfname ==? "f90"
1101 let fortran_free_source=1
1102 unlet! fortran_fixed_source
1103 else
1104 let fortran_fixed_source=1
1105 unlet! fortran_free_source
1106 endif
1107Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
1108precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
1109
1110When you edit an existing fortran file, the syntax script will assume free
1111source form if the fortran_free_source variable has been set, and assumes
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001112fixed source form if the fortran_fixed_source variable has been set. If
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001113neither of these variables have been set, the syntax script attempts to
1114determine which source form has been used by examining the first five columns
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001115of the first 250 lines of your file. If no signs of free source form are
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001116detected, then the file is assumed to be in fixed source form. The algorithm
1117should work in the vast majority of cases. In some cases, such as a file that
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001118begins with 250 or more full-line comments, the script may incorrectly decide
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001119that the fortran code is in fixed form. If that happens, just add a
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001120non-comment statement beginning anywhere in the first five columns of the
1121first twenty five lines, save (:w) and then reload (:e!) the file.
1122
1123Tabs in fortran files ~
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001124Tabs are not recognized by the Fortran standards. Tabs are not a good idea in
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001125fixed format fortran source code which requires fixed column boundaries.
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001126Therefore, tabs are marked as errors. Nevertheless, some programmers like
1127using tabs. If your fortran files contain tabs, then you should set the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001128variable fortran_have_tabs in your .vimrc with a command such as >
1129 :let fortran_have_tabs=1
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001130placed prior to the :syntax on command. Unfortunately, the use of tabs will
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001131mean that the syntax file will not be able to detect incorrect margins.
1132
1133Syntax folding of fortran files ~
1134If you wish to use foldmethod=syntax, then you must first set the variable
1135fortran_fold with a command such as >
1136 :let fortran_fold=1
1137to instruct the syntax script to define fold regions for program units, that
1138is main programs starting with a program statement, subroutines, function
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001139subprograms, block data subprograms, interface blocks, and modules. If you
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001140also set the variable fortran_fold_conditionals with a command such as >
1141 :let fortran_fold_conditionals=1
1142then fold regions will also be defined for do loops, if blocks, and select
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001143case constructs. If you also set the variable
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001144fortran_fold_multilinecomments with a command such as >
1145 :let fortran_fold_multilinecomments=1
1146then fold regions will also be defined for three or more consecutive comment
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001147lines. Note that defining fold regions can be slow for large files.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001148
1149If fortran_fold, and possibly fortran_fold_conditionals and/or
1150fortran_fold_multilinecomments, have been set, then vim will fold your file if
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001151you set foldmethod=syntax. Comments or blank lines placed between two program
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001152units are not folded because they are seen as not belonging to any program
1153unit.
1154
1155More precise fortran syntax ~
1156If you set the variable fortran_more_precise with a command such as >
1157 :let fortran_more_precise=1
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001158then the syntax coloring will be more precise but slower. In particular,
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001159statement labels used in do, goto and arithmetic if statements will be
1160recognized, as will construct names at the end of a do, if, select or forall
1161construct.
1162
1163Non-default fortran dialects ~
1164The syntax script supports five Fortran dialects: f95, f90, f77, the Lahey
1165subset elf90, and the Imagine1 subset F.
1166
1167If you use f77 with extensions, even common ones like do/enddo loops, do/while
1168loops and free source form that are supported by most f77 compilers including
1169g77 (GNU Fortran), then you will probably find the default highlighting
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001170satisfactory. However, if you use strict f77 with no extensions, not even free
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001171source form or the MIL STD 1753 extensions, then the advantages of setting the
1172dialect to f77 are that names such as SUM are recognized as user variable
1173names and not highlighted as f9x intrinsic functions, that obsolete constructs
1174such as ASSIGN statements are not highlighted as todo items, and that fixed
1175source form will be assumed.
1176
1177If you use elf90 or F, the advantage of setting the dialect appropriately is
1178that f90 features excluded from these dialects will be highlighted as todo
1179items and that free source form will be assumed as required for these
1180dialects.
1181
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001182The dialect can be selected by setting the variable fortran_dialect. The
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001183permissible values of fortran_dialect are case-sensitive and must be "f95",
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001184"f90", "f77", "elf" or "F". Invalid values of fortran_dialect are ignored.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001185
1186If all your fortran files use the same dialect, set fortran_dialect in your
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001187.vimrc prior to your syntax on statement. If the dialect depends upon the file
1188extension, then it is most convenient to set it in a ftplugin file. For more
1189information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001190fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in the elf subset, your
1191ftplugin file should contain the code >
1192 let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
1193 if s:extfname ==? "f90"
1194 let fortran_dialect="elf"
1195 else
1196 unlet! fortran_dialect
1197 endif
1198Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
1199precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
1200
1201Finer control is necessary if the file extension does not uniquely identify
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001202the dialect. You can override the default dialect, on a file-by-file basis, by
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001203including a comment with the directive "fortran_dialect=xx" (where xx=f77 or
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001204elf or F or f90 or f95) in one of the first three lines in your file. For
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001205example, your older .f files may be written in extended f77 but your newer
1206ones may be F codes, and you would identify the latter by including in the
1207first three lines of those files a Fortran comment of the form >
1208 ! fortran_dialect=F
1209F overrides elf if both directives are present.
1210
1211Limitations ~
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001212Parenthesis checking does not catch too few closing parentheses. Hollerith
1213strings are not recognized. Some keywords may be highlighted incorrectly
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001214because Fortran90 has no reserved words.
1215
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001216For further information related to fortran, see |ft-fortran-indent| and
1217|ft-fortran-plugin|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001218
1219
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001220FVWM CONFIGURATION FILES *fvwm.vim* *ft-fvwm-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001221
1222In order for Vim to recognize Fvwm configuration files that do not match
1223the patterns *fvwmrc* or *fvwm2rc* , you must put additional patterns
1224appropriate to your system in your myfiletypes.vim file. For these
1225patterns, you must set the variable "b:fvwm_version" to the major version
1226number of Fvwm, and the 'filetype' option to fvwm.
1227
1228For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/X11/fvwm2/
1229as Fvwm2 configuration files, add the following: >
1230
1231 :au! BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/X11/fvwm2/* let b:fvwm_version = 2 |
1232 \ set filetype=fvwm
1233
1234If you'd like Vim to highlight all valid color names, tell it where to
1235find the color database (rgb.txt) on your system. Do this by setting
1236"rgb_file" to its location. Assuming your color database is located
1237in /usr/X11/lib/X11/, you should add the line >
1238
1239 :let rgb_file = "/usr/X11/lib/X11/rgb.txt"
1240
1241to your .vimrc file.
1242
1243
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001244GSP *gsp.vim* *ft-gsp-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001245
1246The default coloring style for GSP pages is defined by |html.vim|, and
1247the coloring for java code (within java tags or inline between backticks)
1248is defined by |java.vim|. The following HTML groups defined in |html.vim|
1249are redefined to incorporate and highlight inline java code:
1250
1251 htmlString
1252 htmlValue
1253 htmlEndTag
1254 htmlTag
1255 htmlTagN
1256
1257Highlighting should look fine most of the places where you'd see inline
1258java code, but in some special cases it may not. To add another HTML
1259group where you will have inline java code where it does not highlight
1260correctly, just copy the line you want from |html.vim| and add gspJava
1261to the contains clause.
1262
1263The backticks for inline java are highlighted according to the htmlError
1264group to make them easier to see.
1265
1266
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001267GROFF *groff.vim* *ft-groff-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001268
1269The groff syntax file is a wrapper for |nroff.vim|, see the notes
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001270under that heading for examples of use and configuration. The purpose
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001271of this wrapper is to set up groff syntax extensions by setting the
1272filetype from a |modeline| or in a personal filetype definitions file
1273(see |filetype.txt|).
1274
1275
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001276HASKELL *haskell.vim* *lhaskell.vim* *ft-haskell-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001277
1278The Haskell syntax files support plain Haskell code as well as literate
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001279Haskell code, the latter in both Bird style and TeX style. The Haskell
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001280syntax highlighting will also highlight C preprocessor directives.
1281
1282If you want to highlight delimiter characters (useful if you have a
1283light-coloured background), add to your .vimrc: >
1284 :let hs_highlight_delimiters = 1
1285To treat True and False as keywords as opposed to ordinary identifiers,
1286add: >
1287 :let hs_highlight_boolean = 1
1288To also treat the names of primitive types as keywords: >
1289 :let hs_highlight_types = 1
1290And to treat the names of even more relatively common types as keywords: >
1291 :let hs_highlight_more_types = 1
1292If you want to highlight the names of debugging functions, put in
1293your .vimrc: >
1294 :let hs_highlight_debug = 1
1295
1296The Haskell syntax highlighting also highlights C preprocessor
1297directives, and flags lines that start with # but are not valid
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001298directives as erroneous. This interferes with Haskell's syntax for
1299operators, as they may start with #. If you want to highlight those
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001300as operators as opposed to errors, put in your .vimrc: >
1301 :let hs_allow_hash_operator = 1
1302
1303The syntax highlighting for literate Haskell code will try to
1304automatically guess whether your literate Haskell code contains
1305TeX markup or not, and correspondingly highlight TeX constructs
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001306or nothing at all. You can override this globally by putting
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001307in your .vimrc >
1308 :let lhs_markup = none
1309for no highlighting at all, or >
1310 :let lhs_markup = tex
1311to force the highlighting to always try to highlight TeX markup.
1312For more flexibility, you may also use buffer local versions of
1313this variable, so e.g. >
1314 :let b:lhs_markup = tex
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001315will force TeX highlighting for a particular buffer. It has to be
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001316set before turning syntax highlighting on for the buffer or
1317loading a file.
1318
1319
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001320HTML *html.vim* *ft-html-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001321
1322The coloring scheme for tags in the HTML file works as follows.
1323
1324The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
1325This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
1326closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
1327defined for you)
1328
1329Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag
1330names are colored with the same color as the <> or </> respectively which
1331makes it easy to spot errors
1332
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001333Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001334names are colored differently than unknown ones.
1335
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001336Some HTML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001337are recognized by the html.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
1338text is shown: <B> <I> <U> <EM> <STRONG> (<EM> is used as an alias for <I>,
1339while <STRONG> as an alias for <B>), <H1> - <H6>, <HEAD>, <TITLE> and <A>, but
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001340only if used as a link (that is, it must include a href as in
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001341<A href="somfile.html">).
1342
1343If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
1344following syntax groups:
1345
1346 - htmlBold
1347 - htmlBoldUnderline
1348 - htmlBoldUnderlineItalic
1349 - htmlUnderline
1350 - htmlUnderlineItalic
1351 - htmlItalic
1352 - htmlTitle for titles
1353 - htmlH1 - htmlH6 for headings
1354
1355To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all with the exception
1356of the last two (htmlTitle and htmlH[1-6], which are optional) and define the
1357following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
1358are read during initialization) >
1359 :let html_my_rendering=1
1360
1361If you'd like to see an example download mysyntax.vim at
1362http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html
1363
1364You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
1365vimrc file: >
1366 :let html_no_rendering=1
1367
1368HTML comments are rather special (see an HTML reference document for the
1369details), and the syntax coloring scheme will highlight all errors.
1370However, if you prefer to use the wrong style (starts with <!-- and
1371ends with --!>) you can define >
1372 :let html_wrong_comments=1
1373
1374JavaScript and Visual Basic embedded inside HTML documents are highlighted as
1375'Special' with statements, comments, strings and so on colored as in standard
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001376programming languages. Note that only JavaScript and Visual Basic are currently
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001377supported, no other scripting language has been added yet.
1378
1379Embedded and inlined cascading style sheets (CSS) are highlighted too.
1380
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001381There are several html preprocessor languages out there. html.vim has been
1382written such that it should be trivial to include it. To do so add the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001383following two lines to the syntax coloring file for that language
1384(the example comes from the asp.vim file):
1385
1386 runtime! syntax/html.vim
1387 syn cluster htmlPreproc add=asp
1388
1389Now you just need to make sure that you add all regions that contain
1390the preprocessor language to the cluster htmlPreproc.
1391
1392
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001393HTML/OS (by Aestiva) *htmlos.vim* *ft-htmlos-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001394
1395The coloring scheme for HTML/OS works as follows:
1396
1397Functions and variable names are the same color by default, because VIM
1398doesn't specify different colors for Functions and Identifiers. To change
1399this (which is recommended if you want function names to be recognizable in a
1400different color) you need to add the following line to either your ~/.vimrc: >
1401 :hi Function term=underline cterm=bold ctermfg=LightGray
1402
1403Of course, the ctermfg can be a different color if you choose.
1404
1405Another issues that HTML/OS runs into is that there is no special filetype to
1406signify that it is a file with HTML/OS coding. You can change this by opening
1407a file and turning on HTML/OS syntax by doing the following: >
1408 :set syntax=htmlos
1409
1410Lastly, it should be noted that the opening and closing characters to begin a
1411block of HTML/OS code can either be << or [[ and >> or ]], respectively.
1412
1413
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001414IA64 *ia64.vim* *intel-itanium* *ft-ia64-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001415
1416Highlighting for the Intel Itanium 64 assembly language. See |asm.vim| for
1417how to recognize this filetype.
1418
1419To have *.inc files be recognized as IA64, add this to your .vimrc file: >
1420 :let g:filetype_inc = "ia64"
1421
1422
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001423INFORM *inform.vim* *ft-inform-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001424
1425Inform highlighting includes symbols provided by the Inform Library, as
1426most programs make extensive use of it. If do not wish Library symbols
1427to be highlighted add this to your vim startup: >
1428 :let inform_highlight_simple=1
1429
1430By default it is assumed that Inform programs are Z-machine targeted,
1431and highlights Z-machine assembly language symbols appropriately. If
1432you intend your program to be targeted to a Glulx/Glk environment you
1433need to add this to your startup sequence: >
1434 :let inform_highlight_glulx=1
1435
1436This will highlight Glulx opcodes instead, and also adds glk() to the
1437set of highlighted system functions.
1438
1439The Inform compiler will flag certain obsolete keywords as errors when
1440it encounters them. These keywords are normally highlighted as errors
1441by Vim. To prevent such error highlighting, you must add this to your
1442startup sequence: >
1443 :let inform_suppress_obsolete=1
1444
1445By default, the language features highlighted conform to Compiler
1446version 6.30 and Library version 6.11. If you are using an older
1447Inform development environment, you may with to add this to your
1448startup sequence: >
1449 :let inform_highlight_old=1
1450
Bram Moolenaar9e54a0e2006-04-14 20:42:25 +00001451IDL *idl.vim* *idl-syntax*
1452
1453IDL (Interface Definition Language) files are used to define RPC calls. In
1454Microsoft land, this is also used for defining COM interfaces and calls.
1455
1456IDL's structure is simple enough to permit a full grammar based approach to
1457rather than using a few heuristics. The result is large and somewhat
1458repetative but seems to work.
1459
1460There are some Microsoft extensions to idl files that are here. Some of them
1461are disabled by defining idl_no_ms_extensions.
1462
1463The more complex of the extensions are disabled by defining idl_no_extensions.
1464
1465Variable Effect ~
1466
1467idl_no_ms_extensions Disable some of the Microsoft specific
1468 extensions
1469idl_no_extensions Disable complex extensions
1470idlsyntax_showerror Show IDL errors (can be rather intrusive, but
1471 quite helpful)
1472idlsyntax_showerror_soft Use softer colours by default for errors
1473
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001474
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001475JAVA *java.vim* *ft-java-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001476
1477The java.vim syntax highlighting file offers several options:
1478
1479In Java 1.0.2 it was never possible to have braces inside parens, so this was
1480flagged as an error. Since Java 1.1 this is possible (with anonymous
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001481classes), and therefore is no longer marked as an error. If you prefer the old
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001482way, put the following line into your vim startup file: >
1483 :let java_mark_braces_in_parens_as_errors=1
1484
1485All identifiers in java.lang.* are always visible in all classes. To
1486highlight them use: >
1487 :let java_highlight_java_lang_ids=1
1488
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001489You can also highlight identifiers of most standard Java packages if you
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001490download the javaid.vim script at http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html.
1491If you prefer to only highlight identifiers of a certain package, say java.io
1492use the following: >
1493 :let java_highlight_java_io=1
1494Check the javaid.vim file for a list of all the packages that are supported.
1495
1496Function names are not highlighted, as the way to find functions depends on
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001497how you write Java code. The syntax file knows two possible ways to highlight
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001498functions:
1499
1500If you write function declarations that are always indented by either
1501a tab, 8 spaces or 2 spaces you may want to set >
1502 :let java_highlight_functions="indent"
1503However, if you follow the Java guidelines about how functions and classes are
1504supposed to be named (with respect to upper and lowercase), use >
1505 :let java_highlight_functions="style"
1506If both options do not work for you, but you would still want function
1507declarations to be highlighted create your own definitions by changing the
1508definitions in java.vim or by creating your own java.vim which includes the
1509original one and then adds the code to highlight functions.
1510
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001511In Java 1.1 the functions System.out.println() and System.err.println() should
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001512only be used for debugging. Therefore it is possible to highlight debugging
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001513statements differently. To do this you must add the following definition in
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001514your startup file: >
1515 :let java_highlight_debug=1
1516The result will be that those statements are highlighted as 'Special'
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001517characters. If you prefer to have them highlighted differently you must define
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001518new highlightings for the following groups.:
1519 Debug, DebugSpecial, DebugString, DebugBoolean, DebugType
1520which are used for the statement itself, special characters used in debug
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001521strings, strings, boolean constants and types (this, super) respectively. I
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001522have opted to chose another background for those statements.
1523
1524In order to help you to write code that can be easily ported between
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001525Java and C++, all C++ keywords are marked as error in a Java program.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001526However, if you use them regularly, you may want to define the following
1527variable in your .vimrc file: >
1528 :let java_allow_cpp_keywords=1
1529
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001530Javadoc is a program that takes special comments out of Java program files and
1531creates HTML pages. The standard configuration will highlight this HTML code
1532similarly to HTML files (see |html.vim|). You can even add Javascript
1533and CSS inside this code (see below). There are four differences however:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001534 1. The title (all characters up to the first '.' which is followed by
1535 some white space or up to the first '@') is colored differently (to change
1536 the color change the group CommentTitle).
1537 2. The text is colored as 'Comment'.
1538 3. HTML comments are colored as 'Special'
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001539 4. The special Javadoc tags (@see, @param, ...) are highlighted as specials
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001540 and the argument (for @see, @param, @exception) as Function.
1541To turn this feature off add the following line to your startup file: >
1542 :let java_ignore_javadoc=1
1543
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001544If you use the special Javadoc comment highlighting described above you
1545can also turn on special highlighting for Javascript, visual basic
1546scripts and embedded CSS (stylesheets). This makes only sense if you
1547actually have Javadoc comments that include either Javascript or embedded
1548CSS. The options to use are >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001549 :let java_javascript=1
1550 :let java_css=1
1551 :let java_vb=1
1552
1553In order to highlight nested parens with different colors define colors
1554for javaParen, javaParen1 and javaParen2, for example with >
1555 :hi link javaParen Comment
1556or >
1557 :hi javaParen ctermfg=blue guifg=#0000ff
1558
1559If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
1560when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "java_minlines" internal variable
1561to a larger number: >
1562 :let java_minlines = 50
1563This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
1564displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger
1565number is that redrawing can become slow.
1566
1567
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001568LACE *lace.vim* *ft-lace-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001569
1570Lace (Language for Assembly of Classes in Eiffel) is case insensitive, but the
1571style guide lines are not. If you prefer case insensitive highlighting, just
1572define the vim variable 'lace_case_insensitive' in your startup file: >
1573 :let lace_case_insensitive=1
1574
1575
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001576LEX *lex.vim* *ft-lex-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001577
1578Lex uses brute-force synchronizing as the "^%%$" section delimiter
1579gives no clue as to what section follows. Consequently, the value for >
1580 :syn sync minlines=300
1581may be changed by the user if s/he is experiencing synchronization
1582difficulties (such as may happen with large lex files).
1583
1584
Bram Moolenaara5fac542005-10-12 20:58:49 +00001585LISP *lisp.vim* *ft-lisp-syntax*
1586
1587The lisp syntax highlighting provides two options: >
1588
1589 g:lisp_instring : if it exists, then "(...)" strings are highlighted
1590 as if the contents of the string were lisp.
1591 Useful for AutoLisp.
1592 g:lisp_rainbow : if it exists and is nonzero, then differing levels
1593 of parenthesization will receive different
1594 highlighting.
1595<
1596The g:lisp_rainbow option provides 10 levels of individual colorization for
1597the parentheses and backquoted parentheses. Because of the quantity of
1598colorization levels, unlike non-rainbow highlighting, the rainbow mode
1599specifies its highlighting using ctermfg and guifg, thereby bypassing the
1600usual colorscheme control using standard highlighting groups. The actual
1601highlighting used depends on the dark/bright setting (see |'bg'|).
1602
1603
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001604LITE *lite.vim* *ft-lite-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001605
1606There are two options for the lite syntax highlighting.
1607
1608If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1609
1610 :let lite_sql_query = 1
1611
1612For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1613set "lite_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1614
1615 :let lite_minlines = 200
1616
1617
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001618LPC *lpc.vim* *ft-lpc-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001619
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001620LPC stands for a simple, memory-efficient language: Lars Pensj| C. The
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001621file name of LPC is usually *.c. Recognizing these files as LPC would bother
1622users writing only C programs. If you want to use LPC syntax in Vim, you
1623should set a variable in your .vimrc file: >
1624
1625 :let lpc_syntax_for_c = 1
1626
1627If it doesn't work properly for some particular C or LPC files, use a
1628modeline. For a LPC file:
1629
1630 // vim:set ft=lpc:
1631
1632For a C file that is recognized as LPC:
1633
1634 // vim:set ft=c:
1635
1636If you don't want to set the variable, use the modeline in EVERY LPC file.
1637
1638There are several implementations for LPC, we intend to support most widely
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001639used ones. Here the default LPC syntax is for MudOS series, for MudOS v22
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001640and before, you should turn off the sensible modifiers, and this will also
1641asserts the new efuns after v22 to be invalid, don't set this variable when
1642you are using the latest version of MudOS: >
1643
1644 :let lpc_pre_v22 = 1
1645
1646For LpMud 3.2 series of LPC: >
1647
1648 :let lpc_compat_32 = 1
1649
1650For LPC4 series of LPC: >
1651
1652 :let lpc_use_lpc4_syntax = 1
1653
1654For uLPC series of LPC:
1655uLPC has been developed to Pike, so you should use Pike syntax
1656instead, and the name of your source file should be *.pike
1657
1658
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001659LUA *lua.vim* *ft-lua-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001660
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001661This syntax file may be used for Lua 4.0, Lua 5.0 or Lua 5.1 (the latter is
1662the default). You can select one of these versions using the global variables
1663lua_version and lua_subversion. For example, to activate Lua
16644.0 syntax highlighting, use this command: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001665
1666 :let lua_version = 4
1667
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001668If you are using Lua 5.0, use these commands: >
1669
1670 :let lua_version = 5
1671 :let lua_subversion = 0
1672
1673To restore highlighting for Lua 5.1: >
1674
1675 :let lua_version = 5
1676 :let lua_subversion = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001677
1678
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001679MAIL *mail.vim* *ft-mail.vim*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001680
1681Vim highlights all the standard elements of an email (headers, signatures,
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001682quoted text and URLs / email addresses). In keeping with standard conventions,
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001683signatures begin in a line containing only "--" followed optionally by
1684whitespaces and end with a newline.
1685
1686Vim treats lines beginning with ']', '}', '|', '>' or a word followed by '>'
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001687as quoted text. However Vim highlights headers and signatures in quoted text
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001688only if the text is quoted with '>' (optionally followed by one space).
1689
1690By default mail.vim synchronises syntax to 100 lines before the first
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001691displayed line. If you have a slow machine, and generally deal with emails
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001692with short headers, you can change this to a smaller value: >
1693
1694 :let mail_minlines = 30
1695
1696
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001697MAKE *make.vim* *ft-make-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001698
1699In makefiles, commands are usually highlighted to make it easy for you to spot
1700errors. However, this may be too much coloring for you. You can turn this
1701feature off by using: >
1702
1703 :let make_no_commands = 1
1704
1705
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001706MAPLE *maple.vim* *ft-maple-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001707
1708Maple V, by Waterloo Maple Inc, supports symbolic algebra. The language
1709supports many packages of functions which are selectively loaded by the user.
1710The standard set of packages' functions as supplied in Maple V release 4 may be
1711highlighted at the user's discretion. Users may place in their .vimrc file: >
1712
1713 :let mvpkg_all= 1
1714
1715to get all package functions highlighted, or users may select any subset by
1716choosing a variable/package from the table below and setting that variable to
17171, also in their .vimrc file (prior to sourcing
1718$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim).
1719
1720 Table of Maple V Package Function Selectors >
1721 mv_DEtools mv_genfunc mv_networks mv_process
1722 mv_Galois mv_geometry mv_numapprox mv_simplex
1723 mv_GaussInt mv_grobner mv_numtheory mv_stats
1724 mv_LREtools mv_group mv_orthopoly mv_student
1725 mv_combinat mv_inttrans mv_padic mv_sumtools
1726 mv_combstruct mv_liesymm mv_plots mv_tensor
1727 mv_difforms mv_linalg mv_plottools mv_totorder
1728 mv_finance mv_logic mv_powseries
1729
1730
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001731MATHEMATICA *mma.vim* *ft-mma-syntax* *ft-mathematica-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar34cdc3e2005-05-18 22:24:46 +00001732
1733Empty *.m files will automatically be presumed to be Matlab files unless you
1734have the following in your .vimrc: >
1735
1736 let filetype_m = "mma"
1737
1738
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001739MOO *moo.vim* *ft-moo-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001740
1741If you use C-style comments inside expressions and find it mangles your
1742highlighting, you may want to use extended (slow!) matches for C-style
1743comments: >
1744
1745 :let moo_extended_cstyle_comments = 1
1746
1747To disable highlighting of pronoun substitution patterns inside strings: >
1748
1749 :let moo_no_pronoun_sub = 1
1750
1751To disable highlighting of the regular expression operator '%|', and matching
1752'%(' and '%)' inside strings: >
1753
1754 :let moo_no_regexp = 1
1755
1756Unmatched double quotes can be recognized and highlighted as errors: >
1757
1758 :let moo_unmatched_quotes = 1
1759
1760To highlight builtin properties (.name, .location, .programmer etc.): >
1761
1762 :let moo_builtin_properties = 1
1763
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001764Unknown builtin functions can be recognized and highlighted as errors. If you
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001765use this option, add your own extensions to the mooKnownBuiltinFunction group.
1766To enable this option: >
1767
1768 :let moo_unknown_builtin_functions = 1
1769
1770An example of adding sprintf() to the list of known builtin functions: >
1771
1772 :syn keyword mooKnownBuiltinFunction sprintf contained
1773
1774
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001775MSQL *msql.vim* *ft-msql-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001776
1777There are two options for the msql syntax highlighting.
1778
1779If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1780
1781 :let msql_sql_query = 1
1782
1783For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1784set "msql_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1785
1786 :let msql_minlines = 200
1787
1788
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001789NCF *ncf.vim* *ft-ncf-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001790
1791There is one option for NCF syntax highlighting.
1792
1793If you want to have unrecognized (by ncf.vim) statements highlighted as
1794errors, use this: >
1795
1796 :let ncf_highlight_unknowns = 1
1797
1798If you don't want to highlight these errors, leave it unset.
1799
1800
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001801NROFF *nroff.vim* *ft-nroff-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001802
1803The nroff syntax file works with AT&T n/troff out of the box. You need to
1804activate the GNU groff extra features included in the syntax file before you
1805can use them.
1806
1807For example, Linux and BSD distributions use groff as their default text
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001808processing package. In order to activate the extra syntax highlighting
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001809features for groff, add the following option to your start-up files: >
1810
1811 :let b:nroff_is_groff = 1
1812
1813Groff is different from the old AT&T n/troff that you may still find in
1814Solaris. Groff macro and request names can be longer than 2 characters and
1815there are extensions to the language primitives. For example, in AT&T troff
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001816you access the year as a 2-digit number with the request \(yr. In groff you
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001817can use the same request, recognized for compatibility, or you can use groff's
1818native syntax, \[yr]. Furthermore, you can use a 4-digit year directly:
1819\[year]. Macro requests can be longer than 2 characters, for example, GNU mm
1820accepts the requests ".VERBON" and ".VERBOFF" for creating verbatim
1821environments.
1822
1823In order to obtain the best formatted output g/troff can give you, you should
1824follow a few simple rules about spacing and punctuation.
1825
18261. Do not leave empty spaces at the end of lines.
1827
18282. Leave one space and one space only after an end-of-sentence period,
1829 exclamation mark, etc.
1830
18313. For reasons stated below, it is best to follow all period marks with a
1832 carriage return.
1833
1834The reason behind these unusual tips is that g/n/troff have a line breaking
1835algorithm that can be easily upset if you don't follow the rules given above.
1836
1837Unlike TeX, troff fills text line-by-line, not paragraph-by-paragraph and,
1838furthermore, it does not have a concept of glue or stretch, all horizontal and
1839vertical space input will be output as is.
1840
1841Therefore, you should be careful about not using more space between sentences
1842than you intend to have in your final document. For this reason, the common
1843practice is to insert a carriage return immediately after all punctuation
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001844marks. If you want to have "even" text in your final processed output, you
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001845need to maintaining regular spacing in the input text. To mark both trailing
1846spaces and two or more spaces after a punctuation as an error, use: >
1847
1848 :let nroff_space_errors = 1
1849
1850Another technique to detect extra spacing and other errors that will interfere
1851with the correct typesetting of your file, is to define an eye-catching
1852highlighting definition for the syntax groups "nroffDefinition" and
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001853"nroffDefSpecial" in your configuration files. For example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001854
1855 hi def nroffDefinition term=italic cterm=italic gui=reverse
1856 hi def nroffDefSpecial term=italic,bold cterm=italic,bold
1857 \ gui=reverse,bold
1858
1859If you want to navigate preprocessor entries in your source file as easily as
1860with section markers, you can activate the following option in your .vimrc
1861file: >
1862
1863 let b:preprocs_as_sections = 1
1864
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001865As well, the syntax file adds an extra paragraph marker for the extended
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001866paragraph macro (.XP) in the ms package.
1867
1868Finally, there is a |groff.vim| syntax file that can be used for enabling
1869groff syntax highlighting either on a file basis or globally by default.
1870
1871
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001872OCAML *ocaml.vim* *ft-ocaml-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001873
1874The OCaml syntax file handles files having the following prefixes: .ml,
1875.mli, .mll and .mly. By setting the following variable >
1876
1877 :let ocaml_revised = 1
1878
1879you can switch from standard OCaml-syntax to revised syntax as supported
1880by the camlp4 preprocessor. Setting the variable >
1881
1882 :let ocaml_noend_error = 1
1883
1884prevents highlighting of "end" as error, which is useful when sources
1885contain very long structures that Vim does not synchronize anymore.
1886
1887
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001888PAPP *papp.vim* *ft-papp-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001889
1890The PApp syntax file handles .papp files and, to a lesser extend, .pxml
1891and .pxsl files which are all a mixture of perl/xml/html/other using xml
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001892as the top-level file format. By default everything inside phtml or pxml
1893sections is treated as a string with embedded preprocessor commands. If
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001894you set the variable: >
1895
1896 :let papp_include_html=1
1897
1898in your startup file it will try to syntax-hilight html code inside phtml
1899sections, but this is relatively slow and much too colourful to be able to
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001900edit sensibly. ;)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001901
1902The newest version of the papp.vim syntax file can usually be found at
1903http://papp.plan9.de.
1904
1905
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001906PASCAL *pascal.vim* *ft-pascal-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001907
1908Files matching "*.p" could be Progress or Pascal. If the automatic detection
1909doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
1910startup vimrc: >
1911
1912 :let filetype_p = "pascal"
1913
1914The Pascal syntax file has been extended to take into account some extensions
1915provided by Turbo Pascal, Free Pascal Compiler and GNU Pascal Compiler.
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001916Delphi keywords are also supported. By default, Turbo Pascal 7.0 features are
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001917enabled. If you prefer to stick with the standard Pascal keywords, add the
1918following line to your startup file: >
1919
1920 :let pascal_traditional=1
1921
1922To switch on Delphi specific constructions (such as one-line comments,
1923keywords, etc): >
1924
1925 :let pascal_delphi=1
1926
1927
1928The option pascal_symbol_operator controls whether symbol operators such as +,
1929*, .., etc. are displayed using the Operator color or not. To colorize symbol
1930operators, add the following line to your startup file: >
1931
1932 :let pascal_symbol_operator=1
1933
1934Some functions are highlighted by default. To switch it off: >
1935
1936 :let pascal_no_functions=1
1937
1938Furthermore, there are specific variable for some compiler. Besides
1939pascal_delphi, there are pascal_gpc and pascal_fpc. Default extensions try to
1940match Turbo Pascal. >
1941
1942 :let pascal_gpc=1
1943
1944or >
1945
1946 :let pascal_fpc=1
1947
1948To ensure that strings are defined on a single line, you can define the
1949pascal_one_line_string variable. >
1950
1951 :let pascal_one_line_string=1
1952
1953If you dislike <Tab> chars, you can set the pascal_no_tabs variable. Tabs
1954will be highlighted as Error. >
1955
1956 :let pascal_no_tabs=1
1957
1958
1959
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00001960PERL *perl.vim* *ft-perl-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001961
1962There are a number of possible options to the perl syntax highlighting.
1963
1964If you use POD files or POD segments, you might: >
1965
1966 :let perl_include_pod = 1
1967
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00001968The reduce the complexity of parsing (and increase performance) you can switch
1969off two elements in the parsing of variable names and contents. >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001970
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00001971To handle package references in variable and function names not differently
1972from the rest of the name (like 'PkgName::' in '$PkgName::VarName'): >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001973
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00001974 :let perl_no_scope_in_variables = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001975
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00001976(In Vim 6.x it was the other way around: "perl_want_scope_in_variables"
1977enabled it.)
1978
1979If you do not want complex things like '@{${"foo"}}' to be parsed: >
1980
1981 :let perl_no_extended_vars = 1
1982
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +00001983(In Vim 6.x it was the other way around: "perl_extended_vars" enabled it.)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001984
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001985The coloring strings can be changed. By default strings and qq friends will be
1986highlighted like the first line. If you set the variable
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001987perl_string_as_statement, it will be highlighted as in the second line.
1988
1989 "hello world!"; qq|hello world|;
1990 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^NN^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^N (unlet perl_string_as_statement)
1991 S^^^^^^^^^^^^SNNSSS^^^^^^^^^^^SN (let perl_string_as_statement)
1992
1993(^ = perlString, S = perlStatement, N = None at all)
1994
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001995The syncing has 3 options. The first two switch off some triggering of
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001996synchronization and should only be needed in case it fails to work properly.
1997If while scrolling all of a sudden the whole screen changes color completely
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00001998then you should try and switch off one of those. Let me know if you can figure
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001999out the line that causes the mistake.
2000
2001One triggers on "^\s*sub\s*" and the other on "^[$@%]" more or less. >
2002
2003 :let perl_no_sync_on_sub
2004 :let perl_no_sync_on_global_var
2005
2006Below you can set the maximum distance VIM should look for starting points for
2007its attempts in syntax highlighting. >
2008
2009 :let perl_sync_dist = 100
2010
2011If you want to use folding with perl, set perl_fold: >
2012
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00002013 :let perl_fold = 1
2014
2015If you want to fold blocks in if statements, etc. as well set the following: >
2016
2017 :let perl_fold_blocks = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002018
Bram Moolenaar8ada17c2006-01-19 22:16:24 +00002019To avoid folding packages or subs when perl_fold is let, let the appropriate
2020variable(s): >
2021
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00002022 :unlet perl_nofold_packages
2023 :unlet perl_nofold_subs
Bram Moolenaar8ada17c2006-01-19 22:16:24 +00002024
2025
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002026
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002027PHP3 and PHP4 *php.vim* *php3.vim* *ft-php-syntax* *ft-php3-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002028
2029[note: previously this was called "php3", but since it now also supports php4
2030it has been renamed to "php"]
2031
2032There are the following options for the php syntax highlighting.
2033
2034If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings: >
2035
2036 let php_sql_query = 1
2037
2038For highlighting the Baselib methods: >
2039
2040 let php_baselib = 1
2041
2042Enable HTML syntax highlighting inside strings: >
2043
2044 let php_htmlInStrings = 1
2045
2046Using the old colorstyle: >
2047
2048 let php_oldStyle = 1
2049
2050Enable highlighting ASP-style short tags: >
2051
2052 let php_asp_tags = 1
2053
2054Disable short tags: >
2055
2056 let php_noShortTags = 1
2057
2058For highlighting parent error ] or ): >
2059
2060 let php_parent_error_close = 1
2061
2062For skipping an php end tag, if there exists an open ( or [ without a closing
2063one: >
2064
2065 let php_parent_error_open = 1
2066
2067Enable folding for classes and functions: >
2068
2069 let php_folding = 1
2070
2071Selecting syncing method: >
2072
2073 let php_sync_method = x
2074
2075x = -1 to sync by search (default),
2076x > 0 to sync at least x lines backwards,
2077x = 0 to sync from start.
2078
2079
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +00002080PLAINTEX *plaintex.vim* *ft-plaintex-syntax*
2081
2082TeX is a typesetting language, and plaintex is the file type for the "plain"
2083variant of TeX. If you never want your *.tex files recognized as plain TeX,
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00002084see |ft-tex-plugin|.
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +00002085
2086This syntax file has the option >
2087
2088 let g:plaintex_delimiters = 1
2089
2090if you want to highlight brackets "[]" and braces "{}".
2091
2092
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002093PPWIZARD *ppwiz.vim* *ft-ppwiz-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002094
2095PPWizard is a preprocessor for HTML and OS/2 INF files
2096
2097This syntax file has the options:
2098
2099- ppwiz_highlight_defs : determines highlighting mode for PPWizard's
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002100 definitions. Possible values are
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002101
2102 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 1 : PPWizard #define statements retain the
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002103 colors of their contents (e.g. PPWizard macros and variables)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002104
2105 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 2 : preprocessor #define and #evaluate
2106 statements are shown in a single color with the exception of line
2107 continuation symbols
2108
2109 The default setting for ppwiz_highlight_defs is 1.
2110
2111- ppwiz_with_html : If the value is 1 (the default), highlight literal
2112 HTML code; if 0, treat HTML code like ordinary text.
2113
2114
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002115PHTML *phtml.vim* *ft-phtml-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002116
2117There are two options for the phtml syntax highlighting.
2118
2119If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
2120
2121 :let phtml_sql_query = 1
2122
2123For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
2124set "phtml_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
2125
2126 :let phtml_minlines = 200
2127
2128
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002129POSTSCRIPT *postscr.vim* *ft-postscr-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002130
2131There are several options when it comes to highlighting PostScript.
2132
2133First which version of the PostScript language to highlight. There are
2134currently three defined language versions, or levels. Level 1 is the original
2135and base version, and includes all extensions prior to the release of level 2.
2136Level 2 is the most common version around, and includes its own set of
2137extensions prior to the release of level 3. Level 3 is currently the highest
2138level supported. You select which level of the PostScript language you want
2139highlighted by defining the postscr_level variable as follows: >
2140
2141 :let postscr_level=2
2142
2143If this variable is not defined it defaults to 2 (level 2) since this is
2144the most prevalent version currently.
2145
2146Note, not all PS interpreters will support all language features for a
2147particular language level. In particular the %!PS-Adobe-3.0 at the start of
2148PS files does NOT mean the PostScript present is level 3 PostScript!
2149
2150If you are working with Display PostScript, you can include highlighting of
2151Display PS language features by defining the postscr_display variable as
2152follows: >
2153
2154 :let postscr_display=1
2155
2156If you are working with Ghostscript, you can include highlighting of
2157Ghostscript specific language features by defining the variable
2158postscr_ghostscript as follows: >
2159
2160 :let postscr_ghostscript=1
2161
2162PostScript is a large language, with many predefined elements. While it
2163useful to have all these elements highlighted, on slower machines this can
2164cause Vim to slow down. In an attempt to be machine friendly font names and
2165character encodings are not highlighted by default. Unless you are working
2166explicitly with either of these this should be ok. If you want them to be
2167highlighted you should set one or both of the following variables: >
2168
2169 :let postscr_fonts=1
2170 :let postscr_encodings=1
2171
2172There is a stylistic option to the highlighting of and, or, and not. In
2173PostScript the function of these operators depends on the types of their
2174operands - if the operands are booleans then they are the logical operators,
2175if they are integers then they are binary operators. As binary and logical
2176operators can be highlighted differently they have to be highlighted one way
2177or the other. By default they are treated as logical operators. They can be
2178highlighted as binary operators by defining the variable
2179postscr_andornot_binary as follows: >
2180
2181 :let postscr_andornot_binary=1
2182<
2183
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002184 *ptcap.vim* *ft-printcap-syntax*
2185PRINTCAP + TERMCAP *ft-ptcap-syntax* *ft-termcap-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002186
2187This syntax file applies to the printcap and termcap databases.
2188
2189In order for Vim to recognize printcap/termcap files that do not match
2190the patterns *printcap*, or *termcap*, you must put additional patterns
2191appropriate to your system in your |myfiletypefile| file. For these
2192patterns, you must set the variable "b:ptcap_type" to either "print" or
2193"term", and then the 'filetype' option to ptcap.
2194
2195For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/termcaps/ as termcap
2196files, add the following: >
2197
2198 :au BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/termcaps/* let b:ptcap_type = "term" |
2199 \ set filetype=ptcap
2200
2201If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which
2202are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "ptcap_minlines"
2203internal variable to a larger number: >
2204
2205 :let ptcap_minlines = 50
2206
2207(The default is 20 lines.)
2208
2209
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002210PROGRESS *progress.vim* *ft-progress-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002211
2212Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection
2213doesn't work for you, or you don't edit cweb at all, use this in your
2214startup vimrc: >
2215 :let filetype_w = "progress"
2216The same happens for "*.i", which could be assembly, and "*.p", which could be
2217Pascal. Use this if you don't use assembly and Pascal: >
2218 :let filetype_i = "progress"
2219 :let filetype_p = "progress"
2220
2221
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002222PYTHON *python.vim* *ft-python-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002223
2224There are four options to control Python syntax highlighting.
2225
2226For highlighted numbers: >
2227 :let python_highlight_numbers = 1
2228
2229For highlighted builtin functions: >
2230 :let python_highlight_builtins = 1
2231
2232For highlighted standard exceptions: >
2233 :let python_highlight_exceptions = 1
2234
2235For highlighted trailing whitespace and mix of spaces and tabs:
2236 :let python_highlight_space_errors = 1
2237
2238If you want all possible Python highlighting (the same as setting the
2239preceding three options): >
2240 :let python_highlight_all = 1
2241
2242
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002243QUAKE *quake.vim* *ft-quake-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002244
2245The Quake syntax definition should work for most any FPS (First Person
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002246Shooter) based on one of the Quake engines. However, the command names vary
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002247a bit between the three games (Quake, Quake 2, and Quake 3 Arena) so the
2248syntax definition checks for the existence of three global variables to allow
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002249users to specify what commands are legal in their files. The three variables
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002250can be set for the following effects:
2251
2252set to highlight commands only available in Quake: >
2253 :let quake_is_quake1 = 1
2254
2255set to highlight commands only available in Quake 2: >
2256 :let quake_is_quake2 = 1
2257
2258set to highlight commands only available in Quake 3 Arena: >
2259 :let quake_is_quake3 = 1
2260
2261Any combination of these three variables is legal, but might highlight more
2262commands than are actually available to you by the game.
2263
2264
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002265READLINE *readline.vim* *ft-readline-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002266
2267The readline library is primarily used by the BASH shell, which adds quite a
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002268few commands and options to the ones already available. To highlight these
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002269items as well you can add the following to your |vimrc| or just type it in the
2270command line before loading a file with the readline syntax: >
2271 let readline_has_bash = 1
2272
2273This will add highlighting for the commands that BASH (version 2.05a and
2274later, and part earlier) adds.
2275
2276
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002277REXX *rexx.vim* *ft-rexx-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002278
2279If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2280when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "rexx_minlines" internal variable
2281to a larger number: >
2282 :let rexx_minlines = 50
2283This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
2284displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger
2285number is that redrawing can become slow.
2286
2287
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002288RUBY *ruby.vim* *ft-ruby-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002289
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002290There are a number of options to the Ruby syntax highlighting.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002291
2292By default, the "end" keyword is colorized according to the opening statement
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002293of the block it closes. While useful, this feature can be expensive; if you
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002294experience slow redrawing (or you are on a terminal with poor color support)
2295you may want to turn it off by defining the "ruby_no_expensive" variable: >
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002296
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002297 :let ruby_no_expensive = 1
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002298
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002299In this case the same color will be used for all control keywords.
2300
2301If you do want this feature enabled, but notice highlighting errors while
2302scrolling backwards, which are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting
2303the "ruby_minlines" variable to a value larger than 50: >
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002304
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002305 :let ruby_minlines = 100
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002306
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002307Ideally, this value should be a number of lines large enough to embrace your
2308largest class or module.
2309
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002310Highlighting of special identifiers can be disabled by defining
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002311"ruby_no_identifiers": >
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002312
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002313 :let ruby_no_identifiers = 1
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002314
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002315This will prevent highlighting of special identifiers like "ConstantName",
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002316"$global_var", "@@class_var", "@instance_var", "| block_param |", and
2317":symbol".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002318
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002319Significant methods of Kernel, Module and Object are highlighted by default.
2320This can be disabled by defining "ruby_no_special_methods": >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002321
Bram Moolenaar943d2b52005-12-02 00:50:49 +00002322 :let ruby_no_special_methods = 1
2323
2324This will prevent highlighting of important methods such as "require", "attr",
2325"private", "raise" and "proc".
2326
2327Whitespace errors can be highlighted by defining "ruby_space_errors": >
2328
2329 :let ruby_space_errors = 1
2330
2331This will highlight trailing whitespace and tabs preceded by a space character
2332as errors. This can be refined by defining "ruby_no_trail_space_error" and
2333"ruby_no_tab_space_error" which will ignore trailing whitespace and tabs after
2334spaces respectively.
2335
2336Folding can be enabled by defining "ruby_fold": >
2337
2338 :let ruby_fold = 1
2339
2340This will set the 'foldmethod' option to "syntax" and allow folding of
2341classes, modules, methods, code blocks, heredocs and comments.
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002342SCHEME *scheme.vim* *ft-scheme-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar21cf8232004-07-16 20:18:37 +00002343
2344By default only R5RS keywords are highlighted and properly indented.
2345
2346MzScheme-specific stuff will be used if b:is_mzscheme or g:is_mzscheme
2347variables are defined.
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00002348
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +00002349Also scheme.vim supports keywords of the Chicken Scheme->C compiler. Define
2350b:is_chicken or g:is_chicken, if you need them.
Bram Moolenaar21cf8232004-07-16 20:18:37 +00002351
2352
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002353SDL *sdl.vim* *ft-sdl-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002354
2355The SDL highlighting probably misses a few keywords, but SDL has so many
2356of them it's almost impossibly to cope.
2357
2358The new standard, SDL-2000, specifies that all identifiers are
2359case-sensitive (which was not so before), and that all keywords can be
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002360used either completely lowercase or completely uppercase. To have the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002361highlighting reflect this, you can set the following variable: >
2362 :let sdl_2000=1
2363
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002364This also sets many new keywords. If you want to disable the old
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002365keywords, which is probably a good idea, use: >
2366 :let SDL_no_96=1
2367
2368
2369The indentation is probably also incomplete, but right now I am very
2370satisfied with it for my own projects.
2371
2372
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002373SED *sed.vim* *ft-sed-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002374
2375To make tabs stand out from regular blanks (accomplished by using Todo
2376highlighting on the tabs), define "highlight_sedtabs" by putting >
2377
2378 :let highlight_sedtabs = 1
2379
2380in the vimrc file. (This special highlighting only applies for tabs
2381inside search patterns, replacement texts, addresses or text included
2382by an Append/Change/Insert command.) If you enable this option, it is
2383also a good idea to set the tab width to one character; by doing that,
2384you can easily count the number of tabs in a string.
2385
2386Bugs:
2387
2388 The transform command (y) is treated exactly like the substitute
2389 command. This means that, as far as this syntax file is concerned,
2390 transform accepts the same flags as substitute, which is wrong.
2391 (Transform accepts no flags.) I tolerate this bug because the
2392 involved commands need very complex treatment (95 patterns, one for
2393 each plausible pattern delimiter).
2394
2395
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002396SGML *sgml.vim* *ft-sgml-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002397
2398The coloring scheme for tags in the SGML file works as follows.
2399
2400The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
2401This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
2402closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
2403defined for you)
2404
2405Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag
2406names are not colored which makes it easy to spot errors.
2407
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002408Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002409names are colored differently than unknown ones.
2410
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002411Some SGML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002412are recognized by the sgml.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
2413text is shown: <varname> <emphasis> <command> <function> <literal>
2414<replaceable> <ulink> and <link>.
2415
2416If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
2417following syntax groups:
2418
2419 - sgmlBold
2420 - sgmlBoldItalic
2421 - sgmlUnderline
2422 - sgmlItalic
2423 - sgmlLink for links
2424
2425To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all and define the
2426following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
2427are read during initialization) >
2428 let sgml_my_rendering=1
2429
2430You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
2431vimrc file: >
2432 let sgml_no_rendering=1
2433
2434(Adapted from the html.vim help text by Claudio Fleiner <claudio@fleiner.com>)
2435
2436
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002437SH *sh.vim* *ft-sh-syntax* *ft-bash-syntax* *ft-ksh-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002438
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00002439This covers the "normal" Unix (Borne) sh, bash and the Korn shell.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002440
2441Vim attempts to determine which shell type is in use by specifying that
2442various filenames are of specific types: >
2443
2444 ksh : .kshrc* *.ksh
2445 bash: .bashrc* bashrc bash.bashrc .bash_profile* *.bash
2446<
2447If none of these cases pertain, then the first line of the file is examined
2448(ex. /bin/sh /bin/ksh /bin/bash). If the first line specifies a shelltype,
2449then that shelltype is used. However some files (ex. .profile) are known to
2450be shell files but the type is not apparent. Furthermore, on many systems
Bram Moolenaar7fc904b2006-04-13 20:37:35 +00002451sh is symbolically linked to "bash" (Linux, Windows+cygwin) or "ksh" (Posix).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002452
2453One may specify a global default by instantiating one of the following three
2454variables in your <.vimrc>:
2455
2456 ksh: >
Bram Moolenaar7fc904b2006-04-13 20:37:35 +00002457 let g:is_kornshell = 1
2458< posix: (using this is the same as setting is_kornshell to 1) >
2459 let g:is_posix = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002460< bash: >
Bram Moolenaar7fc904b2006-04-13 20:37:35 +00002461 let g:is_bash = 1
2462< sh: (default) Borne shell >
2463 let g:is_sh = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002464
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00002465If there's no "#! ..." line, and the user hasn't availed himself/herself of a
2466default sh.vim syntax setting as just shown, then syntax/sh.vim will assume
2467the Borne shell syntax. No need to quote RFCs or market penetration
Bram Moolenaar7fc904b2006-04-13 20:37:35 +00002468statistics in error reports, please -- just select the default version of
2469the sh your system uses in your <.vimrc>.
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00002470
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002471If, in your <.vimrc>, you set >
2472 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 1
2473>
2474then various syntax items (HereDocuments and function bodies) become
2475syntax-foldable (see |:syn-fold|).
2476
2477If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2478when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "sh_minlines" internal variable
2479to a larger number. Example: >
2480
2481 let sh_minlines = 500
2482
2483This will make syntax synchronization start 500 lines before the first
2484displayed line. The default value is 200. The disadvantage of using a larger
2485number is that redrawing can become slow.
2486
2487If you don't have much to synchronize on, displaying can be very slow. To
2488reduce this, the "sh_maxlines" internal variable can be set. Example: >
2489
2490 let sh_maxlines = 100
2491<
2492The default is to use the twice sh_minlines. Set it to a smaller number to
2493speed up displaying. The disadvantage is that highlight errors may appear.
2494
2495
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002496SPEEDUP (AspenTech plant simulator) *spup.vim* *ft-spup-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002497
2498The Speedup syntax file has some options:
2499
2500- strict_subsections : If this variable is defined, only keywords for
2501 sections and subsections will be highlighted as statements but not
2502 other keywords (like WITHIN in the OPERATION section).
2503
2504- highlight_types : Definition of this variable causes stream types
2505 like temperature or pressure to be highlighted as Type, not as a
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002506 plain Identifier. Included are the types that are usually found in
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002507 the DECLARE section; if you defined own types, you have to include
2508 them in the syntax file.
2509
2510- oneline_comments : this value ranges from 1 to 3 and determines the
2511 highlighting of # style comments.
2512
2513 oneline_comments = 1 : allow normal Speedup code after an even
2514 number of #s.
2515
2516 oneline_comments = 2 : show code starting with the second # as
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002517 error. This is the default setting.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002518
2519 oneline_comments = 3 : show the whole line as error if it contains
2520 more than one #.
2521
2522Since especially OPERATION sections tend to become very large due to
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002523PRESETting variables, syncing may be critical. If your computer is
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002524fast enough, you can increase minlines and/or maxlines near the end of
2525the syntax file.
2526
2527
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002528SQL *sql.vim* *ft-sql-syntax*
2529 *sqlinformix.vim* *ft-sqlinformix-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar1056d982006-03-09 22:37:52 +00002530 *sqlanywhere.vim* *ft-sqlanywhere-syntax*
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00002531
Bram Moolenaar1056d982006-03-09 22:37:52 +00002532While there is an ANSI standard for SQL, most database engines add their own
2533custom extensions. Vim currently supports the Oracle and Informix dialects of
2534SQL. Vim assumes "*.sql" files are Oracle SQL by default.
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00002535
Bram Moolenaar1056d982006-03-09 22:37:52 +00002536Vim currently has SQL support for a variety of different vendors via syntax
2537scripts. You can change Vim's default from Oracle to any of the current SQL
2538supported types. You can also easily alter the SQL dialect being used on a
2539buffer by buffer basis.
2540
2541For more detailed instructions see |sql.txt|.
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00002542
2543
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002544TCSH *tcsh.vim* *ft-tcsh-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002545
2546This covers the shell named "tcsh". It is a superset of csh. See |csh.vim|
2547for how the filetype is detected.
2548
2549Tcsh does not allow \" in strings unless the "backslash_quote" shell variable
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002550is set. If you want VIM to assume that no backslash quote constructs exist add
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002551this line to your .vimrc: >
2552
2553 :let tcsh_backslash_quote = 0
2554
2555If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2556when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "tcsh_minlines" internal variable
2557to a larger number: >
2558
2559 :let tcsh_minlines = 100
2560
2561This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002562displayed line. The default value is 15. The disadvantage of using a larger
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002563number is that redrawing can become slow.
2564
2565
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002566TEX *tex.vim* *ft-tex-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002567
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +00002568*tex-folding*
2569Want Syntax Folding? ~
2570
2571As of version 28 of <syntax/tex.vim>, syntax-based folding of parts, chapters,
2572sections, subsections, etc are supported. Put >
2573 let g:tex_fold_enabled=1
2574in your <.vimrc>, and :set fdm=syntax. I suggest doing the latter via a
2575modeline at the end of your LaTeX file: >
2576 % vim: fdm=syntax
2577<
2578*tex-runon*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002579Run-on Comments/Math? ~
2580
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +00002581The <syntax/tex.vim> highlighting supports TeX, LaTeX, and some AmsTeX. The
2582highlighting supports three primary zones/regions: normal, texZone, and
2583texMathZone. Although considerable effort has been made to have these zones
2584terminate properly, zones delineated by $..$ and $$..$$ cannot be synchronized
2585as there's no difference between start and end patterns. Consequently, a
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002586special "TeX comment" has been provided >
2587 %stopzone
2588which will forcibly terminate the highlighting of either a texZone or a
2589texMathZone.
2590
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +00002591*tex-slow*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002592Slow Syntax Highlighting? ~
2593
2594If you have a slow computer, you may wish to reduce the values for >
2595 :syn sync maxlines=200
2596 :syn sync minlines=50
2597(especially the latter). If your computer is fast, you may wish to
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002598increase them. This primarily affects synchronizing (i.e. just what group,
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002599if any, is the text at the top of the screen supposed to be in?).
2600
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +00002601*tex-error*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002602Excessive Error Highlighting? ~
2603
2604The <tex.vim> supports lexical error checking of various sorts. Thus,
2605although the error checking is ofttimes very useful, it can indicate
2606errors where none actually are. If this proves to be a problem for you,
2607you may put in your <.vimrc> the following statement: >
2608 let tex_no_error=1
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +00002609and all error checking by <syntax/tex.vim> will be suppressed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002610
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +00002611*tex-math*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002612Need a new Math Group? ~
2613
2614If you want to include a new math group in your LaTeX, the following
2615code shows you an example as to how you might do so: >
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +00002616 call TexNewMathZone(sfx,mathzone,starform)
2617You'll want to provide the new math group with a unique suffix
2618(currently, A-L and V-Z are taken by <syntax/tex.vim> itself).
2619As an example, consider how eqnarray is set up by <syntax/tex.vim>: >
2620 call TexNewMathZone("D","eqnarray",1)
2621You'll need to change "mathzone" to the name of your new math group,
2622and then to the call to it in .vim/after/syntax/tex.vim.
2623The "starform" variable, if true, implies that your new math group
2624has a starred form (ie. eqnarray*).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002625
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +00002626*tex-style*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002627Starting a New Style? ~
2628
2629One may use "\makeatletter" in *.tex files, thereby making the use of "@" in
2630commands available. However, since the *.tex file doesn't have one of the
2631following suffices: sty cls clo dtx ltx, the syntax highlighting will flag
2632such use of @ as an error. To solve this: >
2633
2634 :let b:tex_stylish = 1
2635 :set ft=tex
2636
2637Putting "let g:tex_stylish=1" into your <.vimrc> will make <syntax/tex.vim>
2638always accept such use of @.
2639
2640
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002641TF *tf.vim* *ft-tf-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002642
2643There is one option for the tf syntax highlighting.
2644
2645For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
2646set "tf_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
2647
2648 :let tf_minlines = your choice
2649
2650
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002651VIM *vim.vim* *ft-vim-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002652
2653There is a tradeoff between more accurate syntax highlighting versus
2654screen updating speed. To improve accuracy, you may wish to increase
2655the g:vim_minlines variable. The g:vim_maxlines variable may be used
2656to improve screen updating rates (see |:syn-sync| for more on this).
2657
2658 g:vim_minlines : used to set synchronization minlines
2659 g:vim_maxlines : used to set synchronization maxlines
2660
2661The g:vimembedscript option allows for somewhat faster loading of syntax
2662highlighting for vim scripts at the expense of supporting syntax highlighting
2663for external scripting languages (currently perl, python, ruby, and tcl).
2664
2665 g:vimembedscript == 1 (default) <vim.vim> will allow highlighting
2666 g:vimembedscript doesn't exist of supported embedded scripting
2667 languages: perl, python, ruby and
2668 tcl.
2669
2670 g:vimembedscript == 0 Syntax highlighting for embedded
2671 scripting languages will not be
2672 loaded.
2673
Bram Moolenaar437df8f2006-04-27 21:47:44 +00002674Not all error highlighting that syntax/vim.vim does may be correct; VimL is a
2675difficult language to highlight correctly. A way to suppress error
2676highlighting is to put: >
2677
2678 let g:vimsyntax_noerror = 1
2679
2680in your |vimrc|.
2681
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002682
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002683XF86CONFIG *xf86conf.vim* *ft-xf86conf-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002684
2685The syntax of XF86Config file differs in XFree86 v3.x and v4.x. Both
2686variants are supported. Automatic detection is used, but is far from perfect.
2687You may need to specify the version manually. Set the variable
2688xf86conf_xfree86_version to 3 or 4 according to your XFree86 version in
2689your .vimrc. Example: >
2690 :let xf86conf_xfree86_version=3
2691When using a mix of versions, set the b:xf86conf_xfree86_version variable.
2692
2693Note that spaces and underscores in option names are not supported. Use
2694"SyncOnGreen" instead of "__s yn con gr_e_e_n" if you want the option name
2695highlighted.
2696
2697
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002698XML *xml.vim* *ft-xml-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002699
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002700Xml namespaces are highlighted by default. This can be inhibited by
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002701setting a global variable: >
2702
2703 :let g:xml_namespace_transparent=1
2704<
2705 *xml-folding*
2706The xml syntax file provides syntax |folding| (see |:syn-fold|) between
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002707start and end tags. This can be turned on by >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002708
2709 :let g:xml_syntax_folding = 1
2710 :set foldmethod=syntax
2711
2712Note: syntax folding might slow down syntax highlighting significantly,
2713especially for large files.
2714
2715
Bram Moolenaarda2303d2005-08-30 21:55:26 +00002716X Pixmaps (XPM) *xpm.vim* *ft-xpm-syntax*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002717
2718xpm.vim creates its syntax items dynamically based upon the contents of the
2719XPM file. Thus if you make changes e.g. in the color specification strings,
2720you have to source it again e.g. with ":set syn=xpm".
2721
2722To copy a pixel with one of the colors, yank a "pixel" with "yl" and insert it
2723somewhere else with "P".
2724
2725Do you want to draw with the mouse? Try the following: >
2726 :function! GetPixel()
Bram Moolenaar61660ea2006-04-07 21:40:07 +00002727 : let c = getline(".")[col(".") - 1]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002728 : echo c
2729 : exe "noremap <LeftMouse> <LeftMouse>r".c
2730 : exe "noremap <LeftDrag> <LeftMouse>r".c
2731 :endfunction
2732 :noremap <RightMouse> <LeftMouse>:call GetPixel()<CR>
2733 :set guicursor=n:hor20 " to see the color beneath the cursor
2734This turns the right button into a pipette and the left button into a pen.
2735It will work with XPM files that have one character per pixel only and you
2736must not click outside of the pixel strings, but feel free to improve it.
2737
2738It will look much better with a font in a quadratic cell size, e.g. for X: >
2739 :set guifont=-*-clean-medium-r-*-*-8-*-*-*-*-80-*
2740
2741==============================================================================
27425. Defining a syntax *:syn-define* *E410*
2743
2744Vim understands three types of syntax items:
2745
Bram Moolenaarce0842a2005-07-18 21:58:11 +000027461. Keyword
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002747 It can only contain keyword characters, according to the 'iskeyword'
2748 option. It cannot contain other syntax items. It will only match with a
2749 complete word (there are no keyword characters before or after the match).
2750 The keyword "if" would match in "if(a=b)", but not in "ifdef x", because
2751 "(" is not a keyword character and "d" is.
2752
Bram Moolenaarce0842a2005-07-18 21:58:11 +000027532. Match
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002754 This is a match with a single regexp pattern.
2755
Bram Moolenaarce0842a2005-07-18 21:58:11 +000027563. Region
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002757 This starts at a match of the "start" regexp pattern and ends with a match
2758 with the "end" regexp pattern. Any other text can appear in between. A
2759 "skip" regexp pattern can be used to avoid matching the "end" pattern.
2760
2761Several syntax ITEMs can be put into one syntax GROUP. For a syntax group
2762you can give highlighting attributes. For example, you could have an item
2763to define a "/* .. */" comment and another one that defines a "// .." comment,
2764and put them both in the "Comment" group. You can then specify that a
2765"Comment" will be in bold font and have a blue color. You are free to make
2766one highlight group for one syntax item, or put all items into one group.
2767This depends on how you want to specify your highlighting attributes. Putting
2768each item in its own group results in having to specify the highlighting
2769for a lot of groups.
2770
2771Note that a syntax group and a highlight group are similar. For a highlight
2772group you will have given highlight attributes. These attributes will be used
2773for the syntax group with the same name.
2774
2775In case more than one item matches at the same position, the one that was
2776defined LAST wins. Thus you can override previously defined syntax items by
2777using an item that matches the same text. But a keyword always goes before a
2778match or region. And a keyword with matching case always goes before a
2779keyword with ignoring case.
2780
2781
2782PRIORITY *:syn-priority*
2783
2784When several syntax items may match, these rules are used:
2785
27861. When multiple Match or Region items start in the same position, the item
2787 defined last has priority.
27882. A Keyword has priority over Match and Region items.
27893. An item that starts in an earlier position has priority over items that
2790 start in later positions.
2791
2792
2793DEFINING CASE *:syn-case* *E390*
2794
Bram Moolenaarce0842a2005-07-18 21:58:11 +00002795:sy[ntax] case [match | ignore]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002796 This defines if the following ":syntax" commands will work with
2797 matching case, when using "match", or with ignoring case, when using
2798 "ignore". Note that any items before this are not affected, and all
2799 items until the next ":syntax case" command are affected.
2800
2801
Bram Moolenaarce0842a2005-07-18 21:58:11 +00002802SPELL CHECKING *:syn-spell*
2803
2804:sy[ntax] spell [toplevel | notoplevel | default]
2805 This defines where spell checking is to be done for text that is not
2806 in a syntax item:
2807
2808 toplevel: Text is spell checked.
2809 notoplevel: Text is not spell checked.
2810 default: When there is a @Spell cluster no spell checking.
2811
2812 For text in syntax items use the @Spell and @NoSpell clusters
2813 |spell-syntax|. When there is no @Spell and no @NoSpell cluster then
2814 spell checking is done for "default" and "toplevel".
2815
2816 To activate spell checking the 'spell' option must be set.
2817
2818
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002819DEFINING KEYWORDS *:syn-keyword*
2820
2821:sy[ntax] keyword {group-name} [{options}] {keyword} .. [{options}]
2822
2823 This defines a number of keywords.
2824
2825 {group-name} Is a syntax group name such as "Comment".
2826 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2827 {keyword} .. Is a list of keywords which are part of this group.
2828
2829 Example: >
2830 :syntax keyword Type int long char
2831<
2832 The {options} can be given anywhere in the line. They will apply to
2833 all keywords given, also for options that come after a keyword.
2834 These examples do exactly the same: >
2835 :syntax keyword Type contained int long char
2836 :syntax keyword Type int long contained char
2837 :syntax keyword Type int long char contained
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00002838< *E789*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002839 When you have a keyword with an optional tail, like Ex commands in
2840 Vim, you can put the optional characters inside [], to define all the
2841 variations at once: >
2842 :syntax keyword vimCommand ab[breviate] n[ext]
2843<
2844 Don't forget that a keyword can only be recognized if all the
2845 characters are included in the 'iskeyword' option. If one character
2846 isn't, the keyword will never be recognized.
2847 Multi-byte characters can also be used. These do not have to be in
2848 'iskeyword'.
2849
2850 A keyword always has higher priority than a match or region, the
2851 keyword is used if more than one item matches. Keywords do not nest
2852 and a keyword can't contain anything else.
2853
2854 Note that when you have a keyword that is the same as an option (even
2855 one that isn't allowed here), you can not use it. Use a match
2856 instead.
2857
2858 The maximum length of a keyword is 80 characters.
2859
2860 The same keyword can be defined multiple times, when its containment
2861 differs. For example, you can define the keyword once not contained
2862 and use one highlight group, and once contained, and use a different
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002863 highlight group. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002864 :syn keyword vimCommand tag
2865 :syn keyword vimSetting contained tag
2866< When finding "tag" outside of any syntax item, the "vimCommand"
2867 highlight group is used. When finding "tag" in a syntax item that
2868 contains "vimSetting", the "vimSetting" group is used.
2869
2870
2871DEFINING MATCHES *:syn-match*
2872
2873:sy[ntax] match {group-name} [{options}] [excludenl] {pattern} [{options}]
2874
2875 This defines one match.
2876
2877 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment".
2878 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2879 [excludenl] Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
2880 extend a containing match or region. Must be
2881 given before the pattern. |:syn-excludenl|
2882 {pattern} The search pattern that defines the match.
2883 See |:syn-pattern| below.
2884 Note that the pattern may match more than one
2885 line, which makes the match depend on where
2886 Vim starts searching for the pattern. You
2887 need to make sure syncing takes care of this.
2888
2889 Example (match a character constant): >
2890 :syntax match Character /'.'/hs=s+1,he=e-1
2891<
2892
2893DEFINING REGIONS *:syn-region* *:syn-start* *:syn-skip* *:syn-end*
2894 *E398* *E399*
2895:sy[ntax] region {group-name} [{options}]
2896 [matchgroup={group-name}]
2897 [keepend]
2898 [extend]
2899 [excludenl]
2900 start={start_pattern} ..
2901 [skip={skip_pattern}]
2902 end={end_pattern} ..
2903 [{options}]
2904
2905 This defines one region. It may span several lines.
2906
2907 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment".
2908 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2909 [matchgroup={group-name}] The syntax group to use for the following
2910 start or end pattern matches only. Not used
2911 for the text in between the matched start and
2912 end patterns. Use NONE to reset to not using
2913 a different group for the start or end match.
2914 See |:syn-matchgroup|.
2915 keepend Don't allow contained matches to go past a
2916 match with the end pattern. See
2917 |:syn-keepend|.
2918 extend Override a "keepend" for an item this region
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00002919 is contained in. See |:syn-extend|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002920 excludenl Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
2921 extend a containing match or item. Only
2922 useful for end patterns. Must be given before
2923 the patterns it applies to. |:syn-excludenl|
2924 start={start_pattern} The search pattern that defines the start of
2925 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2926 skip={skip_pattern} The search pattern that defines text inside
2927 the region where not to look for the end
2928 pattern. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2929 end={end_pattern} The search pattern that defines the end of
2930 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2931
2932 Example: >
2933 :syntax region String start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+
2934<
2935 The start/skip/end patterns and the options can be given in any order.
2936 There can be zero or one skip pattern. There must be one or more
2937 start and end patterns. This means that you can omit the skip
2938 pattern, but you must give at least one start and one end pattern. It
2939 is allowed to have white space before and after the equal sign
2940 (although it mostly looks better without white space).
2941
2942 When more than one start pattern is given, a match with one of these
2943 is sufficient. This means there is an OR relation between the start
2944 patterns. The last one that matches is used. The same is true for
2945 the end patterns.
2946
2947 The search for the end pattern starts right after the start pattern.
2948 Offsets are not used for this. This implies that the match for the
2949 end pattern will never overlap with the start pattern.
2950
2951 The skip and end pattern can match across line breaks, but since the
2952 search for the pattern can start in any line it often does not do what
2953 you want. The skip pattern doesn't avoid a match of an end pattern in
2954 the next line. Use single-line patterns to avoid trouble.
2955
2956 Note: The decision to start a region is only based on a matching start
2957 pattern. There is no check for a matching end pattern. This does NOT
2958 work: >
2959 :syn region First start="(" end=":"
2960 :syn region Second start="(" end=";"
2961< The Second always matches before the First (last defined pattern has
2962 higher priority). The Second region then continues until the next
2963 ';', no matter if there is a ':' before it. Using a match does work: >
2964 :syn match First "(\_.\{-}:"
2965 :syn match Second "(\_.\{-};"
2966< This pattern matches any character or line break with "\_." and
2967 repeats that with "\{-}" (repeat as few as possible).
2968
2969 *:syn-keepend*
2970 By default, a contained match can obscure a match for the end pattern.
2971 This is useful for nesting. For example, a region that starts with
2972 "{" and ends with "}", can contain another region. An encountered "}"
2973 will then end the contained region, but not the outer region:
2974 { starts outer "{}" region
2975 { starts contained "{}" region
2976 } ends contained "{}" region
2977 } ends outer "{} region
2978 If you don't want this, the "keepend" argument will make the matching
2979 of an end pattern of the outer region also end any contained item.
2980 This makes it impossible to nest the same region, but allows for
2981 contained items to highlight parts of the end pattern, without causing
2982 that to skip the match with the end pattern. Example: >
2983 :syn match vimComment +"[^"]\+$+
2984 :syn region vimCommand start="set" end="$" contains=vimComment keepend
2985< The "keepend" makes the vimCommand always end at the end of the line,
2986 even though the contained vimComment includes a match with the <EOL>.
2987
2988 When "keepend" is not used, a match with an end pattern is retried
2989 after each contained match. When "keepend" is included, the first
2990 encountered match with an end pattern is used, truncating any
2991 contained matches.
2992 *:syn-extend*
2993 The "keepend" behavior can be changed by using the "extend" argument.
2994 When an item with "extend" is contained in an item that uses
2995 "keepend", the "keepend" is ignored and the containing region will be
2996 extended.
2997 This can be used to have some contained items extend a region while
2998 others don't. Example: >
2999
3000 :syn region htmlRef start=+<a>+ end=+</a>+ keepend contains=htmlItem,htmlScript
3001 :syn match htmlItem +<[^>]*>+ contained
3002 :syn region htmlScript start=+<script+ end=+</script[^>]*>+ contained extend
3003
3004< Here the htmlItem item does not make the htmlRef item continue
3005 further, it is only used to highlight the <> items. The htmlScript
3006 item does extend the htmlRef item.
3007
3008 Another example: >
3009 :syn region xmlFold start="<a>" end="</a>" fold transparent keepend extend
3010< This defines a region with "keepend", so that its end cannot be
3011 changed by contained items, like when the "</a>" is matched to
3012 highlight it differently. But when the xmlFold region is nested (it
3013 includes itself), the "extend" applies, so that the "</a>" of a nested
3014 region only ends that region, and not the one it is contained in.
3015
3016 *:syn-excludenl*
3017 When a pattern for a match or end pattern of a region includes a '$'
3018 to match the end-of-line, it will make a region item that it is
3019 contained in continue on the next line. For example, a match with
3020 "\\$" (backslash at the end of the line) can make a region continue
3021 that would normally stop at the end of the line. This is the default
3022 behavior. If this is not wanted, there are two ways to avoid it:
3023 1. Use "keepend" for the containing item. This will keep all
3024 contained matches from extending the match or region. It can be
3025 used when all contained items must not extend the containing item.
3026 2. Use "excludenl" in the contained item. This will keep that match
3027 from extending the containing match or region. It can be used if
3028 only some contained items must not extend the containing item.
3029 "excludenl" must be given before the pattern it applies to.
3030
3031 *:syn-matchgroup*
3032 "matchgroup" can be used to highlight the start and/or end pattern
3033 differently than the body of the region. Example: >
3034 :syntax region String matchgroup=Quote start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+
3035< This will highlight the quotes with the "Quote" group, and the text in
3036 between with the "String" group.
3037 The "matchgroup" is used for all start and end patterns that follow,
3038 until the next "matchgroup". Use "matchgroup=NONE" to go back to not
3039 using a matchgroup.
3040
3041 In a start or end pattern that is highlighted with "matchgroup" the
3042 contained items of the region are not used. This can be used to avoid
3043 that a contained item matches in the start or end pattern match. When
3044 using "transparent", this does not apply to a start or end pattern
3045 match that is highlighted with "matchgroup".
3046
3047 Here is an example, which highlights three levels of parentheses in
3048 different colors: >
3049 :sy region par1 matchgroup=par1 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par2
3050 :sy region par2 matchgroup=par2 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par3 contained
3051 :sy region par3 matchgroup=par3 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par1 contained
3052 :hi par1 ctermfg=red guifg=red
3053 :hi par2 ctermfg=blue guifg=blue
3054 :hi par3 ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
3055
3056==============================================================================
30576. :syntax arguments *:syn-arguments*
3058
3059The :syntax commands that define syntax items take a number of arguments.
3060The common ones are explained here. The arguments may be given in any order
3061and may be mixed with patterns.
3062
3063Not all commands accept all arguments. This table shows which arguments
3064can not be used for all commands:
3065 *E395* *E396*
3066 contains oneline fold display extend ~
3067:syntax keyword - - - - -
3068:syntax match yes - yes yes yes
3069:syntax region yes yes yes yes yes
3070
3071These arguments can be used for all three commands:
3072 contained
3073 containedin
3074 nextgroup
3075 transparent
3076 skipwhite
3077 skipnl
3078 skipempty
3079
3080
3081contained *:syn-contained*
3082
3083When the "contained" argument is given, this item will not be recognized at
3084the top level, but only when it is mentioned in the "contains" field of
3085another match. Example: >
3086 :syntax keyword Todo TODO contained
3087 :syntax match Comment "//.*" contains=Todo
3088
3089
3090display *:syn-display*
3091
3092If the "display" argument is given, this item will be skipped when the
3093detected highlighting will not be displayed. This will speed up highlighting,
3094by skipping this item when only finding the syntax state for the text that is
3095to be displayed.
3096
3097Generally, you can use "display" for match and region items that meet these
3098conditions:
3099- The item does not continue past the end of a line. Example for C: A region
3100 for a "/*" comment can't contain "display", because it continues on the next
3101 line.
3102- The item does not contain items that continue past the end of the line or
3103 make it continue on the next line.
3104- The item does not change the size of any item it is contained in. Example
3105 for C: A match with "\\$" in a preprocessor match can't have "display",
3106 because it may make that preprocessor match shorter.
3107- The item does not allow other items to match that didn't match otherwise,
3108 and that item may extend the match too far. Example for C: A match for a
3109 "//" comment can't use "display", because a "/*" inside that comment would
3110 match then and start a comment which extends past the end of the line.
3111
3112Examples, for the C language, where "display" can be used:
3113- match with a number
3114- match with a label
3115
3116
3117transparent *:syn-transparent*
3118
3119If the "transparent" argument is given, this item will not be highlighted
3120itself, but will take the highlighting of the item it is contained in. This
3121is useful for syntax items that don't need any highlighting but are used
3122only to skip over a part of the text.
3123
3124The "contains=" argument is also inherited from the item it is contained in,
3125unless a "contains" argument is given for the transparent item itself. To
3126avoid that unwanted items are contained, use "contains=NONE". Example, which
3127highlights words in strings, but makes an exception for "vim": >
3128 :syn match myString /'[^']*'/ contains=myWord,myVim
3129 :syn match myWord /\<[a-z]*\>/ contained
3130 :syn match myVim /\<vim\>/ transparent contained contains=NONE
3131 :hi link myString String
3132 :hi link myWord Comment
3133Since the "myVim" match comes after "myWord" it is the preferred match (last
3134match in the same position overrules an earlier one). The "transparent"
3135argument makes the "myVim" match use the same highlighting as "myString". But
3136it does not contain anything. If the "contains=NONE" argument would be left
3137out, then "myVim" would use the contains argument from myString and allow
3138"myWord" to be contained, which will be highlighted as a Constant. This
3139happens because a contained match doesn't match inside itself in the same
3140position, thus the "myVim" match doesn't overrule the "myWord" match here.
3141
3142When you look at the colored text, it is like looking at layers of contained
3143items. The contained item is on top of the item it is contained in, thus you
3144see the contained item. When a contained item is transparent, you can look
3145through, thus you see the item it is contained in. In a picture:
3146
3147 look from here
3148
3149 | | | | | |
3150 V V V V V V
3151
3152 xxxx yyy more contained items
3153 .................... contained item (transparent)
3154 ============================= first item
3155
3156The 'x', 'y' and '=' represent a highlighted syntax item. The '.' represent a
3157transparent group.
3158
3159What you see is:
3160
3161 =======xxxx=======yyy========
3162
3163Thus you look through the transparent "....".
3164
3165
3166oneline *:syn-oneline*
3167
3168The "oneline" argument indicates that the region does not cross a line
3169boundary. It must match completely in the current line. However, when the
3170region has a contained item that does cross a line boundary, it continues on
3171the next line anyway. A contained item can be used to recognize a line
3172continuation pattern. But the "end" pattern must still match in the first
3173line, otherwise the region doesn't even start.
3174
3175When the start pattern includes a "\n" to match an end-of-line, the end
3176pattern must be found in the same line as where the start pattern ends. The
3177end pattern may also include an end-of-line. Thus the "oneline" argument
3178means that the end of the start pattern and the start of the end pattern must
3179be within one line. This can't be changed by a skip pattern that matches a
3180line break.
3181
3182
3183fold *:syn-fold*
3184
3185The "fold" argument makes the fold level increased by one for this item.
3186Example: >
3187 :syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
3188 :syn sync fromstart
3189 :set foldmethod=syntax
3190This will make each {} block form one fold.
3191
3192The fold will start on the line where the item starts, and end where the item
3193ends. If the start and end are within the same line, there is no fold.
3194The 'foldnestmax' option limits the nesting of syntax folds.
3195{not available when Vim was compiled without |+folding| feature}
3196
3197
3198 *:syn-contains* *E405* *E406* *E407* *E408* *E409*
3199contains={groupname},..
3200
3201The "contains" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. These
3202groups will be allowed to begin inside the item (they may extend past the
3203containing group's end). This allows for recursive nesting of matches and
3204regions. If there is no "contains" argument, no groups will be contained in
3205this item. The group names do not need to be defined before they can be used
3206here.
3207
3208contains=ALL
3209 If the only item in the contains list is "ALL", then all
3210 groups will be accepted inside the item.
3211
3212contains=ALLBUT,{group-name},..
3213 If the first item in the contains list is "ALLBUT", then all
3214 groups will be accepted inside the item, except the ones that
3215 are listed. Example: >
3216 :syntax region Block start="{" end="}" ... contains=ALLBUT,Function
3217
3218contains=TOP
3219 If the first item in the contains list is "TOP", then all
3220 groups will be accepted that don't have the "contained"
3221 argument.
3222contains=TOP,{group-name},..
3223 Like "TOP", but excluding the groups that are listed.
3224
3225contains=CONTAINED
3226 If the first item in the contains list is "CONTAINED", then
3227 all groups will be accepted that have the "contained"
3228 argument.
3229contains=CONTAINED,{group-name},..
3230 Like "CONTAINED", but excluding the groups that are
3231 listed.
3232
3233
3234The {group-name} in the "contains" list can be a pattern. All group names
3235that match the pattern will be included (or excluded, if "ALLBUT" is used).
3236The pattern cannot contain white space or a ','. Example: >
3237 ... contains=Comment.*,Keyw[0-3]
3238The matching will be done at moment the syntax command is executed. Groups
3239that are defined later will not be matched. Also, if the current syntax
3240command defines a new group, it is not matched. Be careful: When putting
3241syntax commands in a file you can't rely on groups NOT being defined, because
3242the file may have been sourced before, and ":syn clear" doesn't remove the
3243group names.
3244
3245The contained groups will also match in the start and end patterns of a
3246region. If this is not wanted, the "matchgroup" argument can be used
3247|:syn-matchgroup|. The "ms=" and "me=" offsets can be used to change the
3248region where contained items do match. Note that this may also limit the
3249area that is highlighted
3250
3251
3252containedin={groupname}... *:syn-containedin*
3253
3254The "containedin" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. The
3255item will be allowed to begin inside these groups. This works as if the
3256containing item has a "contains=" argument that includes this item.
3257
3258The {groupname}... can be used just like for "contains", as explained above.
3259
3260This is useful when adding a syntax item afterwards. An item can be told to
3261be included inside an already existing item, without changing the definition
3262of that item. For example, to highlight a word in a C comment after loading
3263the C syntax: >
3264 :syn keyword myword HELP containedin=cComment contained
3265Note that "contained" is also used, to avoid that the item matches at the top
3266level.
3267
3268Matches for "containedin" are added to the other places where the item can
3269appear. A "contains" argument may also be added as usual. Don't forget that
3270keywords never contain another item, thus adding them to "containedin" won't
3271work.
3272
3273
3274nextgroup={groupname},.. *:syn-nextgroup*
3275
3276The "nextgroup" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names,
3277separated by commas (just like with "contains", so you can also use patterns).
3278
3279If the "nextgroup" argument is given, the mentioned syntax groups will be
3280tried for a match, after the match or region ends. If none of the groups have
3281a match, highlighting continues normally. If there is a match, this group
3282will be used, even when it is not mentioned in the "contains" field of the
3283current group. This is like giving the mentioned group priority over all
3284other groups. Example: >
3285 :syntax match ccFoobar "Foo.\{-}Bar" contains=ccFoo
3286 :syntax match ccFoo "Foo" contained nextgroup=ccFiller
3287 :syntax region ccFiller start="." matchgroup=ccBar end="Bar" contained
3288
3289This will highlight "Foo" and "Bar" differently, and only when there is a
3290"Bar" after "Foo". In the text line below, "f" shows where ccFoo is used for
3291highlighting, and "bbb" where ccBar is used. >
3292
3293 Foo asdfasd Bar asdf Foo asdf Bar asdf
3294 fff bbb fff bbb
3295
3296Note the use of ".\{-}" to skip as little as possible until the next Bar.
3297when ".*" would be used, the "asdf" in between "Bar" and "Foo" would be
3298highlighted according to the "ccFoobar" group, because the ccFooBar match
3299would include the first "Foo" and the last "Bar" in the line (see |pattern|).
3300
3301
3302skipwhite *:syn-skipwhite*
3303skipnl *:syn-skipnl*
3304skipempty *:syn-skipempty*
3305
3306These arguments are only used in combination with "nextgroup". They can be
3307used to allow the next group to match after skipping some text:
3308 skipwhite skip over space and Tab characters
3309 skipnl skip over the end of a line
3310 skipempty skip over empty lines (implies a "skipnl")
3311
3312When "skipwhite" is present, the white space is only skipped if there is no
3313next group that matches the white space.
3314
3315When "skipnl" is present, the match with nextgroup may be found in the next
3316line. This only happens when the current item ends at the end of the current
3317line! When "skipnl" is not present, the nextgroup will only be found after
3318the current item in the same line.
3319
3320When skipping text while looking for a next group, the matches for other
3321groups are ignored. Only when no next group matches, other items are tried
3322for a match again. This means that matching a next group and skipping white
3323space and <EOL>s has a higher priority than other items.
3324
3325Example: >
3326 :syn match ifstart "\<if.*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty
3327 :syn match ifline "[^ \t].*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty contained
3328 :syn match ifline "endif" contained
3329Note that the "[^ \t].*" match matches all non-white text. Thus it would also
3330match "endif". Therefore the "endif" match is put last, so that it takes
3331precedence.
3332Note that this example doesn't work for nested "if"s. You need to add
3333"contains" arguments to make that work (omitted for simplicity of the
3334example).
3335
3336==============================================================================
33377. Syntax patterns *:syn-pattern* *E401* *E402*
3338
3339In the syntax commands, a pattern must be surrounded by two identical
3340characters. This is like it works for the ":s" command. The most common to
3341use is the double quote. But if the pattern contains a double quote, you can
3342use another character that is not used in the pattern. Examples: >
3343 :syntax region Comment start="/\*" end="\*/"
3344 :syntax region String start=+"+ end=+"+ skip=+\\"+
3345
3346See |pattern| for the explanation of what a pattern is. Syntax patterns are
3347always interpreted like the 'magic' options is set, no matter what the actual
3348value of 'magic' is. And the patterns are interpreted like the 'l' flag is
3349not included in 'cpoptions'. This was done to make syntax files portable and
3350independent of 'compatible' and 'magic' settings.
3351
3352Try to avoid patterns that can match an empty string, such as "[a-z]*".
3353This slows down the highlighting a lot, because it matches everywhere.
3354
3355 *:syn-pattern-offset*
3356The pattern can be followed by a character offset. This can be used to
3357change the highlighted part, and to change the text area included in the
3358match or region (which only matters when trying to match other items). Both
3359are relative to the matched pattern. The character offset for a skip
3360pattern can be used to tell where to continue looking for an end pattern.
3361
3362The offset takes the form of "{what}={offset}"
3363The {what} can be one of seven strings:
3364
3365ms Match Start offset for the start of the matched text
3366me Match End offset for the end of the matched text
3367hs Highlight Start offset for where the highlighting starts
3368he Highlight End offset for where the highlighting ends
3369rs Region Start offset for where the body of a region starts
3370re Region End offset for where the body of a region ends
3371lc Leading Context offset past "leading context" of pattern
3372
3373The {offset} can be:
3374
3375s start of the matched pattern
3376s+{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3377s-{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3378e end of the matched pattern
3379e+{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3380e-{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3381{nr} (for "lc" only): start matching {nr} chars to the left
3382
3383Examples: "ms=s+1", "hs=e-2", "lc=3".
3384
3385Although all offsets are accepted after any pattern, they are not always
3386meaningful. This table shows which offsets are actually used:
3387
3388 ms me hs he rs re lc ~
3389match item yes yes yes yes - - yes
3390region item start yes - yes - yes - yes
3391region item skip - yes - - - - yes
3392region item end - yes - yes - yes yes
3393
3394Offsets can be concatenated, with a ',' in between. Example: >
3395 :syn match String /"[^"]*"/hs=s+1,he=e-1
3396<
3397 some "string" text
3398 ^^^^^^ highlighted
3399
3400Notes:
3401- There must be no white space between the pattern and the character
3402 offset(s).
3403- The highlighted area will never be outside of the matched text.
3404- A negative offset for an end pattern may not always work, because the end
3405 pattern may be detected when the highlighting should already have stopped.
3406- The start of a match cannot be in a line other than where the pattern
3407 matched. This doesn't work: "a\nb"ms=e. You can make the highlighting
3408 start in another line, this does work: "a\nb"hs=e.
3409
3410Example (match a comment but don't highlight the /* and */): >
3411 :syntax region Comment start="/\*"hs=e+1 end="\*/"he=s-1
3412<
3413 /* this is a comment */
3414 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ highlighted
3415
3416A more complicated Example: >
3417 :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
3418<
3419 abcfoostringbarabc
3420 mmmmmmmmmmm match
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00003421 sssrrreee highlight start/region/end ("Foo", "Exa" and "Bar")
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003422
3423Leading context *:syn-lc* *:syn-leading* *:syn-context*
3424
3425Note: This is an obsolete feature, only included for backwards compatibility
3426with previous Vim versions. It's now recommended to use the |/\@<=| construct
3427in the pattern.
3428
3429The "lc" offset specifies leading context -- a part of the pattern that must
3430be present, but is not considered part of the match. An offset of "lc=n" will
3431cause Vim to step back n columns before attempting the pattern match, allowing
3432characters which have already been matched in previous patterns to also be
3433used as leading context for this match. This can be used, for instance, to
3434specify that an "escaping" character must not precede the match: >
3435
3436 :syn match ZNoBackslash "[^\\]z"ms=s+1
3437 :syn match WNoBackslash "[^\\]w"lc=1
3438 :syn match Underline "_\+"
3439<
3440 ___zzzz ___wwww
3441 ^^^ ^^^ matches Underline
3442 ^ ^ matches ZNoBackslash
3443 ^^^^ matches WNoBackslash
3444
3445The "ms" offset is automatically set to the same value as the "lc" offset,
3446unless you set "ms" explicitly.
3447
3448
3449Multi-line patterns *:syn-multi-line*
3450
3451The patterns can include "\n" to match an end-of-line. Mostly this works as
3452expected, but there are a few exceptions.
3453
3454When using a start pattern with an offset, the start of the match is not
3455allowed to start in a following line. The highlighting can start in a
3456following line though.
3457
3458The skip pattern can include the "\n", but the search for an end pattern will
3459continue in the first character of the next line, also when that character is
3460matched by the skip pattern. This is because redrawing may start in any line
3461halfway a region and there is no check if the skip pattern started in a
3462previous line. For example, if the skip pattern is "a\nb" and an end pattern
3463is "b", the end pattern does match in the second line of this: >
3464 x x a
3465 b x x
3466Generally this means that the skip pattern should not match any characters
3467after the "\n".
3468
3469
3470External matches *:syn-ext-match*
3471
3472These extra regular expression items are available in region patterns:
3473
3474 */\z(* */\z(\)* *E50* *E52*
3475 \z(\) Marks the sub-expression as "external", meaning that it is can
3476 be accessed from another pattern match. Currently only usable
3477 in defining a syntax region start pattern.
3478
3479 */\z1* */\z2* */\z3* */\z4* */\z5*
3480 \z1 ... \z9 */\z6* */\z7* */\z8* */\z9* *E66* *E67*
3481 Matches the same string that was matched by the corresponding
3482 sub-expression in a previous start pattern match.
3483
3484Sometimes the start and end patterns of a region need to share a common
3485sub-expression. A common example is the "here" document in Perl and many Unix
3486shells. This effect can be achieved with the "\z" special regular expression
3487items, which marks a sub-expression as "external", in the sense that it can be
3488referenced from outside the pattern in which it is defined. The here-document
3489example, for instance, can be done like this: >
3490 :syn region hereDoc start="<<\z(\I\i*\)" end="^\z1$"
3491
3492As can be seen here, the \z actually does double duty. In the start pattern,
3493it marks the "\(\I\i*\)" sub-expression as external; in the end pattern, it
3494changes the \1 back-reference into an external reference referring to the
3495first external sub-expression in the start pattern. External references can
3496also be used in skip patterns: >
3497 :syn region foo start="start \(\I\i*\)" skip="not end \z1" end="end \z1"
3498
3499Note that normal and external sub-expressions are completely orthogonal and
3500indexed separately; for instance, if the pattern "\z(..\)\(..\)" is applied
3501to the string "aabb", then \1 will refer to "bb" and \z1 will refer to "aa".
3502Note also that external sub-expressions cannot be accessed as back-references
3503within the same pattern like normal sub-expressions. If you want to use one
3504sub-expression as both a normal and an external sub-expression, you can nest
3505the two, as in "\(\z(...\)\)".
3506
3507Note that only matches within a single line can be used. Multi-line matches
3508cannot be referred to.
3509
3510==============================================================================
35118. Syntax clusters *:syn-cluster* *E400*
3512
3513:sy[ntax] cluster {cluster-name} [contains={group-name}..]
3514 [add={group-name}..]
3515 [remove={group-name}..]
3516
3517This command allows you to cluster a list of syntax groups together under a
3518single name.
3519
3520 contains={group-name}..
3521 The cluster is set to the specified list of groups.
3522 add={group-name}..
3523 The specified groups are added to the cluster.
3524 remove={group-name}..
3525 The specified groups are removed from the cluster.
3526
3527A cluster so defined may be referred to in a contains=.., nextgroup=.., add=..
3528or remove=.. list with a "@" prefix. You can also use this notation to
3529implicitly declare a cluster before specifying its contents.
3530
3531Example: >
3532 :syntax match Thing "# [^#]\+ #" contains=@ThingMembers
3533 :syntax cluster ThingMembers contains=ThingMember1,ThingMember2
3534
3535As the previous example suggests, modifications to a cluster are effectively
3536retroactive; the membership of the cluster is checked at the last minute, so
3537to speak: >
3538 :syntax keyword A aaa
3539 :syntax keyword B bbb
3540 :syntax cluster AandB contains=A
3541 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@AandB
3542 :syntax cluster AandB add=B " now both keywords are matched in Stuff
3543
3544This also has implications for nested clusters: >
3545 :syntax keyword A aaa
3546 :syntax keyword B bbb
3547 :syntax cluster SmallGroup contains=B
3548 :syntax cluster BigGroup contains=A,@SmallGroup
3549 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@BigGroup
3550 :syntax cluster BigGroup remove=B " no effect, since B isn't in BigGroup
3551 :syntax cluster SmallGroup remove=B " now bbb isn't matched within Stuff
3552
3553==============================================================================
35549. Including syntax files *:syn-include* *E397*
3555
3556It is often useful for one language's syntax file to include a syntax file for
3557a related language. Depending on the exact relationship, this can be done in
3558two different ways:
3559
3560 - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3561 allowed at the top level in the including syntax, you can simply use
3562 the |:runtime| command: >
3563
3564 " In cpp.vim:
3565 :runtime! syntax/c.vim
3566 :unlet b:current_syntax
3567
3568< - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3569 contained within a region in the including syntax, you can use the
3570 ":syntax include" command:
3571
3572:sy[ntax] include [@{grouplist-name}] {file-name}
3573
3574 All syntax items declared in the included file will have the
3575 "contained" flag added. In addition, if a group list is specified,
3576 all top-level syntax items in the included file will be added to
3577 that list. >
3578
3579 " In perl.vim:
3580 :syntax include @Pod <sfile>:p:h/pod.vim
3581 :syntax region perlPOD start="^=head" end="^=cut" contains=@Pod
3582<
3583 When {file-name} is an absolute path (starts with "/", "c:", "$VAR"
3584 or "<sfile>") that file is sourced. When it is a relative path
3585 (e.g., "syntax/pod.vim") the file is searched for in 'runtimepath'.
3586 All matching files are loaded. Using a relative path is
3587 recommended, because it allows a user to replace the included file
3588 with his own version, without replacing the file that does the ":syn
3589 include".
3590
3591==============================================================================
359210. Synchronizing *:syn-sync* *E403* *E404*
3593
3594Vim wants to be able to start redrawing in any position in the document. To
3595make this possible it needs to know the syntax state at the position where
3596redrawing starts.
3597
3598:sy[ntax] sync [ccomment [group-name] | minlines={N} | ...]
3599
3600There are four ways to synchronize:
36011. Always parse from the start of the file.
3602 |:syn-sync-first|
36032. Based on C-style comments. Vim understands how C-comments work and can
3604 figure out if the current line starts inside or outside a comment.
3605 |:syn-sync-second|
36063. Jumping back a certain number of lines and start parsing there.
3607 |:syn-sync-third|
36084. Searching backwards in the text for a pattern to sync on.
3609 |:syn-sync-fourth|
3610
3611 *:syn-sync-maxlines* *:syn-sync-minlines*
3612For the last three methods, the line range where the parsing can start is
3613limited by "minlines" and "maxlines".
3614
3615If the "minlines={N}" argument is given, the parsing always starts at least
3616that many lines backwards. This can be used if the parsing may take a few
3617lines before it's correct, or when it's not possible to use syncing.
3618
3619If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given, the number of lines that are searched
3620for a comment or syncing pattern is restricted to N lines backwards (after
3621adding "minlines"). This is useful if you have few things to sync on and a
3622slow machine. Example: >
3623 :syntax sync ccomment maxlines=500
3624<
3625 *:syn-sync-linebreaks*
3626When using a pattern that matches multiple lines, a change in one line may
3627cause a pattern to no longer match in a previous line. This means has to
3628start above where the change was made. How many lines can be specified with
3629the "linebreaks" argument. For example, when a pattern may include one line
3630break use this: >
3631 :syntax sync linebreaks=1
3632The result is that redrawing always starts at least one line before where a
3633change was made. The default value for "linebreaks" is zero. Usually the
3634value for "minlines" is bigger than "linebreaks".
3635
3636
3637First syncing method: *:syn-sync-first*
3638>
3639 :syntax sync fromstart
3640
3641The file will be parsed from the start. This makes syntax highlighting
3642accurate, but can be slow for long files. Vim caches previously parsed text,
3643so that it's only slow when parsing the text for the first time. However,
3644when making changes some part of the next needs to be parsed again (worst
3645case: to the end of the file).
3646
3647Using "fromstart" is equivalent to using "minlines" with a very large number.
3648
3649
3650Second syncing method: *:syn-sync-second* *:syn-sync-ccomment*
3651
3652For the second method, only the "ccomment" argument needs to be given.
3653Example: >
3654 :syntax sync ccomment
3655
3656When Vim finds that the line where displaying starts is inside a C-style
3657comment, the last region syntax item with the group-name "Comment" will be
3658used. This requires that there is a region with the group-name "Comment"!
3659An alternate group name can be specified, for example: >
3660 :syntax sync ccomment javaComment
3661This means that the last item specified with "syn region javaComment" will be
3662used for the detected C comment region. This only works properly if that
3663region does have a start pattern "\/*" and an end pattern "*\/".
3664
3665The "maxlines" argument can be used to restrict the search to a number of
3666lines. The "minlines" argument can be used to at least start a number of
3667lines back (e.g., for when there is some construct that only takes a few
3668lines, but it hard to sync on).
3669
3670Note: Syncing on a C comment doesn't work properly when strings are used
3671that cross a line and contain a "*/". Since letting strings cross a line
3672is a bad programming habit (many compilers give a warning message), and the
3673chance of a "*/" appearing inside a comment is very small, this restriction
3674is hardly ever noticed.
3675
3676
3677Third syncing method: *:syn-sync-third*
3678
3679For the third method, only the "minlines={N}" argument needs to be given.
3680Vim will subtract {N} from the line number and start parsing there. This
3681means {N} extra lines need to be parsed, which makes this method a bit slower.
3682Example: >
3683 :syntax sync minlines=50
3684
3685"lines" is equivalent to "minlines" (used by older versions).
3686
3687
3688Fourth syncing method: *:syn-sync-fourth*
3689
3690The idea is to synchronize on the end of a few specific regions, called a
3691sync pattern. Only regions can cross lines, so when we find the end of some
3692region, we might be able to know in which syntax item we are. The search
3693starts in the line just above the one where redrawing starts. From there
3694the search continues backwards in the file.
3695
3696This works just like the non-syncing syntax items. You can use contained
3697matches, nextgroup, etc. But there are a few differences:
3698- Keywords cannot be used.
3699- The syntax items with the "sync" keyword form a completely separated group
3700 of syntax items. You can't mix syncing groups and non-syncing groups.
3701- The matching works backwards in the buffer (line by line), instead of
3702 forwards.
3703- A line continuation pattern can be given. It is used to decide which group
3704 of lines need to be searched like they were one line. This means that the
3705 search for a match with the specified items starts in the first of the
3706 consecutive that contain the continuation pattern.
3707- When using "nextgroup" or "contains", this only works within one line (or
3708 group of continued lines).
3709- When using a region, it must start and end in the same line (or group of
3710 continued lines). Otherwise the end is assumed to be at the end of the
3711 line (or group of continued lines).
3712- When a match with a sync pattern is found, the rest of the line (or group of
3713 continued lines) is searched for another match. The last match is used.
3714 This is used when a line can contain both the start end the end of a region
3715 (e.g., in a C-comment like /* this */, the last "*/" is used).
3716
3717There are two ways how a match with a sync pattern can be used:
37181. Parsing for highlighting starts where redrawing starts (and where the
3719 search for the sync pattern started). The syntax group that is expected
3720 to be valid there must be specified. This works well when the regions
3721 that cross lines cannot contain other regions.
37222. Parsing for highlighting continues just after the match. The syntax group
3723 that is expected to be present just after the match must be specified.
3724 This can be used when the previous method doesn't work well. It's much
3725 slower, because more text needs to be parsed.
3726Both types of sync patterns can be used at the same time.
3727
3728Besides the sync patterns, other matches and regions can be specified, to
3729avoid finding unwanted matches.
3730
3731[The reason that the sync patterns are given separately, is that mostly the
3732search for the sync point can be much simpler than figuring out the
3733highlighting. The reduced number of patterns means it will go (much)
3734faster.]
3735
3736 *syn-sync-grouphere* *E393* *E394*
3737 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} grouphere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3738
3739 Define a match that is used for syncing. {group-name} is the
3740 name of a syntax group that follows just after the match. Parsing
3741 of the text for highlighting starts just after the match. A region
3742 must exist for this {group-name}. The first one defined will be used.
3743 "NONE" can be used for when there is no syntax group after the match.
3744
3745 *syn-sync-groupthere*
3746 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} groupthere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3747
3748 Like "grouphere", but {group-name} is the name of a syntax group that
3749 is to be used at the start of the line where searching for the sync
3750 point started. The text between the match and the start of the sync
3751 pattern searching is assumed not to change the syntax highlighting.
3752 For example, in C you could search backwards for "/*" and "*/". If
3753 "/*" is found first, you know that you are inside a comment, so the
3754 "groupthere" is "cComment". If "*/" is found first, you know that you
3755 are not in a comment, so the "groupthere" is "NONE". (in practice
3756 it's a bit more complicated, because the "/*" and "*/" could appear
3757 inside a string. That's left as an exercise to the reader...).
3758
3759 :syntax sync match ..
3760 :syntax sync region ..
3761
3762 Without a "groupthere" argument. Define a region or match that is
3763 skipped while searching for a sync point.
3764
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00003765 *syn-sync-linecont*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003766 :syntax sync linecont {pattern}
3767
3768 When {pattern} matches in a line, it is considered to continue in
3769 the next line. This means that the search for a sync point will
3770 consider the lines to be concatenated.
3771
3772If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given too, the number of lines that are
3773searched for a match is restricted to N. This is useful if you have very
3774few things to sync on and a slow machine. Example: >
3775 :syntax sync maxlines=100
3776
3777You can clear all sync settings with: >
3778 :syntax sync clear
3779
3780You can clear specific sync patterns with: >
3781 :syntax sync clear {sync-group-name} ..
3782
3783==============================================================================
378411. Listing syntax items *:syntax* *:sy* *:syn* *:syn-list*
3785
Bram Moolenaar482aaeb2005-09-29 18:26:07 +00003786This command lists all the syntax items: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003787
3788 :sy[ntax] [list]
3789
3790To show the syntax items for one syntax group: >
3791
3792 :sy[ntax] list {group-name}
3793
3794To list the syntax groups in one cluster: *E392* >
3795
3796 :sy[ntax] list @{cluster-name}
3797
3798See above for other arguments for the ":syntax" command.
3799
3800Note that the ":syntax" command can be abbreviated to ":sy", although ":syn"
3801is mostly used, because it looks better.
3802
3803==============================================================================
380412. Highlight command *:highlight* *:hi* *E28* *E411* *E415*
3805
3806There are three types of highlight groups:
3807- The ones used for specific languages. For these the name starts with the
3808 name of the language. Many of these don't have any attributes, but are
3809 linked to a group of the second type.
3810- The ones used for all syntax languages.
3811- The ones used for the 'highlight' option.
3812 *hitest.vim*
3813You can see all the groups currently active with this command: >
3814 :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/hitest.vim
3815This will open a new window containing all highlight group names, displayed
3816in their own color.
3817
3818 *:colo* *:colorscheme* *E185*
3819:colo[rscheme] {name} Load color scheme {name}. This searches 'runtimepath'
3820 for the file "colors/{name}.vim. The first one that
3821 is found is loaded.
3822 To see the name of the currently active color scheme
3823 (if there is one): >
3824 :echo g:colors_name
3825< Doesn't work recursively, thus you can't use
3826 ":colorscheme" in a color scheme script.
Bram Moolenaarcfbc5ee2004-07-02 15:38:35 +00003827 After the color scheme has been loaded the
3828 |ColorScheme| autocommand event is triggered.
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00003829 For info about writing a colorscheme file: >
3830 :edit $VIMRUNTIME/colors/README.txt
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003831
3832:hi[ghlight] List all the current highlight groups that have
3833 attributes set.
3834
3835:hi[ghlight] {group-name}
3836 List one highlight group.
3837
3838:hi[ghlight] clear Reset all highlighting to the defaults. Removes all
3839 highlighting for groups added by the user!
3840 Uses the current value of 'background' to decide which
3841 default colors to use.
3842
3843:hi[ghlight] clear {group-name}
3844:hi[ghlight] {group-name} NONE
3845 Disable the highlighting for one highlight group. It
3846 is _not_ set back to the default colors.
3847
3848:hi[ghlight] [default] {group-name} {key}={arg} ..
3849 Add a highlight group, or change the highlighting for
3850 an existing group.
3851 See |highlight-args| for the {key}={arg} arguments.
3852 See |:highlight-default| for the optional [default]
3853 argument.
3854
3855Normally a highlight group is added once when starting up. This sets the
3856default values for the highlighting. After that, you can use additional
3857highlight commands to change the arguments that you want to set to non-default
3858values. The value "NONE" can be used to switch the value off or go back to
3859the default value.
3860
3861A simple way to change colors is with the |:colorscheme| command. This loads
3862a file with ":highlight" commands such as this: >
3863
3864 :hi Comment gui=bold
3865
3866Note that all settings that are not included remain the same, only the
3867specified field is used, and settings are merged with previous ones. So, the
3868result is like this single command has been used: >
3869 :hi Comment term=bold ctermfg=Cyan guifg=#80a0ff gui=bold
3870<
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00003871 *:highlight-verbose*
Bram Moolenaar661b1822005-07-28 22:36:45 +00003872When listing a highlight group and 'verbose' is non-zero, the listing will
3873also tell where it was last set. Example: >
3874 :verbose hi Comment
3875< Comment xxx term=bold ctermfg=4 guifg=Blue ~
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00003876 Last set from /home/mool/vim/vim7/runtime/syntax/syncolor.vim ~
Bram Moolenaar661b1822005-07-28 22:36:45 +00003877
Bram Moolenaar8aff23a2005-08-19 20:40:30 +00003878When ":hi clear" is used then the script where this command is used will be
3879mentioned for the default values. See |:verbose-cmd| for more information.
Bram Moolenaar661b1822005-07-28 22:36:45 +00003880
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003881 *highlight-args* *E416* *E417* *E423*
3882There are three types of terminals for highlighting:
3883term a normal terminal (vt100, xterm)
3884cterm a color terminal (MS-DOS console, color-xterm, these have the "Co"
3885 termcap entry)
3886gui the GUI
3887
3888For each type the highlighting can be given. This makes it possible to use
3889the same syntax file on all terminals, and use the optimal highlighting.
3890
38911. highlight arguments for normal terminals
3892
Bram Moolenaar75c50c42005-06-04 22:06:24 +00003893 *bold* *underline* *undercurl*
3894 *inverse* *italic* *standout*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003895term={attr-list} *attr-list* *highlight-term* *E418*
3896 attr-list is a comma separated list (without spaces) of the
3897 following items (in any order):
3898 bold
3899 underline
Bram Moolenaar5409c052005-03-18 20:27:04 +00003900 undercurl not always available
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003901 reverse
3902 inverse same as reverse
3903 italic
3904 standout
3905 NONE no attributes used (used to reset it)
3906
3907 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They
3908 have the same effect.
Bram Moolenaar5409c052005-03-18 20:27:04 +00003909 "undercurl" is a curly underline. When "undercurl" is not possible
3910 then "underline" is used. In general "undercurl" is only available in
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00003911 the GUI. The color is set with |highlight-guisp|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003912
3913start={term-list} *highlight-start* *E422*
3914stop={term-list} *term-list* *highlight-stop*
3915 These lists of terminal codes can be used to get
3916 non-standard attributes on a terminal.
3917
3918 The escape sequence specified with the "start" argument
3919 is written before the characters in the highlighted
3920 area. It can be anything that you want to send to the
3921 terminal to highlight this area. The escape sequence
3922 specified with the "stop" argument is written after the
3923 highlighted area. This should undo the "start" argument.
3924 Otherwise the screen will look messed up.
3925
3926 The {term-list} can have two forms:
3927
3928 1. A string with escape sequences.
3929 This is any string of characters, except that it can't start with
3930 "t_" and blanks are not allowed. The <> notation is recognized
3931 here, so you can use things like "<Esc>" and "<Space>". Example:
3932 start=<Esc>[27h;<Esc>[<Space>r;
3933
3934 2. A list of terminal codes.
3935 Each terminal code has the form "t_xx", where "xx" is the name of
3936 the termcap entry. The codes have to be separated with commas.
3937 White space is not allowed. Example:
3938 start=t_C1,t_BL
3939 The terminal codes must exist for this to work.
3940
3941
39422. highlight arguments for color terminals
3943
3944cterm={attr-list} *highlight-cterm*
3945 See above for the description of {attr-list} |attr-list|.
3946 The "cterm" argument is likely to be different from "term", when
3947 colors are used. For example, in a normal terminal comments could
3948 be underlined, in a color terminal they can be made Blue.
3949 Note: Many terminals (e.g., DOS console) can't mix these attributes
3950 with coloring. Use only one of "cterm=" OR "ctermfg=" OR "ctermbg=".
3951
3952ctermfg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermfg* *E421*
3953ctermbg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermbg*
3954 The {color-nr} argument is a color number. Its range is zero to
3955 (not including) the number given by the termcap entry "Co".
3956 The actual color with this number depends on the type of terminal
3957 and its settings. Sometimes the color also depends on the settings of
3958 "cterm". For example, on some systems "cterm=bold ctermfg=3" gives
3959 another color, on others you just get color 3.
3960
3961 For an xterm this depends on your resources, and is a bit
3962 unpredictable. See your xterm documentation for the defaults. The
3963 colors for a color-xterm can be changed from the .Xdefaults file.
3964 Unfortunately this means that it's not possible to get the same colors
3965 for each user. See |xterm-color| for info about color xterms.
3966
3967 The MSDOS standard colors are fixed (in a console window), so these
3968 have been used for the names. But the meaning of color names in X11
3969 are fixed, so these color settings have been used, to make the
3970 highlighting settings portable (complicated, isn't it?). The
3971 following names are recognized, with the color number used:
3972
3973 *cterm-colors*
3974 NR-16 NR-8 COLOR NAME ~
3975 0 0 Black
3976 1 4 DarkBlue
3977 2 2 DarkGreen
3978 3 6 DarkCyan
3979 4 1 DarkRed
3980 5 5 DarkMagenta
3981 6 3 Brown, DarkYellow
3982 7 7 LightGray, LightGrey, Gray, Grey
3983 8 0* DarkGray, DarkGrey
3984 9 4* Blue, LightBlue
3985 10 2* Green, LightGreen
3986 11 6* Cyan, LightCyan
3987 12 1* Red, LightRed
3988 13 5* Magenta, LightMagenta
3989 14 3* Yellow, LightYellow
3990 15 7* White
3991
3992 The number under "NR-16" is used for 16-color terminals ('t_Co'
3993 greater than or equal to 16). The number under "NR-8" is used for
3994 8-color terminals ('t_Co' less than 16). The '*' indicates that the
3995 bold attribute is set for ctermfg. In many 8-color terminals (e.g.,
3996 "linux"), this causes the bright colors to appear. This doesn't work
3997 for background colors! Without the '*' the bold attribute is removed.
3998 If you want to set the bold attribute in a different way, put a
3999 "cterm=" argument AFTER the "ctermfg=" or "ctermbg=" argument. Or use
4000 a number instead of a color name.
4001
4002 The case of the color names is ignored.
4003 Note that for 16 color ansi style terminals (including xterms), the
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00004004 numbers in the NR-8 column is used. Here '*' means 'add 8' so that Blue
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004005 is 12, DarkGray is 8 etc.
4006
4007 Note that for some color terminals these names may result in the wrong
4008 colors!
4009
4010 *:hi-normal-cterm*
4011 When setting the "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" colors for the Normal group,
4012 these will become the colors used for the non-highlighted text.
4013 Example: >
4014 :highlight Normal ctermfg=grey ctermbg=darkblue
4015< When setting the "ctermbg" color for the Normal group, the
4016 'background' option will be adjusted automatically. This causes the
4017 highlight groups that depend on 'background' to change! This means
4018 you should set the colors for Normal first, before setting other
4019 colors.
4020 When a colorscheme is being used, changing 'background' causes it to
4021 be reloaded, which may reset all colors (including Normal). First
4022 delete the "colors_name" variable when you don't want this.
4023
4024 When you have set "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" for the Normal group, Vim
4025 needs to reset the color when exiting. This is done with the "op"
4026 termcap entry |t_op|. If this doesn't work correctly, try setting the
4027 't_op' option in your .vimrc.
4028 *E419* *E420*
4029 When Vim knows the normal foreground and background colors, "fg" and
4030 "bg" can be used as color names. This only works after setting the
4031 colors for the Normal group and for the MS-DOS console. Example, for
4032 reverse video: >
4033 :highlight Visual ctermfg=bg ctermbg=fg
4034< Note that the colors are used that are valid at the moment this
4035 command are given. If the Normal group colors are changed later, the
4036 "fg" and "bg" colors will not be adjusted.
4037
4038
40393. highlight arguments for the GUI
4040
4041gui={attr-list} *highlight-gui*
4042 These give the attributes to use in the GUI mode.
4043 See |attr-list| for a description.
4044 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They
4045 have the same effect.
4046 Note that the attributes are ignored for the "Normal" group.
4047
4048font={font-name} *highlight-font*
4049 font-name is the name of a font, as it is used on the system Vim
4050 runs on. For X11 this is a complicated name, for example: >
4051 font=-misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-1
4052<
4053 The font-name "NONE" can be used to revert to the default font.
4054 When setting the font for the "Normal" group, this becomes the default
4055 font (until the 'guifont' option is changed; the last one set is
4056 used).
4057 The following only works with Motif and Athena, not with other GUIs:
4058 When setting the font for the "Menu" group, the menus will be changed.
4059 When setting the font for the "Tooltip" group, the tooltips will be
4060 changed.
4061 All fonts used, except for Menu and Tooltip, should be of the same
4062 character size as the default font! Otherwise redrawing problems will
4063 occur.
4064
4065guifg={color-name} *highlight-guifg*
4066guibg={color-name} *highlight-guibg*
Bram Moolenaar5409c052005-03-18 20:27:04 +00004067guisp={color-name} *highlight-guisp*
4068 These give the foreground (guifg), background (guibg) and special
Bram Moolenaar7df351e2006-01-23 22:30:28 +00004069 (guisp) color to use in the GUI. "guisp" is used for undercurl.
4070 There are a few special names:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004071 NONE no color (transparent)
4072 bg use normal background color
4073 background use normal background color
4074 fg use normal foreground color
4075 foreground use normal foreground color
4076 To use a color name with an embedded space or other special character,
4077 put it in single quotes. The single quote cannot be used then.
4078 Example: >
4079 :hi comment guifg='salmon pink'
4080<
4081 *gui-colors*
4082 Suggested color names (these are available on most systems):
4083 Red LightRed DarkRed
4084 Green LightGreen DarkGreen SeaGreen
4085 Blue LightBlue DarkBlue SlateBlue
4086 Cyan LightCyan DarkCyan
4087 Magenta LightMagenta DarkMagenta
4088 Yellow LightYellow Brown DarkYellow
4089 Gray LightGray DarkGray
4090 Black White
4091 Orange Purple Violet
4092
4093 In the Win32 GUI version, additional system colors are available. See
4094 |win32-colors|.
4095
4096 You can also specify a color by its Red, Green and Blue values.
4097 The format is "#rrggbb", where
4098 "rr" is the Red value
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004099 "gg" is the Green value
Bram Moolenaar5409c052005-03-18 20:27:04 +00004100 "bb" is the Blue value
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004101 All values are hexadecimal, range from "00" to "ff". Examples: >
4102 :highlight Comment guifg=#11f0c3 guibg=#ff00ff
4103<
4104 *highlight-groups* *highlight-default*
4105These are the default highlighting groups. These groups are used by the
4106'highlight' option default. Note that the highlighting depends on the value
4107of 'background'. You can see the current settings with the ":highlight"
4108command.
4109 *hl-Cursor*
4110Cursor the character under the cursor
4111 *hl-CursorIM*
4112CursorIM like Cursor, but used when in IME mode |CursorIM|
Bram Moolenaar5316eee2006-03-12 22:11:10 +00004113 *hl-CursorColumn*
4114CursorColumn the screen column that the cursor is in when 'cursorcolumn' is
4115 set
4116 *hl-CursorLine*
4117CursorLine the screen line that the cursor is in when 'cursorline' is
4118 set
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004119 *hl-Directory*
4120Directory directory names (and other special names in listings)
4121 *hl-DiffAdd*
4122DiffAdd diff mode: Added line |diff.txt|
4123 *hl-DiffChange*
4124DiffChange diff mode: Changed line |diff.txt|
4125 *hl-DiffDelete*
4126DiffDelete diff mode: Deleted line |diff.txt|
4127 *hl-DiffText*
4128DiffText diff mode: Changed text within a changed line |diff.txt|
4129 *hl-ErrorMsg*
4130ErrorMsg error messages on the command line
4131 *hl-VertSplit*
4132VertSplit the column separating vertically split windows
4133 *hl-Folded*
4134Folded line used for closed folds
4135 *hl-FoldColumn*
4136FoldColumn 'foldcolumn'
4137 *hl-SignColumn*
4138SignColumn column where |signs| are displayed
4139 *hl-IncSearch*
4140IncSearch 'incsearch' highlighting; also used for the text replaced with
4141 ":s///c"
4142 *hl-LineNr*
Bram Moolenaarfd2ac762006-03-01 22:09:21 +00004143LineNr Line number for ":number" and ":#" commands, and when 'number'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004144 option is set.
Bram Moolenaarfd2ac762006-03-01 22:09:21 +00004145 *hl-MatchParen*
4146MatchParen The character under the cursor or just before it, if it
4147 is a paired bracket, and its match. |pi_paren.txt|
4148
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004149 *hl-ModeMsg*
4150ModeMsg 'showmode' message (e.g., "-- INSERT --")
4151 *hl-MoreMsg*
4152MoreMsg |more-prompt|
4153 *hl-NonText*
4154NonText '~' and '@' at the end of the window, characters from
4155 'showbreak' and other characters that do not really exist in
4156 the text (e.g., ">" displayed when a double-wide character
4157 doesn't fit at the end of the line).
4158 *hl-Normal*
4159Normal normal text
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00004160 *hl-Pmenu*
4161Pmenu Popup menu: normal item.
4162 *hl-PmenuSel*
4163PmenuSel Popup menu: selected item.
4164 *hl-PmenuSbar*
4165PmenuSbar Popup menu: scrollbar.
4166 *hl-PmenuThumb*
4167PmenuThumb Popup menu: Thumb of the scrollbar.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004168 *hl-Question*
4169Question |hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions
4170 *hl-Search*
4171Search Last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch').
4172 Also used for highlighting the current line in the quickfix
4173 window and similar items that need to stand out.
4174 *hl-SpecialKey*
4175SpecialKey Meta and special keys listed with ":map", also for text used
4176 to show unprintable characters in the text, 'listchars'.
4177 Generally: text that is displayed differently from what it
4178 really is.
Bram Moolenaar217ad922005-03-20 22:37:15 +00004179 *hl-SpellBad*
4180SpellBad Word that is not recognized by the spellchecker. |spell|
4181 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
Bram Moolenaar53180ce2005-07-05 21:48:14 +00004182 *hl-SpellCap*
4183SpellCap Word that should start with a capital. |spell|
4184 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
Bram Moolenaar217ad922005-03-20 22:37:15 +00004185 *hl-SpellLocal*
4186SpellLocal Word that is recognized by the spellchecker as one that is
4187 used in another region. |spell|
4188 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
4189 *hl-SpellRare*
4190SpellRare Word that is recognized by the spellchecker as one that is
4191 hardly ever used. |spell|
4192 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004193 *hl-StatusLine*
4194StatusLine status line of current window
4195 *hl-StatusLineNC*
4196StatusLineNC status lines of not-current windows
4197 Note: if this is equal to "StatusLine" Vim will use "^^^" in
4198 the status line of the current window.
Bram Moolenaarfaa959a2006-02-20 21:37:40 +00004199 *hl-TabLine*
4200TabLine tab pages line, not active tab page label
4201 *hl-TabLineFill*
4202TabLineFill tab pages line, where there are no labels
4203 *hl-TabLineSel*
4204TabLineSel tab pages line, active tab page label
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004205 *hl-Title*
4206Title titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc.
4207 *hl-Visual*
4208Visual Visual mode selection
4209 *hl-VisualNOS*
4210VisualNOS Visual mode selection when vim is "Not Owning the Selection".
4211 Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and |xterm-clipboard| supports this.
4212 *hl-WarningMsg*
4213WarningMsg warning messages
4214 *hl-WildMenu*
4215WildMenu current match in 'wildmenu' completion
4216
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00004217 *hl-User1* *hl-User1..9* *hl-User9*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004218The 'statusline' syntax allows the use of 9 different highlights in the
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00004219statusline and ruler (via 'rulerformat'). The names are User1 to User9.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004220
4221For the GUI you can use these groups to set the colors for the menu,
4222scrollbars and tooltips. They don't have defaults. This doesn't work for the
4223Win32 GUI. Only three highlight arguments have any effect here: font, guibg,
4224and guifg.
4225
4226 *hl-Menu*
4227Menu Current font, background and foreground colors of the menus.
4228 Also used for the toolbar.
4229 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
4230
4231 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
4232 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
4233 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
4234 set.
4235
4236 *hl-Scrollbar*
4237Scrollbar Current background and foreground of the main window's
4238 scrollbars.
4239 Applicable highlight arguments: guibg, guifg.
4240
4241 *hl-Tooltip*
4242Tooltip Current font, background and foreground of the tooltips.
4243 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
4244
4245 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
4246 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
4247 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
4248 set.
4249
4250==============================================================================
425113. Linking groups *:hi-link* *:highlight-link* *E412* *E413*
4252
4253When you want to use the same highlighting for several syntax groups, you
4254can do this more easily by linking the groups into one common highlight
4255group, and give the color attributes only for that group.
4256
4257To set a link:
4258
4259 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} {to-group}
4260
4261To remove a link:
4262
4263 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} NONE
4264
4265Notes: *E414*
4266- If the {from-group} and/or {to-group} doesn't exist, it is created. You
4267 don't get an error message for a non-existing group.
4268- As soon as you use a ":highlight" command for a linked group, the link is
4269 removed.
4270- If there are already highlight settings for the {from-group}, the link is
4271 not made, unless the '!' is given. For a ":highlight link" command in a
4272 sourced file, you don't get an error message. This can be used to skip
4273 links for groups that already have settings.
4274
4275 *:hi-default* *:highlight-default*
4276The [default] argument is used for setting the default highlighting for a
4277group. If highlighting has already been specified for the group the command
4278will be ignored. Also when there is an existing link.
4279
4280Using [default] is especially useful to overrule the highlighting of a
4281specific syntax file. For example, the C syntax file contains: >
4282 :highlight default link cComment Comment
4283If you like Question highlighting for C comments, put this in your vimrc file: >
4284 :highlight link cComment Question
4285Without the "default" in the C syntax file, the highlighting would be
4286overruled when the syntax file is loaded.
4287
4288==============================================================================
428914. Cleaning up *:syn-clear* *E391*
4290
4291If you want to clear the syntax stuff for the current buffer, you can use this
4292command: >
4293 :syntax clear
4294
4295This command should be used when you want to switch off syntax highlighting,
4296or when you want to switch to using another syntax. It's normally not needed
4297in a syntax file itself, because syntax is cleared by the autocommands that
4298load the syntax file.
4299The command also deletes the "b:current_syntax" variable, since no syntax is
4300loaded after this command.
4301
4302If you want to disable syntax highlighting for all buffers, you need to remove
4303the autocommands that load the syntax files: >
4304 :syntax off
4305
4306What this command actually does, is executing the command >
4307 :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
4308See the "nosyntax.vim" file for details. Note that for this to work
4309$VIMRUNTIME must be valid. See |$VIMRUNTIME|.
4310
4311To clean up specific syntax groups for the current buffer: >
4312 :syntax clear {group-name} ..
4313This removes all patterns and keywords for {group-name}.
4314
4315To clean up specific syntax group lists for the current buffer: >
4316 :syntax clear @{grouplist-name} ..
4317This sets {grouplist-name}'s contents to an empty list.
4318
4319 *:syntax-reset* *:syn-reset*
4320If you have changed the colors and messed them up, use this command to get the
4321defaults back: >
4322
4323 :syntax reset
4324
4325This doesn't change the colors for the 'highlight' option.
4326
4327Note that the syntax colors that you set in your vimrc file will also be reset
4328back to their Vim default.
4329Note that if you are using a color scheme, the colors defined by the color
4330scheme for syntax highlighting will be lost.
4331
4332What this actually does is: >
4333
4334 let g:syntax_cmd = "reset"
4335 runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim
4336
4337Note that this uses the 'runtimepath' option.
4338
4339 *syncolor*
4340If you want to use different colors for syntax highlighting, you can add a Vim
4341script file to set these colors. Put this file in a directory in
4342'runtimepath' which comes after $VIMRUNTIME, so that your settings overrule
4343the default colors. This way these colors will be used after the ":syntax
4344reset" command.
4345
4346For Unix you can use the file ~/.vim/after/syntax/syncolor.vim. Example: >
4347
4348 if &background == "light"
4349 highlight comment ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
4350 else
4351 highlight comment ctermfg=green guifg=green
4352 endif
4353
Bram Moolenaarc0197e22004-09-13 20:26:32 +00004354 *E679*
4355Do make sure this syncolor.vim script does not use a "syntax on", set the
4356'background' option or uses a "colorscheme" command, because it results in an
4357endless loop.
4358
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004359Note that when a color scheme is used, there might be some confusion whether
4360your defined colors are to be used or the colors from the scheme. This
4361depends on the color scheme file. See |:colorscheme|.
4362
4363 *syntax_cmd*
4364The "syntax_cmd" variable is set to one of these values when the
4365syntax/syncolor.vim files are loaded:
4366 "on" ":syntax on" command. Highlight colors are overruled but
4367 links are kept
4368 "enable" ":syntax enable" command. Only define colors for groups that
4369 don't have highlighting yet. Use ":syntax default".
4370 "reset" ":syntax reset" command or loading a color scheme. Define all
4371 the colors.
4372 "skip" Don't define colors. Used to skip the default settings when a
4373 syncolor.vim file earlier in 'runtimepath' has already set
4374 them.
4375
4376==============================================================================
437715. Highlighting tags *tag-highlight*
4378
4379If you want to highlight all the tags in your file, you can use the following
4380mappings.
4381
4382 <F11> -- Generate tags.vim file, and highlight tags.
4383 <F12> -- Just highlight tags based on existing tags.vim file.
4384>
4385 :map <F11> :sp tags<CR>:%s/^\([^ :]*:\)\=\([^ ]*\).*/syntax keyword Tag \2/<CR>:wq! tags.vim<CR>/^<CR><F12>
4386 :map <F12> :so tags.vim<CR>
4387
4388WARNING: The longer the tags file, the slower this will be, and the more
4389memory Vim will consume.
4390
4391Only highlighting typedefs, unions and structs can be done too. For this you
4392must use Exuberant ctags (found at http://ctags.sf.net).
4393
4394Put these lines in your Makefile:
4395
4396# Make a highlight file for types. Requires Exuberant ctags and awk
4397types: types.vim
4398types.vim: *.[ch]
4399 ctags -i=gstuS -o- *.[ch] |\
4400 awk 'BEGIN{printf("syntax keyword Type\t")}\
4401 {printf("%s ", $$1)}END{print ""}' > $@
4402
4403And put these lines in your .vimrc: >
4404
4405 " load the types.vim highlighting file, if it exists
4406 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] let fname = expand('<afile>:p:h') . '/types.vim'
4407 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] if filereadable(fname)
4408 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] exe 'so ' . fname
4409 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] endif
4410
4411==============================================================================
441216. Color xterms *xterm-color* *color-xterm*
4413
4414Most color xterms have only eight colors. If you don't get colors with the
4415default setup, it should work with these lines in your .vimrc: >
4416 :if &term =~ "xterm"
4417 : if has("terminfo")
4418 : set t_Co=8
4419 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%p1%dm
4420 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%p1%dm
4421 : else
4422 : set t_Co=8
4423 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4424 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4425 : endif
4426 :endif
4427< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4428
4429You might want to change the first "if" to match the name of your terminal,
4430e.g. "dtterm" instead of "xterm".
4431
4432Note: Do these settings BEFORE doing ":syntax on". Otherwise the colors may
4433be wrong.
4434 *xiterm* *rxvt*
4435The above settings have been mentioned to work for xiterm and rxvt too.
4436But for using 16 colors in an rxvt these should work with terminfo: >
4437 :set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t25;%p1%{40}%+%e5;%p1%{32}%+%;%dm
4438 :set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t22;%p1%{30}%+%e1;%p1%{22}%+%;%dm
4439<
4440 *colortest.vim*
4441To test your color setup, a file has been included in the Vim distribution.
Bram Moolenaarf740b292006-02-16 22:11:02 +00004442To use it, execute this command: >
4443 :runtime syntax/colortest.vim
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004444
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00004445Some versions of xterm (and other terminals, like the Linux console) can
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004446output lighter foreground colors, even though the number of colors is defined
4447at 8. Therefore Vim sets the "cterm=bold" attribute for light foreground
4448colors, when 't_Co' is 8.
4449
4450 *xfree-xterm*
4451To get 16 colors or more, get the newest xterm version (which should be
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +00004452included with XFree86 3.3 and later). You can also find the latest version
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004453at: >
4454 http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html
4455Here is a good way to configure it. This uses 88 colors and enables the
4456termcap-query feature, which allows Vim to ask the xterm how many colors it
4457supports. >
4458 ./configure --disable-bold-color --enable-88-color --enable-tcap-query
4459If you only get 8 colors, check the xterm compilation settings.
4460(Also see |UTF8-xterm| for using this xterm with UTF-8 character encoding).
4461
4462This xterm should work with these lines in your .vimrc (for 16 colors): >
4463 :if has("terminfo")
4464 : set t_Co=16
4465 : set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{92}%+%;%dm
4466 : set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{82}%+%;%dm
4467 :else
4468 : set t_Co=16
4469 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4470 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4471 :endif
4472< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4473
4474Without |+terminfo|, Vim will recognize these settings, and automatically
4475translate cterm colors of 8 and above to "<Esc>[9%dm" and "<Esc>[10%dm".
4476Colors above 16 are also translated automatically.
4477
4478For 256 colors this has been reported to work: >
4479
4480 :set t_AB=<Esc>[48;5;%dm
4481 :set t_AF=<Esc>[38;5;%dm
4482
4483Or just set the TERM environment variable to "xterm-color" or "xterm-16color"
4484and try if that works.
4485
4486You probably want to use these X resources (in your ~/.Xdefaults file):
4487 XTerm*color0: #000000
4488 XTerm*color1: #c00000
4489 XTerm*color2: #008000
4490 XTerm*color3: #808000
4491 XTerm*color4: #0000c0
4492 XTerm*color5: #c000c0
4493 XTerm*color6: #008080
4494 XTerm*color7: #c0c0c0
4495 XTerm*color8: #808080
4496 XTerm*color9: #ff6060
4497 XTerm*color10: #00ff00
4498 XTerm*color11: #ffff00
4499 XTerm*color12: #8080ff
4500 XTerm*color13: #ff40ff
4501 XTerm*color14: #00ffff
4502 XTerm*color15: #ffffff
4503 Xterm*cursorColor: Black
4504
4505[Note: The cursorColor is required to work around a bug, which changes the
4506cursor color to the color of the last drawn text. This has been fixed by a
4507newer version of xterm, but not everybody is it using yet.]
4508
4509To get these right away, reload the .Xdefaults file to the X Option database
4510Manager (you only need to do this when you just changed the .Xdefaults file): >
4511 xrdb -merge ~/.Xdefaults
4512<
4513 *xterm-blink* *xterm-blinking-cursor*
4514To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see tools/blink.c. Or use Thomas
4515Dickey's xterm above patchlevel 107 (see above for where to get it), with
4516these resources:
4517 XTerm*cursorBlink: on
4518 XTerm*cursorOnTime: 400
4519 XTerm*cursorOffTime: 250
4520 XTerm*cursorColor: White
4521
4522 *hpterm-color*
4523These settings work (more or less) for a hpterm, which only supports 8
4524foreground colors: >
4525 :if has("terminfo")
4526 : set t_Co=8
4527 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%p1%dS
4528 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4529 :else
4530 : set t_Co=8
4531 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%dS
4532 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4533 :endif
4534< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4535
4536 *Eterm* *enlightened-terminal*
4537These settings have been reported to work for the Enlightened terminal
4538emulator, or Eterm. They might work for all xterm-like terminals that use the
4539bold attribute to get bright colors. Add an ":if" like above when needed. >
4540 :set t_Co=16
4541 :set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t3%p1%d%e%p1%{22}%+%d;1%;m
4542 :set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t4%p1%d%e%p1%{32}%+%d;1%;m
4543<
4544 *TTpro-telnet*
4545These settings should work for TTpro telnet. Tera Term Pro is a freeware /
4546open-source program for MS-Windows. >
4547 set t_Co=16
4548 set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{32}%+5;%;%dm
4549 set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{22}%+1;%;%dm
4550Also make sure TTpro's Setup / Window / Full Color is enabled, and make sure
4551that Setup / Font / Enable Bold is NOT enabled.
4552(info provided by John Love-Jensen <eljay@Adobe.COM>)
4553
4554 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl: